SoCal Elite - exit stage left

Brav520 said:
does this give them the possibility to re-apply after next season, letter seems to suggest only next season

hate to see this , but I could see clubs absorbing entire So Cal Elite teams , poach their coaches , etc

i don’t know how you sell CSL to parents , or why CSL would even take them ( besides money).

is there anyway they can rectify this? Change leadership completely and beg for forgiveness?

The people who suffer the most are the players , and paying customers ( parents ) :(
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The affiliates are the most vulnerable to being poached by other clubs (other clubs that have access to SoCal league). That’s one of the reason some of the smaller clubs joined the big ones in both valleys (to get the facilities and back room they needed).

the core on the boys side depends on what happens with ea1. The lure of ea1 and continued campaign for mls next might be enough to keep them together. If ea1 pulls the plug the club will likely disintegrate. Golden state is the competitor in the area and will likely pull the better players.
 
Grace T. said:
The affiliates are the most vulnerable to being poached by other clubs (other clubs that have access to SoCal league). That’s one of the reason some of the smaller clubs joined the big ones in both valleys (to get the facilities and back room they needed).

the core on the boys side depends on what happens with ea1. The lure of ea1 and continued campaign for mls next might be enough to keep them together. If ea1 pulls the plug the club will likely disintegrate. Golden state is the competitor in the area and will likely pull the better players.
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yeah , maybe that saves them, but I think someone mentioned this earlier , why would EA or MLS next even take them considering all this uncertainty?

but I’m just not sure if I’m a parent at this club that I’m signing up for them next season considering all the uncertainty. I’d probably run far away , and if my child really liked the team I’d be reaching out to other clubs to see if they would take the team on.

2014-2017 had tryouts in December , likely registered and probably already made a down payment on the 2023 registration fees . What do those parents do?
 
Code said:
I don't know that would be a great strategy for CSL. How would CSL advertise the practice of picking up clubs that have been kicked out of other leagues due to their questionable integrity and inability to adhere to agreed upon rules and standards? "Come play in a league with the clubs who are willing to bend the rules and not uphold their word. It will be the Best!"
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But isn't that the foundation todays Club Soccer was built on?
 
Brav520 said:
yeah , maybe that saves them, but I think someone mentioned this earlier , why would EA or MLS next even take them considering all this uncertainty?

but I’m just not sure if I’m a parent at this club that I’m signing up for them next season considering all the uncertainty. I’d probably run far away , and if my child really liked the team I’d be reaching out to other clubs to see if they would take the team on.

2014-2017 had tryouts in December , likely registered and probably already made a down payment on the 2023 registration fees . What do those parents do?
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10% discount if you pay in full. I did that one year and then our coach left.
 
Jamisfoes said:
Could someone explain to me why they have tryouts before state cup? Makes it hard to prep for state cup when kids are thinking about leaving.
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100%. It's a huge distraction on everyone involved. My dd was recruited for over 8 months one year. The Doc recruiting her would show up to watch our games all the time. Our coach told the team to disregard the old man and his side kick and focus on winning The State Cup. Well, my dd already committed to the old man and his club and when asked by coach before State Cup, "are you thinking of leaving to join the old man? I can't lie bro so I told coach we already committed to the old man for next year but we will finish what we started and go for the gold at State Cup. My dd did her best but freaking Carlsbad Lightning beat us in quarter finals in OT. If I could do it all over again, I would just tell coach nothing and tell her let's talk after State Cup. She lost a Pac 12 player as well that year. I say not contacts or tryouts with other teams players under after The Cup.
 
VanMan said:
Short answer is yes, that would be a violation.

There was a very explicit email sent out back in October about what is and is not allowed under the tryout window policy. There are some pretty big loopholes in the policy, so if someone got popped for violating they were either oblivious or didn't GAF. Given the punishment here (and the language in the announcement), seems like the latter.
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What about Sunday scrimmages at the park put on by a Doc of another competitive club? No tryout, just go play soccer games. Doc and side kick ref the games and everyone has fun. Phone calls if you made next years team go out when open season starts. The top coaches watch the the top players all season so they know who they want.
 
