LAGSB - what’s going on??

Soccer43 said:
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.
Click to expand...

The money in Youth Team Sports is not very concentrated, and the margins are pretty low. The professionalization of the coaching and leagues has been the source of most of the increase in costs and revenues. Two thirds of most youth team budgets are spent on coaching salaries, reimbursements and benefits. Frankly, for those behind Steel, there are a lot easier ways to make money. Speaking from experience, when finance groups/individuals get into youth sports, it is either because their kids are involved and they are trying to contribute (or improve what they see as a poorly managed enterprise) or it is a vanity project. What used to be a part time or volunteer endeavor has become a career/salary for a lot of former players, but it is not a wealth creator.

If LAGSD did have any financial difficulties, it is just evidence how thin the line between breakeven and insolvency is for many clubs.

An experienced coach who has not burned any bridges in this situation would be smart to take their team to a proven club, versus taking the risk of a new consolidator, in my opinion. That may require educating parents or managing egos of those concerned about where their team fits in the pecking order, but in the world of DA and ECNL, can we finally admit that teams not playing in those leagues tend to find their correct level of competition in the remaining options, and any talk of which league is better is generally a distant tertiary concern to the coach and team you select.
 
The GPS organization doesn't seem to be having all of those costs- they are forming "partnerships" or "association s" with existing clubs and marketing their own tournaments, "national camps" and the Bayern accademies which cost $30,000. That's why I said smoke and mirrors where it doesn't seem they are funding the usual youth soccer business that isn't necessarily profitable.
 
We are in MA and I can tell you first hand that both GPS & FCUSA, if nothing else, have figured out how to make $ in the world of you soccer. Both are expanding at a rapid rate, gobbling up smaller clubs at every opportunity. Both clubs run lots and lots of camps & tournaments, and have a ton of players spread across multiple regions. Their ceiling is NPL, as neither is in DA or ECNL, so they cater to the large segment of the club soccer market that is above town travel but below DA/ECNL.

GPS is very expensive, something like $3,500 for mid level U11–U14 teams. But, people love that Bayern patch that is right up in the corner of all their uniforms.
 
Calisoccer11 said:
I hope it works out for those teams that move over. I always thought the draw of LAGSB was the slight chance/opportunity to make it to the Academy. I don't know if they ever promoted kids from within but they sure do have some talented and athletic kids on some of the "Elite" teams.
Click to expand...
The coach of LAGSB '08s used to be the coach of the LAG U-12 academy for the team they formed until the program was scrapped. 99% of the kids on that team came from other teams outside of LAGSB.

These changes to LAGSB could have been the reason LAGOC expanded a team in LA, to keep the Galaxy presence in the area.
 
timbuck said:
Our club accepts various forms of payment. And we are happy to work out a payment plan.
2z7mq6f.jpg
Click to expand...
He almost took one for the team
 
Surf Zombie said:
We are in MA and I can tell you first hand that both GPS & FCUSA, if nothing else, have figured out how to make $ in the world of you soccer. Both are expanding at a rapid rate, gobbling up smaller clubs at every opportunity. Both clubs run lots and lots of camps & tournaments, and have a ton of players spread across multiple regions. Their ceiling is NPL, as neither is in DA or ECNL, so they cater to the large segment of the club soccer market that is above town travel but below DA/ECNL.

GPS is very expensive, something like $3,500 for mid level U11–U14 teams. But, people love that Bayern patch that is right up in the corner of all their uniforms.
Click to expand...

I think only GPS club in MA is in DA.

I think the main way to make money is through the uniforms and by running their own tournaments.

GPS has the right to use Bayern logo in USA. So small clubs without DA/ENCL make affiliation deal with GPS to use Bayern patch.
Sometimes clubs keep their name while affiliated and sometimes they change the name to GPS.

They also have their own national tournaments. GPS teams across the country get together for a tournament.
Then select players for regional and national teams. almost like a separate soccer world.

GPS definitely have figured out how to make money.
 
i_am_taxed said:
I think only GPS club in MA is in DA.

I think the main way to make money is through the uniforms and by running their own tournaments.

GPS definitely have figured out how to make money.
Click to expand...

Don't kid yourselves. All the suits (Brooks & Track) have figured out how to make money. The only guys not making money are the volunteers who are doing it for the love of the game.
 
