LAGSB - what’s going on??

lafalafa said:
So you've been misrepresent who you really are, pitching all kinds of this about things the girls programs, tryouts, etc yet you just happen to know all these details about the boys program & yet have never posted anything in the boys thread before.

Really now tell us who you really are? Paying parent of a girl in the SB program,. Coach, board member which is it now?

Guess it's no mistake that the SB mailing address is right near the bullpen and your hiding some more BS

image498295.jpg
Click to expand...

You are crazy and I disagree with your points 100%! So not true.
 
Dos Equis said:
It is not surprising that a neutered LAGSB website and little public information would lead to speculation and rumors. Combine that with a lack of appreciation, and indeed outright suspicion, for individuals who take on the typically thankless job it is to be on the admin/board side of club soccer, and you get conspiracy theories and delusions of fat cat bankers and hedge fund managers who are turning a generally money losing activity into some wealth creation scheme. Just like most sports team ownership activities, these tend to be vanity projects, not profit centers.

Perhaps a link to whoever "Steel United" is might help stop some of the speculation.
Click to expand...
The rumors started swirling before the website was changed. It appears the change to the website occurred when the announcement came out. Sure, being on the board is probably a thankless position, but I have never been on one. JB Frost became club president, well one could say process of elimination over the course of the last few years. And, yes conspiracy theories and delusion from others posting. I do not have a website for Steel United. What I did find are articles about them from the past.
 
This is definitely an interesting corporate entity structure, wonder if there's an offshore company in the Cayman Islands somewhere in the mix. Seems like someone saw an opportunity in the roughly $13B youth sports market and wants to monetize at scale. Now you can add Steel United somewhere in the org chart. I've always wondered why soccer clubs can operate as non-profits; I get what they say their mission is, but it seems like a pretty big loophole to me.

A few links:
Parent company -- Steel Partners -- https://www.steelpartners.com/
Steel Sports -- https://steel-sports.com/
UK Elite, Portfolio company of Steel Sports -- https://steel-sports.com/our-portfolio/uk-elite/
https://ukelite.com/
Subsidiary of UK Elite that operates teams -- https://thefootballclubusa.com/
 
The interesting question might be why someone is calling this "Steel United" rather than "The Football Club USA," which apparently has acquired clubs in 6 states (the latest being the Jersey United Club in Spring 2018 and the John Smith club in Massachusetts in Summer 2018). Perhaps this is something different and new and Steel Sports is trying to innovate. If not, and the name thrown around is just a placeholder for another FCUSA franchise, then you could probably find out more about how things will go here by investigating the other locations in places like Massachusetts, Texas, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. They claim to be the fastest growing youth soccer club in the US and I don't doubt it given that they literally have gobbled up clubs over the last two years and appear to have something like 170 teams and 2,750 players now
 
The latest development is that LAGSB (not the defecting directors/coaches) circulated to team admins that the new Boys' Technical Director for LAGSB is Paul Krumpke, men's head coach Loyola Marymount University, which admins (at least ours) forwarded to parents.

FWIW, being a parent of a kids in the boys program, communication was never great, even face to face, with the handful of boys directors I interacted with (lots of dropped balls). It was difficult to understand why club fees were so high--a couple of clubs kids left our team to were 20%-30% lower (too many directors maybe?). The coaching quality varied a lot based on the coach, which undercutting the whole idea of having director overseeing combined practices on Friday. The boys directors seemed unresponsive (maybe too busy running tournaments and UK Elite? I don't know).

Anyway, I would hesitate to follow that cast of characters anywhere myself, and I don't see how involving a new entity will fix those problems, unless corporate is looking to lose a lot of money for a tax write-off. But if they figure it out and everybody wins, great!
 
It will be interesting to see how the girls side reacts. Looks like a large amount of revenue walking out the door and the girls side has made a big play of offering lots of scholarships to lure players from other clubs this year. If the revenue for the girls DA ever went away the girls side would be in real jeopardy.
 
