Where does the Money Go? (Take II)

[Carpediem]

Then how did the Club access the funds if they are separate? The Club or A representative from the Club would have to be named on the account.

During Our first year in club soccer we belonged to a smaller CSL club. There, 2 of us parents were asked to go to a specific bank and open a bank account with our 2 names yet under the club umbrella which was a non profit. We were given a special signed letter from the club giving us permission to do so. All club, uniform and tournament fees came to us and at specific times we paid the vendors or coach. The account was therefor under the non profit EIN but had our names on it. As someone who runs both for profit and non profit businesses I found the whole setup a little weird. I am very thankful we are now with a club where as a team manager our responsibilities are not attached to collecting club fees.
In the above circumstance though I can see how one could have gone in and had access to the moneys. Not sure if legalities but I could see from the bank stand point how the access would have been made. when we left to a larger club at the end of that year, another parent simply went in and had their name added as the cosigner. I never had to go in and do anything to be removed from the account which means my name didn't really mean anything compared to the letter and owner of the EIN number.

 

[MWN]

@galaxydad and @Carpediem

You both raise valid points. After my analysis (who's on first), I was contacted (PM) and informed of an additional corporation in the mix (CDA Futbol Club). After digging a little deeper here is what the public documents reveal:

(1) Strikers FC Inc., a mutual benefit corporation (formed in 2012) - Registered Address is 3917 Diamond Hill, Yorba Linda, CA 92886. CEO: Steven C. Patterson, Secretary: Kory Lynn Patterson, CFO: Danny Ray Patterson, all at 3917 Diamond Hill. Hereafter, the Patterson corp.

(2) CDA Futbol Club., a mutual benefit corporation (formed in Nov. 2015) - Registered Address is 18501 Parkvalle Ave., Cerritos, CA 90703, CEO: A Oscar Camargo, Secretary: Walter Camargo, and CFO: Pamela Rothwell, all at 18501 Parkvalle Avenue, Cerritos, CA 90703. Hereafter, the Camargo corp. The Bylaws of Camargo corp. vest all power in the 4 Board Members and not the members (3.1 of the Bylaws). The bylaws also state that at least 49% of the Board must be made up of non-interested persons (i.e. not compensated), including their relatives (there are red flags here because both father and son on are the board and would consititute 50%)

Neither corporation is registered with the California Attorney General's Public Registry of Charitable Corporations because neither corporation "holds funds or assets in trust for charitable purposes." This means the corporations are primarily operated to benefit the members of the corporation. This is odd because Camargo Corp. holds itself out as a 501(c)(3) and appears to be recognized by the IRS as a public charity. Because Camargo Corp. is new, its IRS Form 990 does not appear online yet, that said, it received its IRS ruling in May of 2016 and may now need to register.

Patterson Corp. is older and appears to be the legitimate licensee of the "Slammers FC" name because the "Slammers" name was licensed by Slammers FC to CDA Slammers FC on or about March 17, 2014 (http://cdaslammersfc.totalglobalsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/PRESS-RELEASE-CDA-SLAMMERS.pdf). That said, it is entirely possible that there was a different corporation in play (don't know) and/or the license agreement was entered into between Slammers FC and a Patterson/Camargo joint venture or partnership.

The biggest problem with all of this is the public websites of the Slammers licensee's are horribly confusing and potentially misleading to the public. At a minimum, reasonably disclosures are not made and the relationships between the entities are kept secret. How many corporations are actually being used? Are disclosures being made to the parents/players? What is the relationship between CDA Futbol Club and Strikers FC. Are they holding themselves out as a joint venture/partnership (publicly yes, but publicly they don't disclose anything on their website).

Bottom line, this is a huge mess and the failure to disclose by the organizations gives any parent harmed good cause for a refund and/or transfer of funds held in trust to another club.

 

[galaxydad]

@galaxydad and @Carpediem

You both raise valid points. After my analysis (who's on first), I was contacted (PM) and informed of an additional corporation in the mix (CDA Futbol Club). After digging a little deeper here is what the public documents reveal:

(1) Strikers FC Inc., a mutual benefit corporation (formed in 2012) - Registered Address is 3917 Diamond Hill, Yorba Linda, CA 92886. CEO: Steven C. Patterson, Secretary: Kory Lynn Patterson, CFO: Danny Ray Patterson, all at 3917 Diamond Hill. Hereafter, the Patterson corp.

