Just my take.... June 2006
Any parent who has been a team parent, team administrator or team coordinator (take your pick) knows it is a thankless job. Hours of work a day for no real reward other than insuring that things run smoothly. I had to start from scratch because our last coach left our team with nothing, not even a bank balance, money or any equipment.*** I created spreadsheets to run the fundraising, checking account, team statistics, and more. I rescheduled all of our games that needed to be rescheduled, arranged for the referee fees, made sure that our trainer from England was given a bonus, assisted during tryouts, donated money to the team from our shop, donated money to the tournament, ordered and picked up uniforms and equipment, and communicated with the parents on a daily basis. I arranged for a Lazer Kraze event, gift certificates and cards for our trainers and coaches, scheduled the team party, sent flowers to a parent who was ill, arranged professional team photos and for a season and a half I wrote a 'highlights' for every single game to keep team morale high. And as this season progressed I did all of it while the coach and his wife fought me tooth and nail on everything.
At the beginning of the season when Bill F, the coach, told me to let him know what the parents were thinking both good and bad..... well, I actually believed that he was telling the truth. In fact, he wanted me to be the sole direct contact with the parents. So when I began to get phone calls and emails, along with being told in person that the parents wanted a new coach.....well I told Bill. Shoot the messenger is a saying for a reason. And Bill's position is an indefensible one. He knows nothing about soccer, cannot pass the ball to save his life, has never seen a soccer ball that he hasn't hit with his toe, runs like he is in a Village People 'YMCA' music video, is widely ignored by the boys who are now old enough to identify an ignoramus a mile away, and the real reason he became a coach has absolutely nothing to do with sharing knowledge or helping children. No, his true reason for becoming a coach in my opinion is to make sure that his little prince gets the most field time (a sad fact I discovered in keeping the team statistics) because his little prince needs to look like the best player on the field and later become prom king. I kid you not, Bill and Pam were overheard at a school function telling their then 9 year old son that he would be 'prom king one day.' Bizarre and sick but sadly true.
So in the team meeting after Pam F nearly crawled across the table and tried to rip off my eyebrows, and Bill shot his best pursed lips- raised eyebrows- angry look at me.....another parent confronted the pair and asked Bill and Betty exactly how far they felt they could take the team. Bill and his assistant coach, Betty K, agreed to step down if a professional coach was found. Well, over the course of the season Bill, Pam and Betty decided they liked the power of the bench and no professional coach was going to take over their job. Pierson would regularly ask me after games and practices why Bill, Pam and Betty glared at him and I told him I didn't know. I figured the Club President would honor his word that Pierson, one of the best players on the team, would not be cut without cause and insure that the parents' desire for a professional coach was fulfilled. I figured wrong, his word was nothing. (As a side note, I am not just saying Pierson is one of the best players on that team...I kept the statistics and communicated regularly with the trainers and other coaches within the club.)
So, Pam, Bill and Betty now have Pierson off of the team, but the real problem remains...horrible coaching. I feel absolutely terrible that I was not able to fulfill the requests of the parents by securing a professional coach. It is too bad that the boys will now suffer as a result of adult egos gone wild, trying to fulfill their own failed childhood dreams. Parents on other teams were telling new families at tryouts that our team was a bad one to go to because of the coaching. And other coaches laugh about Bill's sideline antics and his ridiculous phrases...like 'touch it'** which he screams every time the ball drops in front of a player. In fact, he uses no actual soccer terminology in his coaching, instead making up things like 'easy pass' and 'ball, ball, ball.' And he just shrieks and screams at the boys like a complete imbecile, saying nonsensical things that only illustrate his complete ignorance of the game.
The thing that really kills me about the situation we left behind is that all of the boys on that team are good players and nice boys from good families, and are paying good money for a select experience and are instead receiving a borderline recreational experience. One of the club directors of training said in the last club meeting that parent volunteer coaches must learn to let go of the teams at the U-11 level because a true professional coach is the only kind of coach that can train them in the complicated tactics of soccer. I guess Bill and Betty didn't have their listening ears on during that part of the meeting.
And now Pam plans on taking over the bookkeeping for the team and she told me at the beginning of last season that any money that goes into the account is 'team money' and what to do with it is a 'coaches decision.' I reminded Pam that our agreement was that fundraising money is earned by each player and that player should be able to decide what to do with it, after all they are the one that earned the money to begin with. Oh well, at least my money won't be Pam's 'team money' so it's not my problem.
So, Pierson moves on to a better team with a professional coach in a club that believes all boys deserve professional training, no matter if they are a premier player or a C4 player. I think that kind of attitude is a true soccer attitude and a better place to be. And I still hold out hope that Pierson may eventually play on a team with some of those friends again, this time with a qualified, professional coach.
Peter's Take: When bad people accidently do good things, while trying to be bad.
How Bad Things Turn Out for the Best: A New Perspective September 2006 Soccer Saga Comes to a Happy Conclusion Best of All Possible Outcomes
Before I knew with whom I was dealing, i.e. disingenuous, virulently ambitious and misguided people... Soap Opera Soccer
** Link is NC-17 Rated: ** My dirty joke on this**
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