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Youth soccer club

And I like that these kids can sign NIL deals like this and not feel the pressure to sign a pro contract to play. NIL maintains their ability to play in HS and college vs a pro contract and they lose that eligibility.

I would like to see an ability for MLS teams to draft kids and maintain exclusive negotiating rights within the US for their playing services for, say, 4 years. Then you can have MLS teams take some chances on younger players and still allow them to play HS and college. Sort of like the MHS deal. He wasn't ready for MLS or MLS Next out of HS, but they still were able to sign him as a homegrown player when he finished here.

Signing those early pro contracts just limit the path those players can take to continue developing.
Agree. As in most things those contracts are exclusively written in the best interest of the large entity. Would like to see the player have more options.

My daughter’s team was one game away from playing this girl last year in the national championship quarters. Coach was going to let her man mark her all over the field. Disappointed she didn’t get a chance to matchup against her. Would be cool down the road to be able to say “I played against her”. Maybe this year in Seattle.
 
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And I like that these kids can sign NIL deals like this and not feel the pressure to sign a pro contract to play. NIL maintains their ability to play in HS and college vs a pro contract and they lose that eligibility.

I would like to see an ability for MLS teams to draft kids and maintain exclusive negotiating rights within the US for their playing services for, say, 4 years. Then you can have MLS teams take some chances on younger players and still allow them to play HS and college. Sort of like the MHS deal. He wasn't ready for MLS or MLS Next out of HS, but they still were able to sign him as a homegrown player when he finished here.

Signing those early pro contracts just limit the path those players can take to continue developing.
That is essentially what homegrown deals are.

I don't know what significant development you think you are getting out of high school. There is none to be had. I fundamentally believe that soccer is more technical today than it was when I was kicking it. 20 years ago, we all knew we did not become better soccer players going out to Enid and laying out ninth graders in tackles. It is a lot of fun but doesn't advance your abilities. We had 6 Division 1 players on my high school team. Others played D2 or NAIA. Some didn't play but had offers. High school just was for messing around, and fun and chasing girls, and our coaches sucked but were supposedly considered amazing.

We start earlier now and train smarter. Kids can watch videos, and parents can watch videos, and parents can help more because they probably played, too.

Yet, for some reason, these weirdos believe that high school is the way to save American soccer. That is completely mystifying to me. Those people have not played or watched soccer at a high level.

I think you have to decide what you are trying to accomplish. People want to play more competitively, but it isn't cheap and time-consuming. That is what sucks. Do you have a dad willing to put in the time to coach a team end to end and can coach all levels? The Fire Knights from Vinita aren't going to get invited to play FC Dallas or Dallas Texans in any kind of scrimmage to get looked at and evaluated by a college coach.
 
Love him or hate him Barry is about to crush Mac and Jim. Barry may be a horse's a$$ but he has the contract and the fire power in GABLEGOTWALS. I have a feeling people are going to want to settle this way before it ever reaches trial. Whole bunch of people won't want emails and phone records divulged. Youth soccer drama here we come............
 
Love him or hate him Barry is about to crush Mac and Jim. Barry may be a horse's a$$ but he has the contract and the fire power in GABLEGOTWALS. I have a feeling people are going to want to settle this way before it ever reaches trial. Whole bunch of people won't want emails and phone records divulged. Youth soccer drama here we come............
Disagree. I predict Barry loses and it might even be on Summary Judgement. I am looking forward to discovery though.
 
Disagree. I predict Barry loses and it might even be on Summary Judgement. I am looking forward to discovery though.
Can one of you lawyer types translate all the legal mumbo jumbo. I just read the OSCN filings. What a mess...I wonder if Wilber and Roger are on the sidelines licking their chops and wondering how they poach all these players from TSC by telling them, "You know, your club might not exist by the time next season starts"

Seriously, if I were still a TSC parent, I'd be running to either of those two clubs right now.
 