(2) CDA Futbol Club., a mutual benefit corporation (formed in Nov. 2015) - Registered Address is 18501 Parkvalle Ave., Cerritos, CA 90703, CEO: A Oscar Camargo, Secretary: Walter Camargo, and CFO: Pamela Rothwell, all at 18501 Parkvalle Avenue, Cerritos, CA 90703. Hereafter, the Camargo corp. The Bylaws of Camargo corp. vest all power in the 4 Board Members and not the members (3.1 of the Bylaws). The bylaws also state that at least 49% of the Board must be made up of non-interested persons (i.e. not compensated), including their relatives (there are red flags here because both father and son on are the board and would consititute 50%)

Neither corporation is registered with the California Attorney General's Public Registry of Charitable Corporations because neither corporation "holds funds or assets in trust for charitable purposes." This means the corporations are primarily operated to benefit the members of the corporation. This is odd because Camargo Corp. holds itself out as a 501(c)(3) and appears to be recognized by the IRS as a public charity. Because Camargo Corp. is new, its IRS Form 990 does not appear online yet, that said, it received its IRS ruling in May of 2016 and may now need to register.

Patterson Corp. is older and appears to be the legitimate licensee of the "Slammers FC" name because the "Slammers" name was licensed by Slammers FC to CDA Slammers FC on or about March 17, 2014 (http://cdaslammersfc.totalglobalsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/PRESS-RELEASE-CDA-SLAMMERS.pdf). That said, it is entirely possible that there was a different corporation in play (don't know) and/or the license agreement was entered into between Slammers FC and a Patterson/Camargo joint venture or partnership.

The biggest problem with all of this is the public websites of the Slammers licensee's are horribly confusing and potentially misleading to the public. At a minimum, reasonably disclosures are not made and the relationships between the entities are kept secret. How many corporations are actually being used? Are disclosures being made to the parents/players? What is the relationship between CDA Futbol Club and Strikers FC. Are they holding themselves out as a joint venture/partnership (publicly yes, but publicly they don't disclose anything on their website).

Bottom line, this is a huge mess and the failure to disclose by the organizations gives any parent harmed good cause for a refund and/or transfer of funds held in trust to another club.

Well done and agreed. Lawyer up as a group and get your $ back. Dumb move by Patterson to attempt to hold parents hostage. Will more likely lose more families with the attempt to strong arm them

 

[younothat]

What a mess, the whole mutual benefit corporations & doing business as a non-profit seems like a front for the most part for few to make big $.

Making a killing on youth soccer is what this is really is. Licensee to make more money without full disclosure and all those named are doing this.

We refer to this as an "imagined reality": "Calif Development Academy" is just a made up name just like many of the fictitious name used in youth soccer.

If anybody cared to regulate or audit what really goes on in these organizations financially you would see a lot more "Fullerton" like changes IMO.

 

[timbuck]

Will some state or federally run program start to look into these organizations more closely at some point? I'm sure it's pocket change, but some of the accounting practices and "contracts" that are signed by children/families would surely be pretty "fun" for someone to investigate. And I do think that most organizations aren't trying to screw people. But I don't think many of them have done the best job of doing things by the book either.

 

[espola]

I have encountered a wide spectrum of organizations running youth soccer in my 40+ years watching them. At one end we have the neighborhood or community groups that limit power of their officers and BOD by procedures like open membership (every parent or family with a player), direct elections by the membership of the officers, term limits, and the like. On the other end are groups run by self-interested boards that have the power to appoint and re-appoint themselves and no time limits on service. Both can have their strengths and weaknesses depending on the character and personality of the people in charge. Nomads has been run by members of the same family throughout its existence. Surf Soccer has a volunteer board but seems to be run by its professional coaching staff, and its most successful venture, Surf Cup, has split off into a professional non-profit run by the same executive and his friends ever since.

There are also a few "representative democracy" organizations, like Presidio League and Cal South, where the "members" are other organizations. Presidio has a one-club, one-vote rule, and Cal South scales a group's voting power according to the number of registered players. Presidio BOD manages day-to-day problems and makes all its major decisions in monthly meetings where all members can attend and vote; Cal South has a professional full-time staff which answers to the BOD through monthly meetings with just one general meeting for all members each year. Again we can see that performance varies with the people elected/selected - Cal South was even taken over by a rogue President for a year not long ago; Presidio's Secretary quit in a dispute over the website and it took over a year to get things back in order.

 

[MWN]

What a mess, the whole mutual benefit corporations & doing business as a non-profit seems like a front for the most part for few to make big $.

Making a killing on youth soccer is what this is really is. Licensee to make more money without full disclosure and all those named are doing this.

