# Club Responsibilities...



## etc1217 (Mar 14, 2018)

My DD has been playing club for the last 7 years so this isn't new to me but it is sad how it's becoming more of a business than actually developing the player these days, very sad!!

I just wanted to get your take on a situation that happened at our club...
Everyone knows that coaches/clubs are not beneath promising certain things to get a player on the team.  So our coach/club not sure who made the promise but promised reduced fees/dues but they pulled the player's card right after league due to non payment.  Apparently, the player paid what she thought was agreed upon, now the club is stating she owns more money.  The parent tried talking to the Board Member but she kept putting her off.  Now we are going to Vegas short a player due to this issue which is hurting the team, since we are already short as it is and the player is a starter as well.  Anyway, the amount is in the very low $100's.  At this point, we only have Vegas and Nationals left and for the amount of money they are asking her to pay, I think the club should just write it off since it is a minimal amount.  But they are holding the card hostage for the amount and then on top of everything else, the President of the club called the parent and yelled at her telling her she had to pay instead of being leveled-headed to try to work things out.

I know clubs have scholarship programs or give discounts to families that can't afford the total cost but if the club can't carry the burden without harassing  and nickel/diming the families for more money, then don't offer any scholarship/discounts.

I know, I know...it's club what else do you expect from it...just wanted to vent and see if this happens at other clubs.


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## coachsamy (Mar 14, 2018)

Club operating fees are not as much as what they charge. The biggest expense is field rental. Calsouth fees and league fees are not that much when combined together, so to me it sounds like some sort of shadiness going with the club people. Which club is this?


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## Dos Equis (Mar 14, 2018)

coachsamy said:


> Club operating fees are not as much as what they charge. The biggest expense is field rental. Calsouth fees and league fees are not that much when combined together, so to me it sounds like some sort of shadiness going with the club people. Which club is this?


Coaching fees are typically 2-3 times the expense of field rentals, for those clubs who collect them and operate with a payroll system. For those who let families/teams pay coaches directly, that is another red flag. 

More likely the coach promised more than the club agreed to, in my experience.


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## gauchosean (Mar 14, 2018)

What is being offered and what a player is expected to pay needs to be spelled out very clearly if it differs from the standard Club Agreement. In my experience when people don't talk about this up front and clearly write it out and agree to it; things will go bad. Mostly when a coach makes promises that he shouldn't be making, funny thing is rarely does the club go after the coach for the deceit.


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## AFC (Mar 14, 2018)

Looks like what you describing is that your coach promised something without club knowledge and it is now backfired.


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## coachsamy (Mar 14, 2018)

Dos Equis said:


> Coaching fees are typically 2-3 times the expense of field rentals, for those clubs who collect them and operate with a payroll system. For those who let families/teams pay coaches directly, that is another red flag.
> 
> More likely the coach promised more than the club agreed to, in my experience.


Even then the club and the coach should had some sort of agreement. Many clubs I know that allow families to pay the coach directly is so they charge what they want within the club's threshold and not a red flag per say. Of course there are clubs that charge $500-700 covering CalSouth, League, League Referees, Uniforms and Fields, meanwhile there are clubs charging a mortgage payment and doesn't include uniforms. So many crooks that is not even funny.


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## jrcaesar (Mar 14, 2018)

coachsamy said:


> Club operating fees are not as much as what they charge. The biggest expense is field rental. Calsouth fees and league fees are not that much when combined together, so to me it sounds like some sort of shadiness going with the club people. Which club is this?


Why does it have to be *shadiness *by the *club*? Why can't it be a *misunderstanding *by the player's *parents*, who now have dug their heels in and insist that they won't pay the balance? If every team has a player who owes $350 ("low 100's), that can easily be $20,000, $30,000 owed to the club that was not anticipated in annual budget. Every club member (parent) is affected if this were the case.


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## TangoCity (Mar 14, 2018)

What does the contract they signed say?


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## coachsamy (Mar 14, 2018)

jrcaesar said:


> Why does it have to be *shadiness *by the *club*? Why can't it be a *misunderstanding *by the player's *parents*, who now have dug their heels in and insist that they won't pay the balance? If every team has a player who owes $350 ("low 100's), that can easily be $20,000, $30,000 owed to the club that was not anticipated in annual budget. Every club member (parent) is affected if this were the case.


I seen it many times for many reasons that clubs come out with these debts out of the blue. Most clubs that are well managed financially have all of their families fully paid by the first week of September or the player won't play in league games, and saving the headaches. 

Making the math following your example of 20-30k the club must have over 57 teams, and collecting north of $855k from the other families (Averaging 11 paying families per team at ($1500x11) x 57 teams) in which that 20-30k becomes chump change. And to make it even more accurate most clubs that big settle their player debt before issuing the player card. 

And to make the assumption even better, this must be one of their top players, which will cause eventually for the coach or the families to walk away to a "better" environment.  This never ending story it has been the same for many years, only cast of characters change. Same script. 

Now taking that you are right and that family tried to pull a quick one, they should be completely ashamed of themselves and apologized to their teammates.  

But then I don't know much about Strikers South Bay, so I might be wrong altogether!


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## MWN (Mar 14, 2018)

etc1217 said:


> My DD has been playing club for the last 7 years so this isn't new to me but it is sad how it's becoming more of a business than actually developing the player these days, very sad!!
> 
> I just wanted to get your take on a situation that happened at our club...
> Everyone knows that coaches/clubs are not beneath promising certain things to get a player on the team.  So our coach/club not sure who made the promise but promised reduced fees/dues but they pulled the player's card right after league due to non payment.  Apparently, the player paid what she thought was agreed upon, now the club is stating she owns more money.  The parent tried talking to the Board Member but she kept putting her off.  Now we are going to Vegas short a player due to this issue which is hurting the team, since we are already short as it is and the player is a starter as well.  Anyway, the amount is in the very low $100's.  At this point, we only have Vegas and Nationals left and for the amount of money they are asking her to pay, I think the club should just write it off since it is a minimal amount.  But they are holding the card hostage for the amount and then on top of everything else, the President of the club called the parent and yelled at her telling her she had to pay instead of being leveled-headed to try to work things out.
> ...


Misunderstandings occur.  Was it the Club, Coach or Parent that said/heard the wrong thing?  Seems to me an easy solution is to simply pass the hat ... who can pitch in $20 to $30?  If you get 10 parents tossing in $30, you probably have solved the problem.


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## beachbum (Mar 14, 2018)

If it's in writing you don't have this problem.  I would think most good clubs put this in writing.


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## Nutmeg (Mar 14, 2018)

The only person hurt by all of this bullshi. is the kid that can’t play.


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## Goforgoal (Mar 14, 2018)

Nutmeg said:


> The only person hurt by all of this bullshi. is the kid that can’t play.


As is usually the case when people can't see the forest through the trees. This was likely a verbal agreement, made by someone who had no authority to do so, and the club is saying "uhhhh nope sorry". The parents feeling lied to and misled are taking a stand (it's probably the principal of the situation rather than the money), and in the end the kid and the kid's team suffers. Youth sports would be much better if grown adults didn't continually find ways to F it up.

My take: If I were the coach and I made the promise that couldn't be kept, I would pony up the money so the kid could play. In lieu of that, if I were the parents, I would pony up the money so the kid could play, then find a new coach/club next year the follows through with their promises.


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## timbuck (Mar 14, 2018)

How much do they owe?  Let’s start a Socal soccer go fund me page and get this kid back on the team!!!


Also-  if the family can’t swing the few hundred bucks, how was the player getting to, staying in and eating in Vegas?

Or is this a “principle” thing?  And parents want the coach/club to live up to their promise.


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## MA0812 (Mar 15, 2018)

If it's not in writing in the signed contract then it doesn't exist. Verbal agreements don't count. For better of for worse club soccer is a business. It's unfortunate that things like this happen as a result of adult agendas (parents/coaches) and impact children playing a game. Hopefully there is a resolution for this situation.


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## Soccer_newbie (Mar 15, 2018)

I'm guessing coach offered scholarship but club asking for minimum club fees (registration fee - typically low $100s, around $300).  Coach is probably collecting straight from parents for monthly coaching fee and he/she is waiving this fee for the scholarship player.  If this is the case, club should have resolved the issue with the family before league.  But this is an assumption.


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## soccer dude (Mar 15, 2018)

As a coach in my earlier years, I gave 1/2 scholarships to a few good players but documented it in a contract along with a monthly fee.  If I promised something, I honored it, even if the club came after me or her.  Plus, I held the player cards so not sure how the club got a hold of it.  If the club asked me for a player card, I would ask why and then do what I had to do to hold on to it, even if it meant paying it off because I made a bad promise.  The coach is to blame here.  In fact, at the end of the season the club told me I would not be receiving any money since I gave too many scholarships but that was my fault and I moved on.


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