Some one at the Grand Rapids Crew JRs
must read since they have posted an
editorial about the Y League and the
reasons behind their current policy.
This was in response to my ramblings
on here.
It has a catchy title.
Super Why?!
read the editorial >>>
____________________________
Super Y National Finals
This may prove to more interesting to
some than to others but it still is
exciting for West Michigan
Two teams representing the Kalamazoo
Kingdom have reached the semi-finals
of the Super Y National Playoffs.
A 3rd team, the U14 girls qualified
for pool play but did not advance.
Read the U14 G story
Here is a link to their website.
Kalamazoo Kingdom
Of local interest is the U15 team
coached by Jim Fuller and Lawrence
Murray. The team is primarily
made up of his current Vardar West
team (formerly Georgetown Rangers &
Grand Valley Premier) that has been
one of the two top teams in its age
group in Michigan for 4 years.
They had to win their 3rd game
(against the #1 team in the country -
Santa Cruz) to advance and tied 1-1
with 10 minutes left went to a 2-3-5
(yes, that's right...2 defender, 3
midfielder and 5 forward) formation.
The gamble paid off as Forward Nermin
Crnknic (East Kentwood) blasted a left
footed eight yard shot into the roof
of the net with less than 30 seconds
to go.
U15 Scoreboard
Here is a link to a story about the
semi-final match.
read more >>>
The U13 B Kingdom team also made the
semi-finals.
U13 Scoreboard
Commentary
The Super Y in West Michigan has been
something of a problem for clubs and
parents for years.
First, the PDL team at that time, West
Michigan Edge had it but they had no
youth teams or club to actually form
teams so they rounded up kids to play
on a weekly basis. It was always
fun to watch the manager introducing
himself to parents and kids, getting
their ids and printing game cards out
of the back of his car. You
never knew who was going to play.
Second, Grand Valley Premier got it
and created a issue with the
individuals that owned the EDGE which
carried over when the EDGE management
left and opened up the West Michigan
Fire.
Then like the proverbial tiger by the
tail, GVP didn't know when to let go
when it became a problem and it was
one of the contributing factors that
led to their downward spiral that
ended in the merger with one of the
larger GVSA clubs, GRASA and the
combined group's rebirth as the Grand
Rapids Crew Juniors.
Third, the West Michigan Fire got it
back from GVP and realized only after
getting it that it was something that
sounded better talking about having it
then it was in reality.
And that was just around Grand Rapids.
UPDATED: It might help to
understand the real purpose behind the
Y League. It isn't altruistic.
It isn't to help the players although
in some instances it does. The
real reason behind the Y League was
that the United Soccer
League (USL) folks in Florida
needed to come up with a program that:
1) Allowed them to offer clubs
an alternative playing situation that
didn't have the rules and restrictions
of the State Associations. It
needed to operate outside the lines so
that the clubs who had the Y League
could draw players from those clubs
who didn't while they were still
playing for the original club.
This was similar to the original draw
of US Club Soccer. Both systems
allowed clubs to recruit players from
rival clubs without worrying about the
so-called "poaching" rule (I will talk
about that idiotic and unenforceable
rule another time).
2) Allowed the USL folks a way
to make money and by doing so helped
the clubs by offering them an
additional revenue stream during the
months when they were normally slower.
3) Allowed the
USL folks a program that they
could run without the "interference"
of those that they felt were not
capable of having "correct soccer
minds", IE bureaucrats and
administrators.
US Youth Soccer has fired back with
the MRL and something new this year
called the Academy teams. Their
efforts have pulled away many of the
top clubs (No Vardar or Wolves/Hawks
play Y League) and forced Y League
management to open the doors to entry
to additional clubs. This will
keep the travel to a minimum and also
keep the funds rolling in.
...US
Youth Soccer has recently developed a
National League which was meant to
bring together the top MRL teams and
because they offer u15 and u16 boys
this may be in direct competition with
the new Academy Program.
The MRL will be hurt by the Academy
program along with Super Y, Red Bull
National League, and any other
competitions that are not officially
part of the Academy program....
In West Michigan in 2008, in
addition to the Kingdom and the West
Michigan Fire, the word on the street
is that the Alliance FC and TKO will
also offer the Y League to interested
players. This will end one of
the biggest complaints of the Y League
- travel expense - but open a new one
- competition level.
UPDATED December 21, 2007
In the past, the competition level was
hit or miss. Out of 3 games,
most teams could reasonably expect to
get 1 good game and 2 bad games.
The bad games were blowouts either way
(IE a win or a loss) and they were
nothing to talk about if you had to
drive 8 hours to get there.
Now, the problem will be different.
If the Fire, Alliance, Kingdom and TKO
all put teams in the Y League, each
age will have ...
...the top 72 players...(who have the
time, the desire and the money to
play)
...from West Michigan playing.
This is fine if you want to play the
most of the best players in West
Michigan but West Michigan is a fairly
small pond when it comes to soccer.
Frankly speaking, something that few
will do, in each age group:
-
The top 18 players or so in each group can compete
nationally.
-
The next 18 players or so in each age
group can compete regionally.
-
The next 36 players or so in each age
group can compete statewide.
By compete, I mean that the players
talent, skill and motivation is
comparable with other ELITE players
around the country.
This is the problem.
The ELITE player will not advance if
they are forced to play within a group
that contains less than ELITE players.