That my friend is the business model for "club soccer." Recreational programs tend to be immune because they tend to operate solely on volunteers. Club soccer is different. Its a business forced to adopt the guise of a "non-profit" by the State Associations. Coaches are paid, Directors of Coaching are paid. Now, what you get is alot of guys with E and D licenses and a few with A and B licenses wearing track suits and paying their mortgages by dedicating their time to coaching youth soccer players. Nothing wrong with this per se.

The problem is many parents are delusional and think Johnny and Becky will get a scholarship by signing with this club or that club. Clubs take their money from these players that are great Recreational All-Star players, but will never amount to more than making the HS Soccer team. If the parent has the funds, then more power too them. No harm and Johnny gets to play soccer at a much higher level than the local Rec program can offer. The problem is when Clubs take player's money at $1,500 per player or more because a portion is going to support the Academy players who play for free ... but that is another thread.

As @espola points out, there are different models. The State Organization (Cal South) is fairly transparent. The Leagues (Coast Soccer League, SCDSL, Presidio) are a little less transparent, with some being fairly open (Presidio). One of the stated reasons for the formation of SCDSL was to have a little more democracy over their situation then when those teams resided in Coast. The Clubs run the gamut from "Member" control to "Executive Board" control. The fact that some clubs choose to eliminate "members" altogether is just a big red flag that this club is the private fiefdom of some dude in a tracksuit. It may be the best club around or not, depends on the temperament of the dude in the tracksuit. Sometimes having a benevolent dictator is a good thing, especially if the inmates can't be trusted to run the asylum. The fact of the matter is that those clubs that excel at a high level tend to eliminate "parent" control of the organization and are often less transparent.

As all of these club tend to be "non-profit" per Cal South rules, anybody can look up their IRS Form 990's by doing some simple google searches. Put your club's EIN number and 990 into google and viola, the full financials and other disclosures are there for the reading. Many parents reaction is "Holy $h!t, our DOC is making $155k?"

You can also find information on the California Registry of Charitable Trusts hosted by the AG's office.

 

[soloyosh]

A couple things...

I like track suits, but I don't get paid to coach soccer. It is hard for me to fathom "paid" coaches in my area.

When our team left our last club and joined our new club, the old club sent us a check for what was in our account. Of course, the split was amicable as logistically, for what we wanted to do the following season, it made sense for us to work through someone else.

Moral: Money screws everything up unless everyone is really nice (Canadian?).

 

[espola]

@galaxydad and @Carpediem

You both raise valid points. After my analysis (who's on first), I was contacted (PM) and informed of an additional corporation in the mix (CDA Futbol Club). After digging a little deeper here is what the public documents reveal:

(1) Strikers FC Inc., a mutual benefit corporation (formed in 2012) - Registered Address is 3917 Diamond Hill, Yorba Linda, CA 92886. CEO: Steven C. Patterson, Secretary: Kory Lynn Patterson, CFO: Danny Ray Patterson, all at 3917 Diamond Hill. Hereafter, the Patterson corp.

(2) CDA Futbol Club., a mutual benefit corporation (formed in Nov. 2015) - Registered Address is 18501 Parkvalle Ave., Cerritos, CA 90703, CEO: A Oscar Camargo, Secretary: Walter Camargo, and CFO: Pamela Rothwell, all at 18501 Parkvalle Avenue, Cerritos, CA 90703. Hereafter, the Camargo corp. The Bylaws of Camargo corp. vest all power in the 4 Board Members and not the members (3.1 of the Bylaws). The bylaws also state that at least 49% of the Board must be made up of non-interested persons (i.e. not compensated), including their relatives (there are red flags here because both father and son on are the board and would consititute 50%)

Neither corporation is registered with the California Attorney General's Public Registry of Charitable Corporations because neither corporation "holds funds or assets in trust for charitable purposes." This means the corporations are primarily operated to benefit the members of the corporation. This is odd because Camargo Corp. holds itself out as a 501(c)(3) and appears to be recognized by the IRS as a public charity. Because Camargo Corp. is new, its IRS Form 990 does not appear online yet, that said, it received its IRS ruling in May of 2016 and may now need to register.

Patterson Corp. is older and appears to be the legitimate licensee of the "Slammers FC" name because the "Slammers" name was licensed by Slammers FC to CDA Slammers FC on or about March 17, 2014 (http://cdaslammersfc.totalglobalsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/PRESS-RELEASE-CDA-SLAMMERS.pdf). That said, it is entirely possible that there was a different corporation in play (don't know) and/or the license agreement was entered into between Slammers FC and a Patterson/Camargo joint venture or partnership.

The biggest problem with all of this is the public websites of the Slammers licensee's are horribly confusing and potentially misleading to the public. At a minimum, reasonably disclosures are not made and the relationships between the entities are kept secret. How many corporations are actually being used? Are disclosures being made to the parents/players? What is the relationship between CDA Futbol Club and Strikers FC. Are they holding themselves out as a joint venture/partnership (publicly yes, but publicly they don't disclose anything on their website).

Bottom line, this is a huge mess and the failure to disclose by the organizations gives any parent harmed good cause for a refund and/or transfer of funds held in trust to another club.

I wouldn't say that Cal South is all that transparent. Almost every month's Board minutes includes items like "see written report" or a portion conducted in Executive Session, with only the time expended noted. I have recommended to the only Board member I know that the "written reports" be available on the website and that at least a general statement about the actions undertaken in the Executive Sessions be included, such as "conference with attorney about pending litigation". Back when I was our club's rep to the annual meeting, the most controversial item on the agenda concerned restructuring the PAD Committee and its operations. The proposal passed, but neither side had much to say about what prompted the motion except that they apparently didn't like each other.

 

[Wez]

Team funds should have nothing to do with the club. If they do, the club is trying to exert too much control. Clubs should stick to the important stuff and let the parents workout expenses for their teams.

 

[Frank]

Team funds should have nothing to do with the club. If they do, the club is trying to exert too much control. Clubs should stick to the important stuff and let the parents workout expenses for their teams.

The reason it is not left to the parents on their own that inevitably money disappears or isn't accounted for well enough. Not all teams but you can expect that someone will start using team funds for personal use if not tracked tightly or centralized within the club. Right or wrong The Club believes it can help this process.

 

[zebrafish]

So Tim Woodcock in 2015 made about $250,000 as head of FC Blades dba Irvine Slammers FC db(now)a LA Galaxy OC

http://990s.foundationcenter.org/99..._990.pdf?_ga=1.49071910.1002985550.1482299538

Wow. Cha-ching.

 

[Wez]

The reason it is not left to the parents on their own that inevitably money disappears or isn't accounted for well enough. Not all teams but you can expect that someone will start using team funds for personal use if not tracked tightly or centralized within the club. Right or wrong The Club believes it can help this process.

As opposed to the club itself misusing team funds? Please, parents are adults who can balance their own checkbooks, they don't require an overzealous club to control the funds they choose to allocate to their kids.

 

[younothat]

So Tim Woodcock in 2015 made about $250,000 as head of FC Blades dba Irvine Slammers FC db(now)a LA Galaxy OC

http://990s.foundationcenter.org/99..._990.pdf?_ga=1.49071910.1002985550.1482299538

Wow. Cha-ching.

When these charlatans make more than the vice president of the united states on youth soccer you know have a problem

 

[espola]

When these charlatans make more than the vice president of the united states on youth soccer you know have a problem

According to the 990, the club's business was over $2 million that year, and ended with over $1 million in the bank, so they can afford it. If I were worried about that club, I would want to know who approved the pay and why.

 

[timbuck]

It's a lot of money when you put it in the context of "youth soccer".
But she you are talking about hundreds (maybe thousands) of kids and families and $2 million in revenue, I think you need to pay the person in charge a decent amount.
I'm sure he puts in more hours for this soccer club than I do in corporate America.

 

[SoccerFan4Life]

It's supply and demand. Parents create this problem by moving the kids from one team to another for many reasons (coaching, playing time, exposure, etc). Clubs will continue to take on kids regardless of their skill level as long as they are willing to pay $1,500 -$2,000 per child.
Eventually something will break or a new type of program will be developed to decrease the number of clubs and improve the quality and competitives at the recreational level.

 

[jsmaxwell]

This is interesting. It worth noting, just in case MWN doesn't know, that the CDA/Camargo Club was under the Strikers brand for the club year that included the Fall 13 season. I think that agreement only lasted for 1 year? Prior to that it was SoCal Infinity. I mention that because of the presence and timing of the Strikers FC/Patterson Corp. listed below. Just wondering if that used to be a Camargo Corp that was transferred at some point since Camargo/Patterson have been working together.

Having experienced a situation where our coach made arrangement to move to another club after state cup, club found out and fired him immediately, I would have advised the teams to just play out state cup at that club with whatever coach they provided or back out of state cup entirely. Ask the club to refund all team specific monies by at the end of the club year. Then play the following year with whatever/club coach you want. Trying to move a team out of a club in December is rarely going to be accepted by the club, regardless of coaches, DOC or other employees leaving. Oh, and don't ever store team specific money in a club controlled account. The manager can handle it, and there is plenty of cheap software to help, and there is no need to keep hundreds of dollars per player on account. Last, never pay club fees until they are absolutely due.