Can one of you lawyer types translate all the legal mumbo jumbo. I just read the OSCN filings. What a mess...I wonder if Wilber and Roger are on the sidelines licking their chops and wondering how they poach all these players from TSC by telling them, "You know, your club might not exist by the time next season starts"

Seriously, if I were still a TSC parent, I'd be running to either of those two clubs right now.
I’ll do my best. Barry stops making payments on the contract he signed when he purchased TSC. He is claiming Mac and Jim breached the agreement due to the non-compete clause. I see this claim as tenuous at best as I haven’t seen any evidence of yet of a direct violation. Maybe that will come. Those who guaranteed those payments have also been brought into the lawsuit due to Barry’s failure to pay. At least one has stated in his answer that Barry had no legitimate reason for breaching the contract. Which I not only found interesting but unusual as this is one of Barry’s partners. Anyway…that’s the basis. Was there a violation of the non-compete and was it of such a magnitude as to render the remaining obligation under the purchase agreement null and void?
 
I’ve also heard no TSC academy teams are playing in any leagues this spring. Not sure I’ve ever seen such a thing.
 
I’ll do my best. Barry stops making payments on the contract he signed when he purchased TSC. He is claiming Mac and Jim breached the agreement due to the non-compete clause. I see this claim as tenuous at best as I haven’t seen any evidence of yet of a direct violation. Maybe that will come. Those who guaranteed those payments have also been brought into the lawsuit due to Barry’s failure to pay. At least one has stated in his answer that Barry had no legitimate reason for breaching the contract. Which I not only found interesting but unusual as this is one of Barry’s partners. Anyway…that’s the basis. Was there a violation of the non-compete and was it of such a magnitude as to render the remaining obligation under the purchase agreement null and void?
Weird. Not sure what Barry's claim of non-compete would entail on Mac's side. The only thing I can think of is FC Tulsa possibly working on creating a youth academy and Jim Tindell's association with FC Tulsa making that an issue. And usually the non-compete stuff has a time limit right? I know in my wife's company the managers had a 6 month limit from the time they left the company before they could start a competing company. Turns out, one of the managers didn't have the non-compete clause in his agreement so he went and started a new company...and took all the people at the old company with him, except the 1 manager who did sign the non-compete....who resigned and waited the 6 months.

I can speculate on which of Barry's partners thought the whole thing was crazy...it's probably Wayne Farmer. I can't imagine it's Nsien because his wife is still (at least the last time I looked) running the Tulsa Soccer Academy branch of TSC. Wayne's a pretty down to earth guy and he was working for FC Tulsa when they were bought by the Crafts. Essentially when FC Tulsa was bought and forced Barry out of that, TSC was on the verge of becoming FC Tulsa's youth academy program and Barry expected an influx of $$$ from that affiliation...and Barry was selling that as a primary point of being the premier club in Tulsa with the premier facilities in the state. It all went out the window when the Crafts came in.

After thinking through this a bit more, my guess is this is a primary beef between Tindell and Barry. Mark McIntosh, who I've known for years and is a really good guy, is probably pissed he's even being brought up. He was so done with the club when he sold. And he's even sold part of Mac's to Jake McWhorter b/c he didn't want to be the primary day to day guy.
 
Weird. Not sure what Barry's claim of non-compete would entail on Mac's side. The only thing I can think of is FC Tulsa possibly working on creating a youth academy and Jim Tindell's association with FC Tulsa making that an issue. And usually the non-compete stuff has a time limit right? I know in my wife's company the managers had a 6 month limit from the time they left the company before they could start a competing company. Turns out, one of the managers didn't have the non-compete clause in his agreement so he went and started a new company...and took all the people at the old company with him, except the 1 manager who did sign the non-compete....who resigned and waited the 6 months.

I can speculate on which of Barry's partners thought the whole thing was crazy...it's probably Wayne Farmer. I can't imagine it's Nsien because his wife is still (at least the last time I looked) running the Tulsa Soccer Academy branch of TSC. Wayne's a pretty down to earth guy and he was working for FC Tulsa when they were bought by the Crafts. Essentially when FC Tulsa was bought and forced Barry out of that, TSC was on the verge of becoming FC Tulsa's youth academy program and Barry expected an influx of $$$ from that affiliation...and Barry was selling that as a primary point of being the premier club in Tulsa with the premier facilities in the state. It all went out the window when the Crafts came in.

