CLUB SOCCER RUMORS IN LITTLE ROCK

michu · October 06, 2014, 02:30:56 pm

How long ago was that meeting? I was under the impression from others that there have been meetings in the past year.

capn4lf · October 06, 2014, 02:34:38 pm

Quote from: michu on October 06, 2014, 02:30:56 pm
How long ago was that meeting? I was under the impression from others that there have been meetings in the past year.

It's been a couple of years. I'm not aware of any other meetings. So I'm assuming the AU board has soured to the idea given the most recent comments here?

Brownclown · October 06, 2014, 02:58:06 pm

Quote from: capn4lf on October 06, 2014, 02:17:24 pm
Quote from: michu on October 06, 2014, 01:51:56 pm
I'll kill the suspense as to why this never happened as I happened to be in one of these merger meetings. If you are going to merge any two businesses together you need a plan for how that is going to happen and how it is going to be organized. The LRFC (at the time) board and staff coaches asked several very specific questions regarding how finances would be handled, club philosophy, and even the future of some of the full-time staff. The responses were extremely wishy-washy. For example "Matt, we have 3 full-time staff coaches. What do you envision their roles being with Rush?" Response: "Uh, yeah, it will be fine. We'll just make it work." That was the basic response to every question. There was no proposal made and seemingly no thought into how it would be organized. I'm sure Matt was extremely well-intentioned but he came off as aloof and unorganized. The board was very much open to the possibility at that time and I imagine would be again if someone actually put some thought into it.
Since the cat's out of the bag, I'll add that at the time of the merger talks Arkansas Rush was deeply in debt. The LRFC Board didn't think that it was a financially responsible move to merge and then put LRFC deeply in the red. I have no idea what their financials look like now or if they were bailed out. At one time they owed Conway Centennial soccer complex quite a bit of money.

As far as future merger talks, I don't think AU would be opposed but it has to make sense for the whole club.

michu · October 06, 2014, 03:31:26 pm

My Rush source has told me that Matt wore too many hats and simply overwhelmed himself with responsibility which was part of their financial troubles. However that financial trouble was remedied a couple of years ago. That is third hand info, so take that as you may. My understanding is that the Rush is financially in a good place.

Brownclown · October 06, 2014, 04:48:02 pm

LR Dad,

To answer one of your questions from earlier, why don't I give Rush a chance since they have national exposure?

From a macro standpoint; stability. They have been on shaky ground as a club almost their entire existence. I'm not willing to take the chance of them not being around in a few years. Plus, although they have these national resources, I haven't seen it benefit more than a handful of central Arkansas players.

From a micro standpoint; the team at my oldest son's age is parent coached and they're not good. Plus, I don't like that particular coach as a person. Not to mention my son is loyal to AU and does enjoy playing with his friends.

He does very well in school and I suspect he will go much further academically than in soccer. I have to remind myself that he's having fun and is unlikely to play for Arsenal. Of course I let him dream and I give him the tools to pursue that dream, but I'm going to prepare him for life after soccer.

And I was being serious about you volunteering for the board and was in no way being sarcastic. Either way, good luck with whatever you decide.

If you ever want to talk about this in person, the first round is on me.

LR_Dad · October 06, 2014, 09:38:28 pm

I understand where your coming from Brownclown. My questions were directed to club and not your individual situation. Right now we all have to make decisions based on individual coaches, teams, etc. Personally I don't have any problems with the coaches, but I don't believe they have all of the resources they need. Rush and AU could both benefit from a merger, but I'm not holding my breath. I've been asked to be on the board more than once and maybe I'll take them up on the offer...but I like taking on projects that have at least a small chance of succeeding. I don't see that possibility right now, but maybe I'm wrong.

I agree wholeheartedly on academics vs. soccer (or any sport). Wanting to see improvement in our local club has nothing to do with that.

I want all of the kids in AR that love soccer to have a chance to succeed. They're all putting in a lot of hard work, and they deserve better.

Good luck to you as well.

Brownclown · October 07, 2014, 12:09:15 am

LR Dad,

PM sent

michu · October 07, 2014, 08:10:05 am

Academics always before athletics, but why not both? Look at the ratio of kids in the club versus kids going off to play college soccer. This is a true gauge of success in our town on the competitive level. We have to be honest and admit most of our local teams are not very strong on a regional basis and that has been discussed throughout this thread, so the question becomes who is getting the most out of their players?

Youth soccer is a service and the customers (parents) need to start demanding more. This town needs radical change. Name change is not nearly enough. The only club that has the ability to get it done solo is the Rush due to their infrastructure, but the most efficient way to get it done is a merger of resources. It's being proven time and again around the country and in our region. Tulsa and Memphis are widening the gap with us. It's a shame.

michu · October 14, 2014, 04:33:46 pm

http://www.socceramerica.com/article/61002/is-there-a-place-for-small-clubs-in-the-usa.html#reply

These types of changes are taking place around the country while our local clubs seem to think they are getting the job done.