It would be similar to placing a
gifted math student (easily performing
calculus for example) in a classroom
setting with remedial math students (
having trouble performing simple
addition and subtraction)
Which parent among you would be
comfortable with that?
Yet, that is what is happening when
parents and ELITE players elect to
play on the team that is not the top
team team in the age group.
They are choosing to play, for
whatever reason, to play on a team
that contains players who are not of
their caliber.
In every age group that plays in West
Michigan, there is typically one team
that stands out. There are
usually 2-3 others that are a step
below. Parents with ELITE
players who truly desire the best for
their children need to find those
ELITE teams (wherever they are), set
aside every other consideration and
put their child there.
FYI: For parents, the actual cost to
the club of having a team in the Y
league is roughly $245-265 per player
based on 18 players per team.
That covers all costs and money for a
coach. Anything more than that
goes directly to the club.
UPDATED: Early on, it was very
difficult to obtain Y League Club
Status. The Y League typically
offered the franchise to those with
PDL teams (which is why the Kingdom
had it originally) and then only 1-2
clubs per state. Recent
events and club defections have caused
the USL folks to open the floodgates,
so to speak, and permit almost anyone
with the desire ( and the money) to
get in.
Which all leads me to the current
situation. Most likely, the only
major club in West Michigan that will
not be "officially" participating in
the Y League is the GR Crew. I
say "officially" because many of their
players migrate to play with the
Kalamazoo Kingdom.
This is primarily due to one of the
hidden problems of the Y League.
No club wants to send it's players to
another club (within reasonable
driving distance) for a program that
can be sold as something special and
better that they do not have.
The Crew, by maintaining a
relationship with the Kingdom, offers
the same outlet for it's players,
without the huge expense of time,
energy and money to actually offer the
program itself.
Now, some heresy....contrary to many
opinions, the Y League (like the MRL
program that local teams can play in
when they get to be good enough
- top 4-6 in the State is required)
has developed into an effective means
of gathering strong teams into one
location. Unfortunately, this
has taken place in areas of the
country where there is a higher
concentration of ELITE players
(Florida, California and Texas).
It is no coincidence that these are
also warm weather states where soccer
is played year round.
As I wrote earlier, the Kalamazoo
Kingdom sent 2 teams to the Y League
National semi-finals which means they
are considered to be 1 of the top 4
teams in the country.
The U15 team is from Grand Rapids is
primarily the team formed by Jim
Fuller at U12 as a GVP team.
Like all good coaches he has added a
few players every year as needed.
The Kalamazoo U13 team is a good team
but also contained 3 players from the
Crew JRs. U14 team and 3 players from
the Alliance FC so at least 6 of the
top 12 players are from GR.
This type of shared player situation
is the model for us in West Michigan
but it must take a different form.
My Solution to the Chaos
A new organization must be formed and
organized. It will only do Y
League and any other new idea that
comes down the pike. The Board
of Directors would be made up of one
member from each of the current Y
League participants from West Michigan
(WM Fire, GR Crew, Alliance FC,
Kalamazoo Kingdom, TKO, CA United and
TNT). Other Clubs could join as
some sort of affiliate.
This new club would offer the Y League
experience and exposure to West
Michigan players. By setting
aside our differences we can bring
together the truly ELITE players in
West Michigan on one team, put them in
a position to play on a national level
and bring the recognition to these
West Michigan players that they
deserve.
An additional benefit to this is that
pooling resources, the costs can
actually go down.
There are of course, many hurdles to
this approach but nothing that can't
be overcome with a little desire and
the willingness to set aside the petty
differences and disputes that can
cause normally rational adults to act
like they are sitting in a sandbox
fighting over a sand shovel.
One of the biggest obstacles is that
the Kingdom has a fairly strong Y
League program and would be giving up
the most to get the least.
It may be more viable to get everyone
else to band together and run a second
program to offer players at least two
choices in West Michigan.
Ultimately, having the Kingdom, TKO,
Fire and Alliance running around with
the Y League will have West Michigan
sending out mediocre teams into the Y
League to compete and ultimately doom
the idea to fail - AGAIN - as those
with the experience and knowledge know
it has already.
CORRECTIONS:
...#1 The agreement between US Club
Soccer and the USL came three or four
years after the Super Y was started.
Your references to US Club Soccer and
it's reasoning for the league are not
correct US Club Soccer is not the
Super Y League or the United Soccer
Leagues. The relationship is simple-
US Club Soccer agreed to card the
Super Y players in 2004 just as they
agreed to card the Coast League in
CA-S and many others since. As you
know, the USL collects $1,000 per team
per season and US Club Soccer Collects
$16 per carded player, per
season.
#2 The Academy program is not a US
Youth Soccer Program. It is a
USSF program. Many of the top clubs
never completely bought into the Super
Y. Vardar and Hawks/Wolves entered in
some age groups but, never all. Have
clubs left the program due to the MRL?
Yes but, it might be safer to say that
the MRL kept the Super Y from growing.
#3 The Kingdom u13 Boys team also has
three Alliance FC players on it this
year. The Chicago Magic u13 has an
Alliance player on it (Joe Sweet).
There may be others from last summer-
I know of these because I coach them.
Alliance has always encouraged our
kids to play Super Y in the summer and
released these players right away. In
fact, I drove Joe to Chicago to
try-out for the team and helped with
the try-outs....
Abrahm Shearer
Alliance FC