El Clasico said:
Don't kid yourselves. All the suits (Brooks & Track) have figured out how to make money. The only guys not making money are the volunteers who are doing it for the love of the game.
Click to expand...
TBF isn't the point of starting a business to make money? If "volunteers" want to be compensated then stop volunteering and find a paying position somewhere else, nobody is forcing them to work below what they feel they are worth. The point of volunteering is just that... to volunteer
 
StrikerOC said:
TBF isn't the point of starting a business to make money? If "volunteers" want to be compensated then stop volunteering and find a paying position somewhere else, nobody is forcing them to work below what they feel they are worth. The point of volunteering is just that... to volunteer
Click to expand...
In some cases “volunteers” get credit towards Club Fees.
 
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...
Oh, and to add the address your referring to was brand new the day you posted this rubbish. The previous club address which was just used the day prior is in a different location. Therefore it’s obviously a temporary one. But, you caught me. I was hiding that BS!
 
Did those Galaxy SB coaches go to Vegas Cup and then this all broke out after? I think I saw many of the SB teams were playing there.
 
jrcaesar said:
Did those Galaxy SB coaches go to Vegas Cup and then this all broke out after? I think I saw many of the SB teams were playing there.
Click to expand...
Rumors began to initially swirl at that time. Yet, the rumors were far from what actually ended up occurring.
 
StrikerOC said:
TBF isn't the point of starting a business to make money? If "volunteers" want to be compensated then stop volunteering and find a paying position somewhere else, nobody is forcing them to work below what they feel they are worth. The point of volunteering is just that... to volunteer
Click to expand...

Nearly all of the soccer clubs I have encountered in SoCal so far—Galaxy SB included—are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and registered as charities with the state of CA.

So, on paper at least, they are organizations with a stated charitable purpose. They are, by nature, not supposed to be businesses generating profits, and for this reason (generally speaking, and not giving tax advice here), income related to their charitable purpose is not taxable.

In practice, many nonprofits are not profitable simply because a handful of their directors draw very nice salaries at the expense of the organization’s purpose. This is espcially true outside of soccer clubs, and may be true about a few clubs, but definitely not true of all of them. I don’t know about Galaxy SB specifically.

On the flipside, some nonprofits look like they are turning a profit because they make it a point to accumulate cash for some long-term purpose, which they don’t always disclose (like schools or hospitals raising money for a new wing, or a club saving money for major field improvements).

There’s some leeway, and some organizations push the boundaries, but generally, if an entity organizes as a 501(c)(3), it exists to carry out its charitable purpose, not to generate profits like a for-profit business.

Whether that’s how any given club (or any other charity) actually operates is a whole other ball of wax.
 
jrcaesar said:
Did those Galaxy SB coaches go to Vegas Cup and then this all broke out after? I think I saw many of the SB teams were playing there.
Click to expand...
Well I think it began by begin of fall I had reached out to the boys youth director who no longer part of southbay ——> steel United now. With some concerns questions regarding the club gave me some bs answer a month or two later, coach telling me he might moved to a new club after a season ended.
 
Footbollah said:
Nearly all of the soccer clubs I have encountered in SoCal so far—Galaxy SB included—are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and registered as charities with the state of CA.

So, on paper at least, they are organizations with a stated charitable purpose. They are, by nature, not supposed to be businesses generating profits, and for this reason (generally speaking, and not giving tax advice here), income related to their charitable purpose is not taxable.

In practice, many nonprofits are not profitable simply because a handful of their directors draw very nice salaries at the expense of the organization’s purpose. This is espcially true outside of soccer clubs, and may be true about a few clubs, but definitely not true of all of them. I don’t know about Galaxy SB specifically.

On the flipside, some nonprofits look like they are turning a profit because they make it a point to accumulate cash for some long-term purpose, which they don’t always disclose (like schools or hospitals raising money for a new wing, or a club saving money for major field improvements).

There’s some leeway, and some organizations push the boundaries, but generally, if an entity organizes as a 501(c)(3), it exists to carry out its charitable purpose, not to generate profits like a for-profit business.

Whether that’s how any given club (or any other charity) actually operates is a whole other ball of wax.
Click to expand...
Wait, does this mean i can right off my club fees as donating to charity on my taxes???
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top