GCAA Challenge & Classic Soccer Tryouts 2012

Yup! We had to have the police come out after a game once because of "those parents" who sat on the side belittling the kids and screaming at the parents. Fun times..... I've seen it on every level and age of play, in every sport that we've played.

 

wow, didn't know this thread went in this direction...i thought it just kept getting shamelessly bumpity bumped to keep showing up.

i have nothing more to say than thank you to those of you who said nice things about me and the other half...and that it means a lot coming from you because i know you know the deal....it's all about the 99+% who are happy and grateful.

 

It is being shamelessly bumped, in an indirect kind of way

 

Amen, Red...

Lots of complaints and never any solutions. If people truly cared, they would not be on here, hiding behind a screen name, taking sniper shots at the people who DO care, and DO take action to make things better. Perfect, no. Better, yes.

Until you put forth the hours that many of us do, you have no opinion worth listening to. Step up and do something productive or zip it.

 

and I love you all the more for it :mrgreen::grouphug:

oh and the mutual dogsitting in the back yard ...LOLOL

 

if someone goes to the tryouts. can you snap some shots of the redhead?

 

Looking at the responses, apparently each one has each other's back. Which is admirable. You all are willing to take credit well, it is the criticism that you all don't deal with to responsibly. Constructive criticism is supposed to make a person more aware of his or her mishaps, or wrong doings. Some, who have posted up here, know of their short comings and faults. Just can't quite understand, if something goes wrong, why no one is willing to take that credit? And as to your board meetings, why would someone attend that, only to waste further time. You all are the "over zealous" ones. I see there are guidelines and rules and regulations for parents code of conduct as well as coaches. From what I am seeing, a blind person reads one set of the rules and a perfect vision person reads the other. Any of you all need glasses??????? You all need to step back and observe, instead of being so protective and collaborative. With the attitudes and unwillingness to work well with others, this program will never over achieve or better it self. You have to be willing to take the blame as well as the credit.......SMH

 

As the person who just stepped down as the Rec Soccer Director I will give a response. I served in this position for 4 years (that's 8 seasons of soccer, plus 4 end of Spring season Festivals, plus 3 seasons of SDP, plus 2 summer camps that I was ultimately responsible for). I promise you that in addition to coaching 2 teams this VOLUNTEER time typically exceeded 40 hours per week (and more if you add in my wife's time). (When's the last time you VOLUNTEERED that much time to any one cause? If you haven't, do it for a few weeks... or even a couple of months... I promise you it is a life consuming choice.) I did this job for two reasons... 1) I care about ALL the kids in our community and wanted to try to give them the chance to participate in a positive youth sport experience as I was fortunate enough to have when I was a kid and 2) nobody else stepped up to volunteer to do the job (I offered to give it up on several occasions and not a single person made it known that they wanted to do it).

I am not a perfect person. In my capacity as the Rec Director I am sure I made mistakes. However, I was always open to discussions about ways to improve our program. Of the people who did voice their opinions, most wanted to keep the program unchanged or to go backwards. Most were not interested in the recommendations of USYSA or NCYSA... they were mostly interested in talking about how they played soccer when they were younger. Some even preferred that we play 8v8 or 11v11 soccer with goal keepers with 4 year olds. That's like saying we need to stop teaching any science that happened after 1980 in schools.... that simply doesn't make sense. Or that we need to bring in MLB pitcher for our 5 years olds in baseball... I mean, they gotta learn to hit 90 MPH fastballs at some point... right? :?

Based on the decision of the soccer committee, the soccer program at GCAA adopted a "player development" philosophy (as have most other soccer programs in the country). The primary idea is that we try to start teaching the youngest kids to love the idea of soccer (3 to 5 year olds)... then as they get older (6 to 8 year olds), teach them the basic skills (passing, dribbling, and finishing)... and as they get even older (9 and up), teach them about playing as a team (spatial awareness, teamwork, positioning, goalkeeping, etc.). Believe it or not... this actually works pretty well when done correctly. And as a person that has coached at least 1 and usually 2 teams for the last 12 seasons I have seen it work. I have seen my own kids, as well as the other kids in our program improve their skills and soccer playing ability.

Additionally, we have tried to make our program about sportsmanship and citizenship. When dealing with children of such young ages... sometimes you have more success than others. Honestly, much of this starts in the home.... some kids simply have better role models than others. Some parents try to re-live their youth sporting careers through their children.... most of the time that leads to disappointment and/or frustration for the parents and/or the children. Hence the comments that started this whole thread "THOSE PEOPLE" who scream at their kids and get too worked up over a child's game. As a coach, I promise you that my gauge of success has nothing to do with wins and losses... my yardstick is as follows: 1) did the kids have fun?, 2) did the kids learn something positive?, and 3) do they want to come back and play another day? If I can answer "yes" to all 3 then I have done my job as a coach of youth rec sports.