After thinking through this a bit more, my guess is this is a primary beef between Tindell and Barry. Mark McIntosh, who I've known for years and is a really good guy, is probably pissed he's even being brought up. He was so done with the club when he sold. And he's even sold part of Mac's to Jake McWhorter b/c he didn't want to be the primary day to day guy.

You are one amusing character, bud. You always seem to have your finger on every rumor out there and in the know. I rather enjoy your postulating it.
 
Most TSC academy teams aren't playing in the spring. That decisions was made before the season started. Tryouts are before the season ends and you only get about 50% of those games in. They loaded up the tournament schedule in the spring to compensate and they play friendlies. I don't know if I agree with it or not. I can see both sides of the issue.
 
Most TSC academy teams aren't playing in the spring. That decisions was made before the season started. Tryouts are before the season ends and you only get about 50% of those games in. They loaded up the tournament schedule in the spring to compensate and they play friendlies. I don't know if I agree with it or not. I can see both sides of the issue.
Did they move tryouts up from the 1st week of June?
 
Thanks for the clarification. I was told that directly by a 2012 boy’s parent. Maybe TSC reversed course?

Edit: I do see two TSC teams registered in the OPL. Where are all the other TSC teams playing ?
BA EDL for younger ages. I can't speak to 11 v 11 type ages etc...

As of this weekend, we will have played in futsal and indoor league, practice 3x a week, two tournaments, and starting outdoors next weekend with another tournament coming soon after that. There are other offers I know of from OKC teams for friendlies too. Where does all this BS come from? Granted we are a much younger age, but good lord.

Most of the parents in our group think it is too much. When you tell people outside of this environment for 4-6-year-olds what is going on, they think it is insane.
 
BA EDL for younger ages. I can't speak to 11 v 11 type ages etc...

As of this weekend, we will have played in futsal and indoor league, practice 3x a week, two tournaments, and starting outdoors next weekend with another tournament coming soon after that. There are other offers I know of from OKC teams for friendlies too. Where does all this BS come from? Granted we are a much younger age, but good lord.

Most of the parents in our group think it is too much. When you tell people outside of this environment for 4-6-year-olds what is going on, they think it is insane.
That is a lot for that age. My daughter played rec at Metro until she was 8 and was coached by a dad.
 
He has fun with it. The kids like each other. If it wasn't that, then we would do something different
We really enjoyed 3v3 soccer as the girls grew up. Fast paced, lots of touches, teaches movement off the ball, etc.. Really good for development. 3v3 live is a good platform. Tournaments are 1 day and games are two 10 minute halves. General play 4-5 games a tournament. Recommend if you’re looking for some soccer over the summer.
 
We really enjoyed 3v3 soccer as the girls grew up. Fast paced, lots of touches, teaches movement off the ball, etc.. Really good for development. 3v3 live is a good platform. Tournaments are 1 day and games are two 10 minute halves. General play 4-5 games a tournament. Recommend if you’re looking for some soccer over the summer.
We did one of those tournaments last year at Union for their first games EVER for the boys. It was pretty fun just because they had never been in anything but BS soccer city-type environments.
 
We did one of those tournaments last year at Union for their first games EVER for the boys. It was pretty fun just because they had never been in anything but BS soccer city-type environments.
The girls played in that tourney in the boys division. Had a good time.
 
Looks like practically every local soccer club will be playing under the ECNL platform beginning this August. Blitz and NEOFC girls are both joining the MidAmerica Conference. The will be joined by TSC#2 team, WSA#2 team, Sporting, Wichita, Arkansas Comets, team from Springfield, as well as a few others. This will be an ECRL-regional league.

WSA#1, Energy#2, Celtic#1 will remain in the Texas League playing ECRL.
 
Looks like practically every local soccer club will be playing under the ECNL platform beginning this August. Blitz and NEOFC girls are both joining the MidAmerica Conference. The will be joined by TSC#2 team, WSA#2 team, Sporting, Wichita, Arkansas Comets, team from Springfield, as well as a few others. This will be an ECRL-regional league.