@galaxydad and @Carpediem

You both raise valid points. After my analysis (who's on first), I was contacted (PM) and informed of an additional corporation in the mix (CDA Futbol Club). After digging a little deeper here is what the public documents reveal:

(1) Strikers FC Inc., a mutual benefit corporation (formed in 2012) - Registered Address is 3917 Diamond Hill, Yorba Linda, CA 92886. CEO: Steven C. Patterson, Secretary: Kory Lynn Patterson, CFO: Danny Ray Patterson, all at 3917 Diamond Hill. Hereafter, the Patterson corp.

(2) CDA Futbol Club., a mutual benefit corporation (formed in Nov. 2015) - Registered Address is 18501 Parkvalle Ave., Cerritos, CA 90703, CEO: A Oscar Camargo, Secretary: Walter Camargo, and CFO: Pamela Rothwell, all at 18501 Parkvalle Avenue, Cerritos, CA 90703. Hereafter, the Camargo corp. The Bylaws of Camargo corp. vest all power in the 4 Board Members and not the members (3.1 of the Bylaws). The bylaws also state that at least 49% of the Board must be made up of non-interested persons (i.e. not compensated), including their relatives (there are red flags here because both father and son on are the board and would consititute 50%)

Neither corporation is registered with the California Attorney General's Public Registry of Charitable Corporations because neither corporation "holds funds or assets in trust for charitable purposes." This means the corporations are primarily operated to benefit the members of the corporation. This is odd because Camargo Corp. holds itself out as a 501(c)(3) and appears to be recognized by the IRS as a public charity. Because Camargo Corp. is new, its IRS Form 990 does not appear online yet, that said, it received its IRS ruling in May of 2016 and may now need to register.

Patterson Corp. is older and appears to be the legitimate licensee of the "Slammers FC" name because the "Slammers" name was licensed by Slammers FC to CDA Slammers FC on or about March 17, 2014 (http://cdaslammersfc.totalglobalsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/PRESS-RELEASE-CDA-SLAMMERS.pdf). That said, it is entirely possible that there was a different corporation in play (don't know) and/or the license agreement was entered into between Slammers FC and a Patterson/Camargo joint venture or partnership.

The biggest problem with all of this is the public websites of the Slammers licensee's are horribly confusing and potentially misleading to the public. At a minimum, reasonably disclosures are not made and the relationships between the entities are kept secret. How many corporations are actually being used? Are disclosures being made to the parents/players? What is the relationship between CDA Futbol Club and Strikers FC. Are they holding themselves out as a joint venture/partnership (publicly yes, but publicly they don't disclose anything on their website).

Bottom line, this is a huge mess and the failure to disclose by the organizations gives any parent harmed good cause for a refund and/or transfer of funds held in trust to another club.

 

[Chicharito]

When this guys are showing incomes that average more than the average college graduate it seems unrealistic. But as business owners showing a $250k incomes is not that unrealistic. So personally I do not have a problem with the amount of money this guys are paying themselves. I believe that as a consumer I need to consider the return on my money. Play for x team for $2200 plus two fundraisers and uniforms, city fields, average team, average coach etc or Play for y team $2800 turf fields practice rain or shine, add futsal, add skills, agility and quickness training more tournaments etc the return is obvious. Plus in my community if my kids are not playing tier 1 at a high level forget about making the high school team (not even thinking about college). Just worried about giving my kids a fair opportunity. I could also look at the cost of dance, cheer, gymnastics, or hockey where parent are spending $10k/year.

My problem starts when clubs that net over $2M and roll over $1M ask for volunteers during tournaments to increase their bottom line. Or when the coach you play for decides to leave because he is not earning a living, his job does not include benefits. The DOC that decides to coach more than two teams then does not show up to games or cancels practices due to conflicts. We all have to draw the line somewhere I think having this information helps us figure out where we need to draw it.

 

[sdb]

@galaxydad and @Carpediem

Neither corporation is registered with the California Attorney General's Public Registry of Charitable Corporations because neither corporation "holds funds or assets in trust for charitable purposes." This means the corporations are primarily operated to benefit the members of the corporation. This is odd because Camargo Corp. holds itself out as a 501(c)(3) and appears to be recognized by the IRS as a public charity. Because Camargo Corp. is new, its IRS Form 990 does not appear online yet, that said, it received its IRS ruling in May of 2016 and may now need to register.

What enables clubs to operate as 501(c)(3) entities? It seems like many do based on their descriptions or charter statements. And if they are non-profits, why aren't our club fees considered donations? Is it because we are members?