I have tried my best to be a good role model for all the children on the field... both on my teams and others. I have congratulated every child during and after games when I see them do great things. I have never screamed at a child during soccer in anger and rarely raise my voice at them. I have never cursed at a child. I see kids go out of their way to come up and say "hey" to me no matter where I am around town whether I was their coach or not (they know me and have a positive opinion of me from the soccer fields)... and I am always happy to speak to them. So... if my passion for the kids... or seeing the soccer program improve is, or has been seen as, "over zealous"... that is a critique I can handle. What I can tell you is that for all the patience I have for the children... I sometimes found it difficult to be patient with some parents and some coaches. Some just didn't/don't "get it". They really are missing the point of Recreation sports for kids (usually elementary school kids). As a director I was always in a catch 22.... I could help get rid of bad coaches... but then there were not enough volunteers to coach the number of kids that we had that wanted to play... or I could do my best to try to help improve the bad coaches (which was normally taken as a personal attack and those coaches often were defensive... or more often than not, simply didn't care to improve their ways and they usually only stayed around for a season or two anyway.)

We did implement Academy-style training in several age groups this past season to help with some of these problems. It worked a bit... but there is still more improvement that needs to happen. Of course, there are still a few parents and even a couple of coaches who were/are not happy with the changes. Of course they are in the minority. Most parents and coaches that I talked to were happy and excited to see the changes. Unfortunately the few that were unhappy are sometimes a big vocal and continue to do their best to undermine our "Mickey Mouse organization" (as one parent so "knowingly" put it).

Yes... as a group we do support each other... but it is not a blind loyalty. All of us are passionate enough about what we do that we volunteer our time. If you see a problem that needs correcting, I promise you that you will be welcomed to discuss your issue and likely given the opportunity to help fix it if you really feel passionately enough about it.

I'll leave it at this... as a parent, you have a CHOICE. Your child can play at GCAA, MCAA, FVAA, JUSA, CASL, or any other club in the area. As a parent, I will decide where my own kids will play. As a coach I will decide how to coach my team (as long as it is in agreement with the club in which I coach). As a Rec Director I HELPED decide how the program was run. You can do any of the above... or not.... your choice. If you truly feel passionate, get up from behind the computer and volunteer your help (if you aren't already)... don't just sit and throw stones at those that are trying to make a difference.

And I am done... I will have no further response on this board regarding this issue. It is frequently the same thing. People complain about HOW something is being done rather than being grateful that it is getting done at all.

Sincerely,
Jeff Martin
Ex-GCAA Rec Soccer Director

P.S. So as to not completely hijack this thread... Don't forget about travel tryouts next week!!!

 

Word!!!!!!!!!


........Or in Jeff's case MANY WORDS! :lol:


Ya'll come on out next week!! Hope to see you there!

Oh,and keep posting .... keeps it near the top :mrgreen:

 

And YOU are crazy!

 

Valued issues and points brought up. I have never disagreed with any of the points on the academy style teaching tactics. This is an absolute wonderful way to teach children the game of soccer. Been involved with that style of method for quite some time. Actually, long before surrounding associations decided to adopt it as their own. The one complaint to that style of teaching is you need to have actual coaches or players that can teach correct form and have used the skills they are teaching. I understand that there are bad coaches and over aggressive parents who voice their dislikes to certain ideas. But, have you ever once thought that some may know that the way the teaching is being presented may be incorrect. Throw ins can be easily a prime example of an improper taught skill. Teaching kids to drag their foot, hear the noise of their foot dragging will help eliminate a jump throw in. Showing them what part of their foot to pass with or take a shot with, will enable kids to become interested in soccer. I also know that some of the coaches have never even played the sport. I understand that this is only a recreational league, wouldn't expect for a child to attend a couple of practices and become a soccer playing machine. If all you volunteers are so compasionate about being out there, why not be more selective if you do have an abundance of coaching prospects and select the more experienced ones to assist in the training process of the players. The coaches that coach their own children, that have never played the sport, perhaps may need more fundamental skills to be taught to them in order to be a better teacher. Apparently, I have a heart for the kids to excel while they are playing. Great sportsmanship is critical. Being a citizen on and off the field is more critical. Being a friend to the children is the most critical. Win or Lose is just a column figure. It denotes an out come, but keeping the children progressing and interested is the ultimate goal.

 

Boys Rescheduled

Due to current weather conditions and field conditions,
with the safety of all kids involved the
Boys tryouts are being rescheduled to
Monday June 4th
and Tuesday June 5th
​

** U09 - U12 will have their 2nd day of tryouts on Monday June 4th starting at 5:30 pm ending at 7:00 pm
(none on Tuesday June 5th for U09-U12 age groups)

** U13 - U15 will have both tryouts reschedule since last night was rained out. On Monday June 4th from 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm and Tuesday June 5th again from 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm