You don’t think they will get MLS next AD? They seem to give MLS next AD to just about anyone. If they get AD, they can tell the parents they have the full pathway. They may just survive.
AYSO UNITED
- Thread starter zags77
- Start date
There’s no rhyme nor reason why anyone gets mls next ad let alone mlsn. Bulls? Juventus? Lasc after going in with e64? Oaks (at least I get the let’s stick it to eagles thing)? But at the same time Santa Monica (same coverage areas as Juventus….punishment to avoid too many Albion’s?) deserved it from an org point of view (already ea), SoCal elite from a merit point of view, and downtown la from a coverage/dei point of view. Depends who they have in their back pocket I suppose and they’ll need to drop “everyone plays”. How good are they with politics?.
. Are they capable of the dog and pony show the bulls pulled out when they got mlsn?. in whose backyard is the region that would go for it? 
Ps this last part is the most legally problematic. Technically it’s a potential legal issue if clubs are colluding with other clubs not to admit direct competitors with their geographic area and while it’s not proof of anything there do appear to be regions of responsibility: oaks Ventura county, the bulls took on east San Fernando valley, Albion riverside. The main thing that messes with this is the former Laufa now Albion…was originally based in the area around Griffith park but has seemed to drift into Downey and then towards Long Beach.
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zags77
SILVER ELITE
Grace....rumors swirling that Culver City FC is still in the hunt for being added to MLS2 for 26/27.....There’s no rhyme nor reason why anyone gets mls next ad let alone mlsn. Bulls? Juventus? Lasc after going in with e64? Oaks (at least I get the let’s stick it to eagles thing)? But at the same time Santa Monica (same coverage areas as Juventus….punishment to avoid too many Albion’s?) deserved it from an org point of view (already ea), SoCal elite from a merit point of view, and downtown la from a coverage/dei point of view. Depends who they have in their back pocket I suppose and they’ll need to drop “everyone plays”. How good are they with politics?.
Ps this last part is the most legally problematic. Technically it’s a potential legal issue if clubs are colluding with other clubs not to admit direct competitors with their geographic area and while it’s not proof of anything there do appear to be regions of responsibility: oaks Ventura county, the bulls took on east San Fernando valley, Albion riverside. The main thing that messes with this is the former Laufa now Albion…was originally based in the area around Griffith park but has seemed to drift into Downey and then towards Long Beach.
Mind blowing how these decisions are being made....
Rollonyoubears
SILVER
I'm assuming City SC EC will get some of them too.
sandiegofutbolguy
BRONZE
If the master manipulators are doing their job properly.
I tend to agree with the last statement, particularly as a "cultivate interest" program, but I'd quibble with some of the details and implications before it.
AYSO Core is inexpensive, but at least in some areas, is very marginal at higher ages, and very hit/miss even at lower ages. Both my kids did AYSO Core, and the experiences were highly contingent on the volunteer coaches and team enthusiasm. Additionally, there will be kids who do not play soccer on each team, and the experience for anyone skilled (even at a young age) will be pretty marginal. I would not recommend Core for anything other than a casual exercise program, beyond around 8-10.
Extra is better, but not SoCal flight 1 level in many cases. My son also did Extra pre-covid; we were around a flight 2-3 level, I'd estimate. We absolutely had some marginal kids on the team as well, and this was impacted by lack of options. The coach may care more, but there's no world in which our experience was remotely close to a high flight SoCal League team. All Stars teams are generally better than Extra, at least in our area.
United has been better in some cases, depending on the teams and regions (ie: there are United teams which are on-par with every SoCal League flight). But also, hit and miss depending on the area (in our area, highest level United team was SoCal F2).
Side note: If AYSO hadn't been so risk-averse coming out of Covid, and resumed their program a year earlier when everyone else did (particularly since all their activities were outdoors), we might still be playing Extra/United. We mainly went to club because it was the only option at the time, and I know many families in the same situation. AYSO really shot themselves in the foot with that obvious blunder, and probably set back their program significantly as a result. The AYSO leadership is 100% to blame for that failure, though.
I think there's a lot of perceived value for a club, in terms of getting into one of the higher level leagues (both for attracting and retaining quality players). I know there's an interview and evaluation process, but I don't know the specifics.
That would be insane. Nothing against Culver City but you’ve got it in the shadow of two clubs still trying to build (bulls and Juventus) and one that’s been creeping northward (Albion la/laufa) nearby a club you dumped (Santa Monica) and one that had a hard time of it (steel United). I dont even think they have ea so it will be exactly another bulls/juventus situation???? The things Culver City does have going for it are the leadership and the Pulisic connection. It leads me to think that the one consistency in the mlsn/mls2 awards is how much leadership and the shinny baubles people can pull out (Prince Harry, del piero, Pulisic) plays a role rather than what the club can actually do to build in the time period, the facilities, the record or the need to serve particular communities. It’s a good ol boys club.
The problem that ayso had coming out of Covid was that it relied on a volunteer system. It wasn’t just blue states though the blue states did take longer to gear up particularly California. People were more willing to take a (perceived) risk for a pay check as a coach or a ref rather than a volunteer (whose life was likely upended anyways by the chaos and didn’t want to take on more). My father and I were both volunteers pre covid. He never went back to it and I only jumped back in to mentor my kid when he did service hours. The limiting factor in our region for team numbers is still people willing to coach (at least up to u12).
In fairness to the club and MLSn (and without comment on the specific situation), there are a couple points to suggest it's not all about bias and baubles:
- Culver City FC has some quality teams, which are currently competing at the level of other MLSn AD teams at least
- MLS has explicitly said they do not consider club size or influence in that decision, so nominally inclusion does not automatically go to larger and/or more established clubs
As I said, I do not know the specifics of the decision making process, so I cannot speak to that, and/or confirm or deny any rumors. I also have no idea if Culver City FC is durable enough to compete at that level over time. But at present, they have at least a few teams which could (on paper, at least), and the club doesn't seem to be significantly smaller than the others mentioned either (in terms of serving communities). My 2c, anyway.
My understanding was that in our region, they probably had the volunteers, but the organization was dead-set against it, so it was a non-starter. I remember having a conversation with one of the other volunteer coaches around this at the time (I'd been helping coach the Extra team), and the impression was that the community was willing to participate, but AYSO itself was extremely risk averse (far more than the community in general), so most parents looked elsewhere. By the time they eventually started up again, the exodus had already happened.
That's a limited perspective, though. I just know that I was one of the many parents who looked elsewhere, and haven't gone back.
It doesn’t seem to be about the competition level. Juventus had some SoCal flight 2 teams when they made the jump. Bulls came out of nowhere. SoCal elite had teams that could compete against mls hg teams and didn’t make the cut. I don’t have any scoop either but if they do make the cut at this point (not just from SoCal) the two biggest factors would seem to be: coaching staff credentials and the shinny baubles a club can trot out.
I can't speak to the qualifications of SoCal Elite, but CCFC (again, on paper) seems like they have probably a stronger program than either LA Bulls or Juventus. My impression is that in those cases, it may have indeed been about the baubles. Fwiw, I do think coaching credentials (and admin, etc.) is also a factor, as I understand it (probably trying to predict if a club can sustain a competitive level).
I just don't think it's as insane as you seem to think. But, in the interest of transparency, I do have some amount of bias also.