A Small Club With Big Ambitions

This past weekend I took my Turlock Academica Jrs. 07G to the Pleasanton Rage Tournament. We got to play some of the "big name" clubs. I've been thinking a lot recently about how we compete against the bigger clubs with the population and resource advantage.

It is a problem facing clubs all over the world. How does Ajax compete with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Man City... It is a challenging problem and the answer is probably different for each club at each level.

We are a small club we big ambitions. After spending the last 14 years in this community here is the simple and short plan I've developed for our club.

Joy Drives the Bus

Our club must be a place of joy and happiness for our players and families.

Practices should be intense and challenging but they should also be filled with laughter and smiles. Our players should absolutely love playing for our club. They should derive incredible happiness from the experience.

This is a the beautiful game and part of the beauty is the joy it brings everyone. Our parents are our fans and we must entertain them with amazing soccer. They should expect nothing less. Our sidelines should be filled with our fans. We should hear their cheers and chants. They are our advantage.

And one last thing. No. Drama. Ever. Nobody has time for it.

Soccer Soccer Soccer

Every decision we make as a club should be guided by our purpose which is to create the best possible environment for the development of our players.

We must each our players how to solve problems on the field with their soccer skill. The "big clubs" have huge pools of players and top "athletes." That's fine. Nobody is a better athlete than the soccer ball. Therefore we must develop true soccer players. Soccer junkies. Players that absolutely love the game. They should love the ball. It should be viewed as their best friend.

Loyalty Makes You Family

While we are a competitive club, and sometimes players don't make the cut, our players should always be viewed as irreplaceable. This is critical for two reasons.

First, our pool of players is small. We don't get hundreds of kids at our tryouts. We need to invest in our players and if we have to replace one it should be viewed as a failure on our part.

Second, and far more importantly, we are not just a soccer club we are an identity. We are Academica SC. We are Turlock. We are the Central Valley.

In the big clubs the players come from all over. They change clubs like they change the TV station. People in our community love their community. They don't leave. They are lifers. They don't always have a lot. They sacrifice. I seen families in our club giving everything they have so their children can play in our club. They deserve our loyalty.

Our club and our city give us strength. Every player must understand that when they put on that uniform they are fighting for this club and this city. It means more to us!

A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

While we must always challenge the best players in our program it is critical raise the bottom half our rosters. They are not replaceable.

The development of the top half of your roster raises the ceiling. But equally important is that improving the bottom half of your squad lifts the floor. Both must be on an upward trajectory for us to maximize our talent.

Start Early

Imagine an environment where our players are technically comfortable with the ball before they ever play in an organized match. Organized games start at U6. That means we need to start developing players in our community at 2, 3, and 4 years old. This may sound crazy but it is being done all over the world.

The "big clubs" can't do this. They have no idea where their players are coming from. Our players come from our community. We can create this culture here in Turlock.

As Tom Beyer has written about in his book Soccer Starts At Home we don't need coaches or lots of equipment. You don't even need to go outside. This is about introducing our future players to the ball and creating an environment where they develop a love of the ball.

This fall we will introduce our "Home Soccer-Ed" program to empower the parents in our community to become that first coach for their child. We want them to start developing that soccer bond with their child. The reality is that this will create more confident and skills players who will have more fun.

It will be years before we know the impact of this plan on our club and community. But my hope is that it will something special here in Turlock.