Paul Krumpe was the DOC the Exiles turned to when they broke apart. Mr. Frost, as I recall, was effectively the head of Exiles during its break-up, and was most recently listed as President of LAGSB.

As for FCUSA, the question is what are the benefits of such an affiliation, and will the people/coaches in charge locally have the desire and wherewithal to take advantage of them.

Past experience is often the best predictor of future behavior. The good news is that it is still tryout season.
 
Sunil Illuminati said:
If the revenue for the girls DA ever went away the girls side would be in real jeopardy.
Click to expand...

Can you clarify what you mean by this? My understanding is that LAG (MLS Club) operates the LAG Girls Academy while LAGSB (an affiliate) runs a successful girls program in the South Bay with teams participating in SCDSL and DPL. What is the revenue that flows from LAG Girls DA to LAGSB? LAG Girls Academy does offer a fully funded girls DA program in which LAG has invested, so LAG changing their approach or willingness to invest would seem to impact LAG Girls Academy but not LAGSB (except to the extent that the perception of LAGSB as a feeder to LAG Girls Academy is impacted).
 
sdb said:
Can you clarify what you mean by this? My understanding is that LAG (MLS Club) operates the LAG Girls Academy while LAGSB (an affiliate) runs a successful girls program in the South Bay with teams participating in SCDSL and DPL. What is the revenue that flows from LAG Girls DA to LAGSB? LAG Girls Academy does offer a fully funded girls DA program in which LAG has invested, so LAG changing their approach or willingness to invest would seem to impact LAG Girls Academy but not LAGSB (except to the extent that the perception of LAGSB as a feeder to LAG Girls Academy is impacted).
Click to expand...

You are correct. There is to my knowledge no direct financial tie between the two entities. However. Should the MLS group ever withdraw funding for the DA, which is obviously a major benefit, it will unquestionably have a knock on effect to the South Bay entity which primarily positions itself as the gateway to a heavily subsidized/free Academy program and bases much of it's recruitment on that premise.
The SB entity has enticed players into the club with a message of a direct pathway to a free academy, as well as significant scholarship efforts this year to attract new talented players. They have used the financial side as the heavy bargaining chip. If there are any financial discrepancies - non payment of coaches as has been suggested, then I believe big picture it could create future issues for the girls side of the club.
 
Sunil Illuminati said:
If there are any financial discrepancies - non payment of coaches as has been suggested, then I believe big picture it could create future issues for the girls side of the club.
Click to expand...
Coaches not getting paid is an unconfirmed rumor. I have asked around and have not yet heard of a coach being paid late. If you know of a specific example then please DM me.
 
Hmmm. This all seems very strange. For what it is worth, I don't think choosing a "club" is the way to go. We all should be doing our homework to know who the LEGITIMATE coaches are in our player's age group. If you are lucky to find one that is always creating good teams, developing a style, improving individuals, then you are one of the few. Maybe families in that area should really take a good look at options.
 
Reads like a regular pulp fiction, just need Winston wolf to clean up now

images


Seriously PK is a good but he's going to need a lot of help
 
Yikes lots of baggage in this thread, reminds me of the whole Fullerton Rangers boys blowup few years ago when the Director was fired and a bunch of financial discrepancies where discovered. They seemed to recover after a house cleaning, audits, better communication so might be time for this Org to do the same. Some new leadership perhaps?, more transparent communications and financial controls appear to be needed in order to clean things up.

Our director used to be with this club at the beginning of the mergers so I wonder what he would say about this now ? besides being disappointed
 
The Steel Sports and Football Club USA sound just like GPS Global Premier Soccer - lots of hype, behind the scene relationships with promises of "National Camps" etc. GPS is apparently run by a marketing genius with a degree from Harvard. So much money in youth soccer and now individuals with financial knowledge/expertise get it and are capitalizing on that....

https://www.globalpremiersoccer.net/whatwedo

they also makes similar claims to Football Club USA and when you try to look into it and really find out what they are doing and where the teams actually are it is a bunch of smoke and mirrors.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top