WSA#1, Energy#2, Celtic#1 will remain in the Texas League playing ECRL.
Is this boys or girls? I think the Blitz boys were in a different conference last season playing teams from Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee along with Cosmos. It was OK. I think if the boys are moving to the same league above, that's better for everyone to be honest. Nothing more than a 3 hr drive vs the TN/MS trip which was 7. And those teams are all decent.
 
Is this boys or girls? I think the Blitz boys were in a different conference last season playing teams from Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee along with Cosmos. It was OK. I think if the boys are moving to the same league above, that's better for everyone to be honest. Nothing more than a 3 hr drive vs the TN/MS trip which was 7. And those teams are all decent.
Girls. Sorry. Should have specified
 
Looks like practically every local soccer club will be playing under the ECNL platform beginning this August. Blitz and NEOFC girls are both joining the MidAmerica Conference. The will be joined by TSC#2 team, WSA#2 team, Sporting, Wichita, Arkansas Comets, team from Springfield, as well as a few others. This will be an ECRL-regional league.

WSA#1, Energy#2, Celtic#1 will remain in the Texas League playing ECRL.
Probably all good in general. It may hurt WSA some if NEOFC can keep their top players.
 
Probably all good in general. It may hurt WSA some if NEOFC can keep their top players.
WSA’s top teams will still play in the Texas ECRL league. I don’t think we will see many girls stay at NEOFC to play in the MidAmer regional league if they were considering WSA in the first place. Assuming they can play on the top team there.
 
WSA’s top teams will still play in the Texas ECRL league. I don’t think we will see many girls stay at NEOFC to play in the MidAmer regional league if they were considering WSA in the first place. Assuming they can play on the top team there.
You may be right. I don't see any other negatives.......
 
You may be right. I don't see any other negatives.......
Me either. Big positive for Blitz and NEOFC. Not great for TSC as their second tier girls are going to WSA to play ECRL. Hard to maintain NL teams without ECRL quality girls to fill in and move up.
 
Me either. Big positive for Blitz and NEOFC. Not great for TSC as their second tier girls are going to WSA to play ECRL. Hard to maintain NL teams without ECRL quality girls to fill in and move up.
I bet WSA only has a year or 2 in RL if they don't improve as they are really struggling. They also need better practice fields. Coaching could use a bump up also. NEOFC is quietly improving. Blitz, I hear only has 2 more years to be able to use Indian Springs. TSC will they still be in business?
 
I bet WSA only has a year or 2 in RL if they don't improve as they are really struggling. They also need better practice fields. Coaching could use a bump up also. NEOFC is quietly improving. Blitz, I hear only has 2 more years to be able to use Indian Springs. TSC will they still be in business?
There will be soccer clubs in Tulsa five years from now. What they will be called and who will own them is anyone’s guess.

WSA has 6 teams in ECRL. 4 of the 6 currently have winning records. That’s pretty damn respectable for a Tulsa based club competing in the Texas league. They should be safe imo.

Blitz really needs their own training fields aside from Alsuma. I know and like a lot of the Blitz people. Wish them well.
 
There will be soccer clubs in Tulsa five years from now. What they will be called and who will own them is anyone’s guess.

WSA has 6 teams in ECRL. 4 of the 6 currently have winning records. That’s pretty damn respectable for a Tulsa based club competing in the Texas league. They should be safe imo.

Blitz really needs their own training fields aside from Alsuma. I know and like a lot of the Blitz people. Wish them well.
I don't know where anyone is getting the info about Blitz using Indian Springs going away. It's 2 tournaments a year and Blitz rents them. They don't play regular season OPL games and it would t surprise me if they have scheduled ECNL-RL weekends there on the turf fields on a rental agreement. The RL games they played at Indian Springs this season were both on field 8. But with Jenks complex being open, I know Blitz held some of their games out there as well. They really need to work with MTSC United about using the drainage ditch again. MTSC enrollment has fallen off since COVID and they aren't using the fields to the capacity they could. And if BASC is wanting to not let Blitz use Indian Springs, I could probably guess the 2-3 individuals driving that and they're all absolute pricks trying to make BA Express into something more than it will ever be. (I know them personally...and they're pricks in real life, just not in the soccer community).
 
