The term
"paradigm shift" has found uses in many contexts,
representing the notion of a major change in a certain
thought-pattern — a radical change in personal beliefs, complex
systems or organizations, replacing the former way of thinking or
organizing with a radically different way of thinking or organizing.
WEST MICHIGAN
SOCCER
The landscape of youth soccer in West Michigan has
changed over the last 17 years. That shouldn't be too
surprising. Most things do change over time. Change
comes to us all eventually.
The question I have raised is simple.
Are we really making progress in West Michigan or is
it just an illusion?
Tryouts were just held and although it will be
sometime before it is all official, some things are clear.
Grand Rapids Crew
The Grand Rapids Crew team count will be somewhere
in the area of 90-95 teams. This is up from last years count
of about 75-80 total teams. They will have teams playing in
the National League (NL), The Michigan Developmental League (MDL),
the Midwest Regional League (MRL), the Michigan State Developmental
Soccer League (MSDSL), Michigan State Premier Soccer Program
(MSPSP), Grand Valley Soccer Association (GVSA) and they are trying
to get Youth recreational programs going that will be a distinct
feeder system separate from the local AYSO and City Rec programs.
Some of the growth this year came from absorbing a
local GVSA community club called Kentwood. There are many
indications that it didn't go completely as planned. The first
year of any merger can be interesting and this one is compounded by
the fact that the Kentwood DOC (he helped to orchestrate the merger,
and is also the Varsity Soccer <Boys & Girls> Head Coach at the
local high school) went to work at the Crew.
Those who equate a clubs success with teams that are
successful at the national level point to the current U18 team and
comment on how it really isn't a "Crew" team. It started with
Fabio Mendes at the Flying Kick (3 years), moved to GVP with Rich
O'Keefe (3 years) and then to the Crew with Remco Bergsma (3 years)
and culminated in a National Title at U17. The team was
managed and run by some of the parents until this past year when the
Crew management stepped in and forced a showdown which resulted in
the curious decision to replace a coach who had just won a National
Championship (he didn't want to go). Those that will talk will
tell you that the decision was made that since the boys were 17
going on 18 and their college plans were all made, they just
accepted the decision because it was only for another year and
didn't matter.
Those who equate a clubs success with a large number
of teams and players...all playing at a high level with skill and
showing good behavior....showing well in tournament...in various
nationally run leagues....with name recognition form college
coaches....name recognition for the club and West Michigan from the
national soccer community....increasing the numbers of players to
advance to play in college...all the while providing a stable,
reasonably consistent product....will point to all of that
happening after 5-6 short years.
Our local high schools are now present in the MSHAA
playoffs. That isn't an accident.
The Crew has become the benchmark for all clubs.
The big question is whether or not they can continue
to provide all of that while they continue to show signs that they
want to continue to become larger. The sad and simple fact is
that it costs money for all of this and that revenue can't be coming
from the relatively small number of elite teams. It must come
from the large number of B-F GVSA teams.
SIDEBAR: This is very similar to the ongoing
discussion in our country today about taxing the 1%
Rangers SC / Michigan Fire
The attempt to absorb the Rangers failed and a
couple of things came about. The Rangers BOD decided to
reinvent themselves and apparently decided that standing alone in
the world was not the way to go. They affiliated with the MLS
club in Chicago, the Chicago Fire. This affiliation resulted
in a name change (Michigan Fire Jrs), a new block of Asst DOCs (to
spread the responsibility and the control of the club out of one
persons hands), and help from the parent MLS club in the form of
English imports to provide some immediate excitement and
credibility, something the local staff can't provide.
Some of the local staff, for better or worse, has a long history of
bouncing around from club to club over the last 10 years.
Many have asked what is the point of this? I
say it doesn't matter.
The success of the Grand Rapids Crew has forced the
Rangers BOD to work harder at getting better. They have
decided that they way to go is to bring in outside help. The
fact that the outside help is a MLS team with all that that entails
bodes well for the children of West Michigan. We do not know
how it will ultimately turn out since we don't know what deal was
made with the Fire to enter back into a market that didn't go so
well for them the first time. If they had to give up too much
local control, it may eventually not go the way they think it should
but only time will tell. What we do know is that they will be
doing everything in their power to make is successful.
Muelensteen Academy
The second thing that happened out of the failed
Crew/Rangers merger is that it freed the former Rangers DOC to
pursue his real passion...creating a large, successful training
organization. Most soccer coaches who grew up in and advanced
through some sort of European system (England, Netherlands, Germany
etc) complain loud and incessantly about the flaws of the current US
Club system. For several years, he and another individual had
been working on a business (on his own time and outside of his
responsibilities to the Rangers) that would bring something new to
the US. This was something called Sports Partners USA.
The other individual working with him had been involved in the
original West Michigan Premier Club, Grand Valley Premier (GVP), was
behind the scenes in the GRASA/GVP merger, and has maintained a
presence on the GVSA BOD for a number of years.
Following the failed Crew/Ranger merger, he turned
his energies 100% to this venture. There were some at the
Rangers coaches and parents who did not appreciate and accept the
fallout from the failed merger and as a result, the Grand Rapids
Crew allowed him to form an affiliate organization based in the
Grandville area. Curiously, it is called Crew West Muelensteen
Academy. While technically, not a new club due to how GVSA
accepts new clubs, it operates as if it is a new club and actually
calls itself a new club in its press releases and information;
"...The Meulensteen curriculum is the second reason our club
will differ from others...". In short order, the Kalamazoo
Kingdom was on board as the North American headquarters of
Muelensteen and the had adopted the program. The Kingdom is
one of the two main clubs in the Kalamazoo area, the other being
TKO.
This is where it gets interesting.