RandomSoccerFan said:
It does seem like quite a statement that the league and club couldn't work out their issues over time, even for the most serious tryout violations. SoCal Elite currently shows as the 14th ranked Boys club in CA, and 45th Girls club in CA (21st club overall); 70+ teams with rankings within the last year or so. Top B2006B team is 9th in state, Top B2008 14th, Top B2011 11th, Top B2014 7th. Girls side isn't quite as strong, highest rated team is G2014 at 21st in state. If the club doesn't find a one-stop-shop to absorb all teams as is, it sure does seem like there must be quite a few talented players looking for spots at other competitive teams.
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All this reminds me of the Insurance business and the agents book of business. Top Coach(s) &n club, usually brothers or close family members that worked their asses off to build their brand over years and years. They build up to 100 teams ((book of business)) and that is not easy to do. We need regulation and promotion. Rules are made to be followed and obeyed, not broken. I feel bad for the players and the parents who pay to play their kids in the great game.
 
dad4 said:
I’m trying to understand the difference between an out of season tryout (Socal Elite) and an out of season invitation only training camp (Blues).

That’s not to throw shade at Blues. I see nothing wrong with Blues creating an extra chance for kids to play and get better. But I also see nothing wrong with SoCal Elite doing the same.
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The Blues Glue to success is their scouting and recruiting. They watch top players perform all season and then bring all those top players together for Sunday Scrimmages at the Great Parks in OC. The coach can then ref and watch the top top players play against each other and that is how you separate the top goats from the other goats. I was always "HOT" with my dd Docs and her coaches. HOT= Honest, Open and Transparent. Yes, my hotness hurt my dd chances at times but we both sleep well at night and we both value and love our sleep.
 
watfly said:
I could be wrong, but I have to believe there is a lot more to this story than just "out-of-season" tryouts. Every club I know has informal tryouts all year long. Granted a kid may have to wait to be rostered on the team based on league rules, but individual tryouts are still happening. Open tryouts are pretty much a waste of time anyway.
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Not for the club. This is where you find players for the "B" and "C" team and this right here is the sauce to keep the lights on, have nice fields and hire top coaches and top Doc. I also know some great players who were on the "C" team in 6th grade and now that "C" player starts on a Power 5 college team.
 
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mlx said:
LAFC just posted open tryouts for the younger age groups. Someone should tell them.
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It's an affiliate. LAFC isn't organized like many of the other clubs. LAFC is primarily concerned with recruiting and developing their academy. The other big superclubs (TFA, Surf, even So Cal Elite) built their systems by absorbing smaller clubs that wanted to play SoCal into their system (and providing them the backroom support as well). That's one of the reasons supposedly the LA Galaxy got out of the affiliates game....it was too much work to police the affiliates (everything from sexual harassment training to making sure recruiting is above boards) for what they got (a few kids and families becoming Galaxy fans while everyone else who didn't like them left with a bad taste in their mouth). I was frankly surprised when Real So Cal (which had a big backroom operation and a name which had been around for ever and already dominance over the west val) jumped on it (and why LAFC would want them, since they were ECNL). There has to be some reason for it but I've always scratched my head. In any case, this looks to be the East Valley affiliate.
 
Jamisfoes said:
Could someone explain to me why they have tryouts before state cup? Makes it hard to prep for state cup when kids are thinking about leaving.
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I concur.
I feel like season should run fall to fall, not spring to spring.

So tryouts late summer, then fall season to gel with new teammates, play some winter tournaments along the way, then state cup, then at the height of team's chemistry, play the big summer tournaments... then some down time and try outs again...

I don't understand the current set up:
team gets assembled spring/summer, play a bunch of tournaments with a new team, play fall league, tryouts during middle of fall league, play state cup knowing some kids won't stay..
 
crush said:
Not for the club. This is where you find players for the "B" and "C" team and this right here is the sauce to keep the lights on, have nice fields and hire top coaches and top Doc. I also know some great players who were on the "C" team in 6th grade and now that "C" player starts on a Power 5 college team.
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Agreed.