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Another Bixby/TSC girl tore her ACL last night. That makes 4 girls that I know of in the last few weeks. Can’t blame it solely on turf but I’m at the point where my daughter avoids training on turf if other options are available.
 
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Another Bixby/TSC girl tore her ACL last night. That makes 4 girls that I know of in the last few weeks. Can’t blame it solely on turf but I’m at the point where my daughter avoids training on turf if other options are available.
Did she tear it at the HS field or on the Jenks SC field? If it was the Bixby field, if I'm the parents of players in the Bixby HS program, I'd question it. The turf on their soccer field is only 2 years old but I've heard it is really spongy meaning your foot grabs. The turf at the Jenks complex (formerly Titan South) is similar and when I did game son that field it seriously felt like they put too many of the crushed tire beads in there.

I'd be interested in seeing if there is a correlation between kids wearing firm ground cleats on the turf and knee injuries. Honestly, if anyone can create a shoe specifically for the new types of field turf that has the same grip and feel on the ball, then they should move towards that and outlaw the FG cleats on the new synthetic turf surfaces. Of course, using a lower softer cleat on the bottom of shoes for the turf and you get on surfaces like the one in Jenks, I feel like your foot is just going to skid and roll across the beads.

There is a reason why Messi isn't playing on any synthetic surfaces in games. He sat out in Montreal this past weekend. Of course Miami has a game upcoming in KC where they've moved the game out of Children's Mercy Park and will be playing at Arrowhead.
 
Did she tear it at the HS field or on the Jenks SC field? If it was the Bixby field, if I'm the parents of players in the Bixby HS program, I'd question it. The turf on their soccer field is only 2 years old but I've heard it is really spongy meaning your foot grabs. The turf at the Jenks complex (formerly Titan South) is similar and when I did game son that field it seriously felt like they put too many of the crushed tire beads in there.

I'd be interested in seeing if there is a correlation between kids wearing firm ground cleats on the turf and knee injuries. Honestly, if anyone can create a shoe specifically for the new types of field turf that has the same grip and feel on the ball, then they should move towards that and outlaw the FG cleats on the new synthetic turf surfaces. Of course, using a lower softer cleat on the bottom of shoes for the turf and you get on surfaces like the one in Jenks, I feel like your foot is just going to skid and roll across the beads.

There is a reason why Messi isn't playing on any synthetic surfaces in games. He sat out in Montreal this past weekend. Of course Miami has a game upcoming in KC where they've moved the game out of Children's Mercy Park and will be playing at Arrowhead.
The tears have been on multiple fields including Bixby and Jenks SC. Last night’s injury occurred on the Stillwater High School turf. Turf seems to be the common denominator. However most training and games in Oklahoma are now played in turf. I’ve heard complaints regarding the turf at both Bixby and Jenks SC regarding its tendency to grab the boot.

The Nike Phantom Luna were designed for females to help alleviate ACL injuries. They’ve been out for less than a year so I haven’t seen any hard data on whether they are truly making a difference. My kid wears them. Can’t hurt right.
 
The tears have been on multiple fields including Bixby and Jenks SC. Last night’s injury occurred on the Stillwater High School turf. Turf seems to be the common denominator. However most training and games in Oklahoma are now played in turf. I’ve heard complaints regarding the turf at both Bixby and Jenks SC regarding its tendency to grab the boot.

The Nike Phantom Luna were designed for females to help alleviate ACL injuries. They’ve been out for less than a year so I haven’t seen any hard data on whether they are truly making a difference. My kid wears them. Can’t hurt right.
The weird thing is I would think that Nike wearers might experience more problems wearing the FG cleats on turf. The Nike cleats tend to be "sharper" whereas adidas, New Balance, and Puma all tend to be a little more rounded. And kids in HS or even competitive club soccer don't need to be wearing the SG cleats at all as they tend to be both longer and harder and some are interchangeable allowing for metal tipped studs.

You'd think that the boot makers would devote tons of R&D into making a boot specifically made for turf surfaces. Instead it seems that they only make the same shape, stud pattern boots they put on pro athletes playing on the most pristine grass surfaces on the planet and any "turf" shoe is a half assed attempt at it.

