I really appreciate dads and moms coming on here to share their stories. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law appreciate the information. My first year of club was insane. It started out with the coach watching my 6-year-old balling in Rec. Coach saw something special in my cheetah and invited her to one of her practices. She said she was putting together her squad for next season and offered my kid a spot on her U8 team. My first mistake was paying in full. Never pay in full, even for 10% off. My second mistake was keeping my child on her team after a few lies. Basically, she didn't recruit enough players for U8, so she found another half team of older U9 kids and put us in U9 without telling us until it was too late to say no. My kid was still 6 and super small. Coach told us at the last minute, and I felt pressure, so I just stayed. It was insane. My dd was not allowed to play up top because coaches' friends dd owned the spot and another friend's kid was Center Mid or the attacking mid. My kid was forced to play right back all season. Last and the worst of my first-year experience was the coach's husband. He was 6 4' and addicted to Chrystal Meth. I knew something was off with this dude all season and I really found out at State Cup. I told him (yelled) after holding it all in to "stop coaching my daughter and just let her play." Dude went pyscho on me and challenged me to a fight on the spot. I told him he was too big and a nutcase, and I left fast. He called later to say sorry and asked me to reconsider staying with the team because he was getting counseling for his drug habit. Last I heard he never reformed his ways and is divorced. My second year was way better. Third year of club was insane with a few parent fights and lots of backstabbing. Fourth and fifth year was amazing and best coach ever. Why best coach? He was honest, didn't cheat or steal from us. My wife actually baked him a pie and he wouldn't take it because he didn't want any parents to get the wrong idea. The parents put a cash gift together for him on Christmas as a token of "thank you" and he wouldn't take it. 6th year was amazing win of a Natty but lots of lies and bad behavior that made the Natty not so great for a parent after looking back. 7th year was full of big lies, big let downs and full of big rich assholes who only care about lining up their pockets with cash from dad. 8th year was even worse because of a real liar. 9th year we quit all together but came back part time for 9th and 10th years and coaches were amazing to close out club.