While it's a waste of time for trying to get on that ONE spot left open on the top team via a large club wide tryout as a player... but for the club, having 50-60 kids showing up to tryout is a lot of potential customers coming on to their turf... the coaches and DOC will make some speeches about how "we develop the best players here" "other clubs only care about winning" "we have a PATH to blah blah blah" :p

Even if they won't join a team... now they're on an email list for camps, future tryouts, etc. $$$
 
Brav520 said:
2014-2017 had tryouts in December , likely registered and probably already made a down payment on the 2023 registration fees . What do those parents do?
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If paid via credit card, submit a dispute/chargeback with the credit card company... It'll most likely be successful
 
Socal-Soccer-Dad said:
Agreed.

While it's a waste of time for trying to get on that ONE spot left open on the top team via a large club wide tryout as a player... but for the club, having 50-60 kids showing up to tryout is a lot of potential customers coming on to their turf... the coaches and DOC will make some speeches about how "we develop the best players here" "other clubs only care about winning" "we have a PATH to blah blah blah" :p

Even if they won't join a team... now they're on an email list for camps, future tryouts, etc. $$$
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I complained about big tryouts before. But it makes perfect sense why they did what they did. This is where big clubs have the advantage in keeping their first team together. They are not affected by 1-2 kids leaving because they can always call up kids from their second team. There are two type of players trying out for new teams. One is those who are truly unhappy and the other is those whose team lost players and is no longer competitive at the level last fall.
 
First type goes to the tryout before state cup. The second type goes to tryout after the state cup after hearing rumors that so and so is not coming back.
 
Socal-Soccer-Dad said:
I concur.
I feel like season should run fall to fall, not spring to spring.

So tryouts late summer, then fall season to gel with new teammates, play some winter tournaments along the way, then state cup, then at the height of team's chemistry, play the big summer tournaments... then some down time and try outs again...

I don't understand the current set up:
team gets assembled spring/summer, play a bunch of tournaments with a new team, play fall league, tryouts during middle of fall league, play state cup knowing some kids won't stay..
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Everyone needs to commit to 12 months with transfer rules and a time to leave and join greener pasture or stay and play another year and current club. If everyone is honest and no retaliation threats of being black balled and black listed is gone, then let truth and honesty rules the day. Thanks to all of you for your PMs of encouragement.
 
Grace T. said:
It's an affiliate. LAFC isn't organized like many of the other clubs. LAFC is primarily concerned with recruiting and developing their academy. The other big superclubs (TFA, Surf, even So Cal Elite) built their systems by absorbing smaller clubs that wanted to play SoCal into their system (and providing them the backroom support as well). That's one of the reasons supposedly the LA Galaxy got out of the affiliates game....it was too much work to police the affiliates (everything from sexual harassment training to making sure recruiting is above boards) for what they got (a few kids and families becoming Galaxy fans while everyone else who didn't like them left with a bad taste in their mouth). I was frankly surprised when Real So Cal (which had a big backroom operation and a name which had been around for ever and already dominance over the west val) jumped on it (and why LAFC would want them, since they were ECNL). There has to be some reason for it but I've always scratched my head. In any case, this looks to be the East Valley affiliate.
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I see this one was tweeked FYI to bring it more into line with the policy: seems like there may be a bit of jumping the gun.

It interesting. Technically the tryout policy could be read to prohibit advertisement (put up prior to the window) about future tryouts (to take place within the correct window). It's not clear, but the boards are currently awash with teams beginning to advertise their mid February tryouts.
 
Socal-Soccer-Dad said:
I don't understand the current set up:
team gets assembled spring/summer, play a bunch of tournaments with a new team, play fall league, tryouts during middle of fall league, play state cup knowing some kids won't stay..
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Current set up is based on allowing age groups to complete state cup before opening up tryouts and forming new teams. I believe this is why SOCAL is enforcing their new tryouts dates rule...in order to stop the trend where players were jumping ship from their team prior to state cup and state cup having to deal with teams that didn't have enough players.

Current setup does make sense as it also allows for tryouts to be staggered out across age groups. Most clubs probably would not be able to handle the logistics of having all age groups try out at the same time.
 
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