JDL 06 Standings 9-12-2016

This stems from the fact that parents allow it to happen every single weekend.

"allowed" is not the term I would use. More like "enslaved". Soccer Clubs have all the power. Player/Parent has none. Once contracts are signed there are no options. Rules make it difficult to move from club to club, kids who dedicate themselves to soccer create social networks that is all soccer which makes moving to a different team hard because of the relationships they have built. If a kid/parent tries to go against the "establishment" they can be blackballed.

One could argue that Parents have all the power because they write the checks, but being a parent that has kids in multiple club sports, I am merely being led to slaughter in every case no matter the sport. It's pay to play and only play the way you are told to play, or you don't play. Don't like it, go play rec.

Parents are only allowing something to happen based on what their Club, DOC, coach, league, etc tell them what they are allowed to do.

Totally agree that the whole system is trying to protect the clubs especially big clubs. Nobodies care about the players and parents who pay the money.

It is time to start another system to protect the families.

I chose to be positive and think that although JDL may have some hiccups first year out I hope and believe that it will become a great league.

PowerKick wrote:
It is time to start another system to protect the families.

And the DOC's and Clubs let out a collective chuckle....

How can you protect ignorance. The only solution to those who despise big clubs is to band your Independents together and take your ball and play elsewhere. This will allow you to make rules that benefit your clubs and their philosophies.

I disagree with the concept big clubs are looking for protection. I think you have a league that is looking to stay relevant and are catering to about 70% of their business.

We don't have to create a new system. All we have to do is change the revenue model. Right now the clubs own the revenue and the players so there is no check and balance. It would be relatively easy to create a league based revenue sharing system. If the clubs own the revenue and the players, the league is at the mercy of the clubs. If the league owns the infrastructure (risk management, fields, organization structure, etc) and controls the revenue model, we can equalize club influence. The clubs would equally share in the league revenue pool. This would enable big clubs and independent clubs an equal playing field. Clubs would own the player contracts and player development innovation. Clubs would then have a baseline revenue model that they could augment with skills, sponsors, tournaments, and their own value add much like colleges and the professionals do today.

We then create a board that has equal representation for clubs, a collective player voice, and independent business leaders that are responsible for the strategy, growth, financial health of the system.

The idea would be to create a tiered league approach to promote development much like the major/minor league system works today in baseball that will foster what the national leaders are looking for to funnel talent to the national level. This enables our girls to play at the level they need to play at their stage of development, coming back from an injury, etc. If Hall of Famers can go back to the minors to get themselves ready to go back to the show, why can't our DDs play down from ECNL, to a D1, to a D2, to a D3 to help them with their development or come back from an injury?

Get rid of the entitlements, and every year each team qualifies for their level of play based on the team they put on the field for that season. With the approach of not providing team/club protection for byes we could then institute a player waiver to enable girls the opportunity to play at a level they may not have with their current team due to team depth, injuries, player/coach issues, etc. This would also teams to put a competitive team on the field each weekend. This promotes player development at all levels.

Why is it that Colleges start all over with national rankings every year but for some reason youth soccer can't?

The mission and strategy should be player first, and checks and balance at every stage. When the patients run the asylum bad things happen.

If anyone in soccer leadership wants to iterate on this please contact me

You are hired! God speed and good luck!