I do wonder sometimes how parents and coaches see the whole pro club affiliation thing. We've had a couple of opportunities in the past 2 years to partner up with English pro clubs but it was an easy "no thanks" for me. I just saw it as a marketing gimmick and there didn't seem to be a huge benefit to our teams (other than access to a curriculum that wasn't much different to what we already implement).
I might be overly cynical but this is invariably how it sounds to me whenever I hear or read about a new pro club affiliation here in SoCal..."we are now affiliated with *insert pro club here* and we will get access to their world-class curriculum that will take your kid to the next level and maybe even be able to join said pro club after being seen by their experts who will visit once a year. Oh, and we will get new uniforms too."
Is there more to it than that? Genuine question and some of you might have inside info to enlighten me (and others).