Kalamazoo: TKO & Kingdom
Two days before tryouts on June 16, information
began leaking into the system and the TKO BOD hastily published
announcements to the effect they were affiliating with the Columbus
Crew. This affiliation is supposedly distinct from the Grand
Rapids Crew and won't be anything more than a name change.
Time will tell.
The interesting part of this is that now the two
largest and successful clubs in Kalamazoo now have connections to
the Crew. TKO has the name and Kingdom has adopted and become
part of the Muelensteen program run by the individual who is now
part of the Grand Rapids Crew running his own "club" called Crew
West. The Kingdom has run Y league teams and many of the players and
coaches are GR Crew players and coaches using the Kingdom to play in
the Y League.
NOTE: The Muelensteen program and its
curriculum is currently being marketed to clubs throughout Michigan
for the annual cost of $50.00 per player.
Many have asked what is the point of this?
Again, I say it doesn't matter.
The success of the Grand Rapids Crew in Grand
Rapids, the Portage Soccer Club announcing it will be taking a more
formal position on forming Premier teams, the Kingdom aligning with
Muelensteen, the success of FC Elite in Kalamazoo area...all
contributed to force the TKO BOD to do something more than
what they were doing to become better. This is all good for
the children in West Michigan.
Alliance FC
No discussion of soccer in West Michigan can be
close to complete with involving the Alliance FC.
Like many organizations, it was started out of
turmoil. (DISCLOSURE: I was President of GVSA when this all
happened). Those today may be surprised but there was a time
not so long ago (2002) when there was only one club in the Grand
Rapids area that was doing premier. GRASA and its DOC wanted
to do Premier without going through GVSA so, using the system, they
managed to sponsor a team through an MSYSA league they set up
through the Forest Hills YMCA. A group of coincidental
happenings created some issues and GRASA and the DOC parted company.
The DOC was coach of a U10 team and wanted to take the team and
himself away from GRASA and become part of a different GVSA club.
This was not allowed. The DOC and the team dropped out of
GRASA anyway and affiliated themselves with a new national entity,
US Club Soccer, and played games and tournaments in the Chicago
area.
This team was the beginning of the Alliance FC.
The owner of the Alliance has been working non stop
since then and through sheer will, determination, skill and a little
bit of luck has built an organization that has survived and grown.
It wasn't easy nor was it without some casualties. One long
term GVSA club (Panthers) went way after its DOC left them and went
to the Alliance.
He formed a US CLUB soccer league (Champions League)
that spanned the state and forced the State association (MSYSA) to
revamp many of its procedures and policies. It lasted 6 years
and while it lasted it provided some of the best soccer competition
available.
He found his MSPSP sponsorship through an MSYSA
league in the Upper Peninsula.
He runs summer camps and programs throughout the
state for other organizations and schools.
His club offers a youth rec program, GVSA select
teams, MSPSP teams, MRL teams, the Super Y program and is working on
other options for the future.
His coaching staff has consisted primarily of
himself and two others which has been both good and bad for the
club. The coaching provided by the three individuals is the
highest quality available in the state but they have been spread
very thin. This has created some issues prior to last year as
parents came for the quality but were disappointed by what they
perceived to be a lack of organization. This particular issue
has been addressed over the past year with addition of additional
coaches and individuals to manage the day to day of the club.
Every action on his part, taken to make his club
better, has forced other clubs to look at themselves and forced them
to work harder to become better
This is all good for soccer.
PASS and SCOR
With apologies to many people, I have put these two
in the same discussion.
PASS FC started as a labor of love by two Northview
parents. At the time, there were not many reasonable
alternatives available to parents on the NE side of Grand Rapids who
wanted their children to play soccer. They believed that there
should be. As it grew and the skill level of the players grew
and choices in West Michigan became even more fragmented, they
decided to bring in the Detroit area club, Wolves / Hawks, thinking
the name affiliation and conduit into the program would attract the
Elite players from West Michigan. For a time it did, but
eventually, the individuals who were tasked with making soccer based
decisions were found to be not up to the task and growth stagnated.
Without a clear vision, few enterprises succeed. Eventually,
as in all situations like this, a decision had to made as to club
direction and it was decided that the affiliation wasn't helping.
Today the club is stronger than it has ever been.
Their Friday night youth training programs have 200+
children (ages under 10), strong tryouts and they are forming B
Teams in most age groups for the first time. They have formed
as many premier teams under PASS FC as they did under the Wolves /
Hawks. Of course, there was fallout this year but that is
natural when members of your coaching staff leave.
SCOR has been a consistent GVSA club for many years.
Everyone knew what to expect. SCOR was designed for Rockford
players. Teams were coached by Rockford area parents and
coaches. Teams were formed based on the fact that the players
went to Rockford. This led to solid, athletic select teams
consisting of solid, athletic players.
They had DOC's who wanted to do things differently
but the BOD's wouldn't let them.
The Elite players went elsewhere for their training.
This all changed a little over a year ago with the
hiring of a strong, capable DOC who was tasked with building a new
model. The difficulty of this is apparent. A club, for
many years had costs associated with it and people, for the most
part were happy. The Elite players knew what the costs were
associated with high level training because they had been going
elsewhere but the solid, athletic players would be solid athletic
players no matter what the costs. Most of them were simply
trying to make the High School team. Bring in a professional
and tasking him to build a new model (which includes higher
expectations and higher costs) upset the apple cart..
The first year results were mixed as some teams did
very well but others did not. Moving from the very small pond
of West Michigan GVSA to the somewhat larger pond of Michigan and
MSPSP is a cultural shock. Some don't handle it well.
many don't want to do the work necessary to get there and then stay
there,
The two clubs (PASS and SCOR) share a geographical
connection that has players moving back and forth simply because
they are neighbors. This makes life more difficult than it
needs to be but can't be helped.