I don't know how old Stillwater's turf is. They play on the football field there so I'm sure it's pretty worn down and possibly slick. I watched part of the boys game and Bixby's GK looked like he was having trouble getting his feet to grip and getting a good push off. My son has complained about some turf surfaces for the same reason. He usually plays well at Scheel's in KC but he has complained about their turf for that reason. He's also complained about the Titan main turf and he complained a bit about Jenks' football field turf last Spring, and all he did on that one was warm up a little before the game. (BTW, ask me about how I feel about HS soccer being played on a football field with football field markings, especially Jenks)
 
The weird thing is I would think that Nike wearers might experience more problems wearing the FG cleats on turf. The Nike cleats tend to be "sharper" whereas adidas, New Balance, and Puma all tend to be a little more rounded. And kids in HS or even competitive club soccer don't need to be wearing the SG cleats at all as they tend to be both longer and harder and some are interchangeable allowing for metal tipped studs.

You'd think that the boot makers would devote tons of R&D into making a boot specifically made for turf surfaces. Instead it seems that they only make the same shape, stud pattern boots they put on pro athletes playing on the most pristine grass surfaces on the planet and any "turf" shoe is a half assed attempt at it.

I don't know how old Stillwater's turf is. They play on the football field there so I'm sure it's pretty worn down and possibly slick. I watched part of the boys game and Bixby's GK looked like he was having trouble getting his feet to grip and getting a good push off. My son has complained about some turf surfaces for the same reason. He usually plays well at Scheel's in KC but he has complained about their turf for that reason. He's also complained about the Titan main turf and he complained a bit about Jenks' football field turf last Spring, and all he did on that one was warm up a little before the game. (BTW, ask me about how I feel about HS soccer being played on a football field with football field markings, especially Jenks)
The Nike Phantom Luna’s for girls have a unique stud design. The studs are in a circle pattern in the toe with no studs in the center of the circle. Suppose to allow the foot to pivot without getting stuck. Again…no information as to whether it actually works. I understand the economics behind turf soccer fields for high schools and complexes. Just hate it for the teenage girls.
 
it means adding NEOFC into that clan. That is going to make that not so good.
Not sure about the other teams but NEOFC 2010 girls will finish ahead of both TSC #2 and WSA #2 teams in that MidAmer conference. Keep in mind those teams are competing in the third tier of the ECNL platform. .
 
Not sure about the other teams but NEOFC 2010 girls will finish ahead of both TSC #2 and WSA #2 teams in that MidAmer conference. Keep in mind those teams are competing in the third tier of the ECNL platform. .
So ECNL touts itself as a great platform, and maybe the actual ECNL actually is...but I am pretty sure all these RL and RL regional leagues are nothing more than money grabs by the org running ECNL...and the clubs are morons for thinking that they may play themselves into an ECNL bid through these regional leagues. We're all debating the merits of TSC and WSA's 2nd teams even being part of these regional leagues because the competition might be too much for them. And the clubs are selling the RL league as a stepping stone to ECNL competition and showcases that could result in potential scholarships. It's all BS. Coaches will tell you they might be at those showcases but they rarely come away with more than a name or two. And at that, when they get the name they're going to invite them to their camp. Most college coaches will tell you a good many of their domestic finds come from camps either at their school or one of these specialty camps. And I'm telling you now, if you want your kid to go to a certain school and play soccer, contact the coach after the sophomore year, introduce them, send a link to their HUDL highlights, and then tell them you're coming to "x" camp and I look forward to meeting you in person. Those interactions go way farther than allowing for some chance meeting at a showcase unless you're one of those special talents that everyone knows before you get to the showcase.

But Barry and Roger Bush aren't going to tell your kid that. They're going to say "keep playing with us and we'll make sure you get seen by college coaches" which is something that should never promise because they can't assure it will happen. Sure they can say we're going to college showcases...but there have been many times we've gone to a showcase and I could count on Luke Skywalker's left hand (towards the end of ESB) how many college coaches actually showed up.
 
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