Reign Academy coach fired?

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Rumor is Reign fired their 04 coach due to parent upheaval. He's been removed from their website and their DA page, so true...?

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Was that Ryan? My kid played for him before and had a good experience.

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Was that Ryan? My kid played for him before and had a good experience.

Definitely gone. No idea whether fired or quit. Coaching change for the 06 DA team as well.

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This was sent out by the Reign. Read into it what you want.

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Dear Reign Academy Families,

I understand there has been concern with small roster sizes and the number of players moving from team to team. I realize this may create some strain, can be challenging and is not the perfect scenario just yet. I want to assure you that increasing roster sizes this season is a priority; however, we don't want to add players just to be space savers. We need players that are up to the DA standard, and sometimes that means we need to be patient. I am not a fan of excuses; nor am I a fan of taking one step forward and 5 back. It is the reality of expanding.

We should not forget the value that can occur with players moving. Players that move up will have to solve problems differently due to increased speed of play. It is a great method to evaluate what the issues will be knocking on the door at the next level. At some point, players that play up may go to their respective ages. Moving to own age can allow for player to provide enhanced leadership, work on a deficiency, play a different role, etc.

Increased roster size does mean less playing time, so let’s make the most of this time and maximize the opportunity for what it is; from a development and even a game fitness standpoint.

Truth; Our 03 Roster is small. It also has 3 players getting invited to US Youth National Team Camp, which is AWESOME! We should all be thrilled for them & excited for different players within our organization to step up, have a voice, play a different role, learn a bit more about themselves. All of these things that are a part of what sport can bring. Yes, it's a small roster; and a recent injury made it smaller. Those are the breaks.

So, while we are in the thick of this expansion process, let's stick together as the Reign Academy. The best part of being a part of a club is that our support group should be bigger, stronger and more reliable. Our teams should be leaning on each other, cheering for each other and recognizing the value of one another. The 01/02 on down to the 09's are a part of us.

“In a growth mindset, challenges are exciting rather than threatening. So rather than thinking, oh, I’m going to reveal my weaknesses, you say, wow, here’s a chance to grow.” Carol S. Dweck

With growth, will come a different set of challenges; and we will also be ready for those. 🙂

Respectfully,

Amy Griffin

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Hanging by a Thread

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Step 1 should be to get off the sinking ship that is GDA.

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I thought they would last 2 more years but now think this is the end for them.

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What coach was let go/fired? Is Matt Dorman still there?

And let's be honest...at this point why would you have your player go to Reign Academy?

I know they have the DA but the overall experience seems terrible (low roster sizes, unpredictable practice locations, coaches getting fired, traveling outside of WA for every away game, etc.)

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What coach was let go/fired? Is Matt Dorman still there?

dorman coaches 03 and 05, the 04 coach was a new one put in after sam stepped back, actually thought he was pretty good and didn't really get a decent chance at the job

And let's be honest...at this point why would you have your player go to Reign Academy?

as the email said "03 .. has 3 players getting invited to US Youth National Team Camp", that's the reason right there. no other club in WA has anywhere close to those kind of USGNT numbers

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I thought they would last 2 more years but now think this is the end for them.

reign is fine, all the A teams have short rosters right now as they have not yet incorporated players from the reserve squads, the older ones who have all been playing hs soccer. they're starting to call some of them up now, in fact as early as this weekends games. there are a decent number of talented reserve players who will end up helping those A teams.

the player poaching pathway for reign to grow rosters is pretty closed off now as ecnl is more attractive to players from several standpoints (cost/travel/hs soccer). so reign needs to develop their own players and promote from within, we will see how this model works in time but it still looks to be very viable.

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If your son played for him and it was a good experience why did the sounders academy not pick up his contract?

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This is wild, considering how many 02/03 players Reign let go two years ago pre-tryouts when they thought they'd be deluged with fresh talent. Instead, a lot of the girls they pushed out landed happily in ECNL and more have subsequently left Reign for ECNL so they can play high school. Reign did indeed have 3 players get called into Natl Team camp; the 03 goalie has been on the national team for past 3 years. The origins of that team were in Seattle United, with a strong core of girls that had a top national ranking for a couple years running. Now those players is spread all over Seattle's DA and ECNL.

Amy Griffin seems like a good comunicator based on this email. Still wonder why coaches were let go though.

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If your son played for him and it was a good experience why did the sounders academy not pick up his contract?

I think he was a mid-year sub? Don't know but certainly haven't heard anything negative.

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I thought they would last 2 more years but now think this is the end for them.

Didn’t everyone think the Titanic was too big, strong and expensive to fail...?

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reign is fine, all the A teams have short rosters right now as they have not yet incorporated players from the reserve squads, the older ones who have all been playing hs soccer. they're starting to call some of them up now, in fact as early as this weekends games. there are a decent number of talented reserve players who will end up helping those A teams.

the player poaching pathway for reign to grow rosters is pretty closed off now as ecnl is more attractive to players from several standpoints (cost/travel/hs soccer). so reign needs to develop their own players and promote from within, we will see how this model works in time but it still looks to be very viable.

The reserve program has a lot of potential, but those running the club and the DA teams will need to pay a lot more attention to it and the stronger players on those teams for the program to remain viable after this year. DA coaches and technical staff aren’t ever at reserve games or training sessions, and there aren’t a lot of reserve players getting regular training with the da teams (and few if any reserve players have been called up for DA games, apart from a few for the struggling 06 team). Those problems are on top of the broader problem of having combined age group teams because they weren’t able to attract enough players to their hastily organized tryouts last year. The program is priced at a significant premium to other clubs, and no one will be willing to pay that premium and stay with the program beyond this year if there isn’t a high degree of integration with the DA program and a real pathway to the stronger players getting opportunities with the DA teams.