Karlton Athletic
SILVER
This is interesting:
LA City United
- Thread starter Karlton Athletic
- Start date
Especially people who can't afford the travel league. I love this and I've always said, "free soccer for all kids!!!"
aong cangkol
SILVER
They should not even try to join ECNL, DA, etc.
People who need free stuff cannot afford "letter" leagues travel anyway. NPL travel is already too much for them.
It will be interesting if they provide multiple training location because this will allow kids who are currently cannot join anything because their parents have to work and get home around 7pm (perhaps 70% of LA family in this condition, some commutes 2 hr one way).
I really hope this will take off, imo they should leverage AYSO existing structure to speed up the process, essentially creating and selecting talented players from AYSO players. Similar to AYSO extra/all-star selection. This program and city funding can provide the professional training coach and structure that AYSO is lacking.
Curious if anyone besides me is keeping up with this club/program; they appear to be doing quite well (external perspective), particularly for a new club. Their 2011B NPL team is basically at the MLS Next level in terms of rankings, and their lower-level teams for that age did quite well also.
Anyone have an insider perspective on how parents with kids on the team feel, any drama, etc.? It seems like it might be a pretty compelling option for a lot of parents, based on an external perspective.
Anyone have an insider perspective on how parents with kids on the team feel, any drama, etc.? It seems like it might be a pretty compelling option for a lot of parents, based on an external perspective.
Futbol2dmaxxx
SILVER
I have a friend whose child plays on the 2011B team, and while I won’t mention names, based on what he’s told me, it seems there are some issues within their club structure. 2011 NPL squad is made up of a mix of players from TFA SB, and Laguna FC, and while some of them are decent, the team tends to compete in lower-quality tournaments, despite claiming to play at an elite level. There’s little in the way of true development, and it appears the club operates more like an academy, dropping players when it suits them and wanting to win at all cost but what club doesn’t do that
As for the MLS Next level, I’m not sure how they measure up, but if you look at other MLS teams, like Albion or LA Bulls, it's clear that some of those so-called “elite” programs still have their issues. My buddy’s kid plays on the 2011B team, and from what he says, the program’s leadership — particularly the manager of the club or the park/recs director overseeing the program — seems to show favoritism, especially toward where his own child plays, which is the 2011C team.
Apparently, the coach of the B team can’t recruit new players outside of LA County due to strict rules, which means they’re left with players who didn’t make the A team or are on the C team. While both A & B team aquire players left and right. While the concept behind the structure might be good, the way it’s being executed doesn’t seem to be working well. The overall the direction of the program, reportedly led by Luan Lia, a former LA Galaxy player, seems not to have an idea of how to run a club. Of the entire club, only two coaches are actually licensed — the 2011 NPL coach and the B team coach.
There’s a lot of drama brewing now, with many kids from the 2011 A and B teams being told they’ll be dropped or will leave the program altogether. It seems like “free” isn’t always the best option when the quality of the experience doesn’t measure up.