FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
By United Quest Soccer Club Members
On the Silverbacks Merger
ONE CLUB * ONE VISION
1) What will the new name be?
2) Who are the other clubs in the merger?
3) Is it a merger or a partnership?
4) Where will my team practice?
5) Where will my team play games?
6) What will happen to the Canterbury Park facility?
7) Will we be merging teams?
8) Who will run the new organization?
9) Will there still be a role for volunteers in the
new organization?
10) Will fundraising still be important?
11) Just what do the Atlanta Silverbacks
professional club bring to the table?
12) Why is the Silverbacks name important?
13) When will the Silverbacks have a women's
professional team?
14) How will select tryouts be handled?
15) You mentioned Super Y before, what's the attraction?
16) Why are we pursuing this?
17) What else is there?
18) But there has to be more than just that. What else?
19) I hate to keep coming back to this, but it seems
that all the benefits go to the select kids. Is that right or am I
missing something?
20) All of that sounds a ways off, so there are no
immediate benefits to the recreation program that you know of?
21) When will all this merging take place?
22) Is it going to cost more to play?
23) What will be done to improve our
administrative/operational capabilities and achieve the
"economies" you spoke of?
24) So will the new organization have new employees
in 2004?
25) How do you plan to pay for all these improvements?
26) What is our goal for staff compensation?
27) What will be done to create a more
professional environment for the club staff?
28) What are your plans for the coaching
staff on the competitive side?
29) Will the current tournaments that each
club hosts continue?
30) Are there plans to add new tournaments?
31) Will we be able to have on-line registration?
32) What are we doing about uniforms?
1) What will the new name be?
We will play for the Silverbacks Soccer Club (SSC) which will be part
of the Atlanta Silverbacks Foundation. We will be called the
Silverbacks youth and be playing out of Canterbury & Noonday Parks.
2) Who are the other clubs in the merger?
3 United clubs: MNYSA, United Quest, and Atlanta Silverbacks Soccer
Club (amateur/adult teams).
3) Is it a merger or a partnership?
It's a little of both. We will not be merging our existing assets
(property, fields, building, etc) into the Atlanta Silverbacks
Foundation but we will be merging our future operations as one club.
So we are merging our operations but will partner with them on the
use of our facility.
4) Where will my team practice?
Recreational (U-4 to U-19) and Academy (U-9 to U-12) players will
continue to practice at Canterbury and Noonday parks and other local
fields. Current United Quest select teams will also continue to
practice at Canterbury and Noonday parks, and other local fields. At
some point in the near future, the Atlanta Silverbacks Foundation
plans to purchase and develop property centrally located for use by
its members (MNYSA, & United Quest), which will be available for
the Select teams and Super "Y" teams (U-13 to U-19 age
groups). We are in the initial stages of planning the new central
facility. The new facility will relieve some of the pressure for
practice space at Canterbury and Noonday parks.
5) Where will my team play games?
Recreational and Academy games will be at Canterbury, Noonday, and
other local fields. Some recreational age groups (probably U-14 and
above) will have games scheduled with teams at a similar level of
play at Metro North Park or Tramore/Marathon as part of the intra
league scheduling we have done to give teams the opportunity for
games against multiple opponents in Cobb County. This new scheduling
method will also help with parity because we plan to seed the teams
and it will avoid the need for our recreational teams to travel
outside Cobb County for games. Select teams will continue to play
games like they always have. When the new central facility is
developed it will give the Select teams another place to play games
and reduce the pressure for games at Canterbury and Noonday parks.
6) What will happen to the United Quest facility?
The facility will be renamed United Quest Soccer Park to retain the
legacy of our fine club that has been providing a quality soccer
experience. The fields and facilities will remain as assets of United
Quest Soccer Club as a non-profit entity and will be separate from
the Atlanta Silverbacks Foundation. Our facility is something we have
all worked very hard to develop through financial contributions and
sweat equity. United Quest Soccer Park will continue to operate as a
soccer facility. The United Quest Soccer Park will be leased back to
the Atlanta Silverbacks Foundation for use by the Silverbacks Soccer
Club. Any new property/fields developed in the future will be part of
the Atlanta Silverbacks Foundation.
7) Will we be merging teams?
Recreational and Academy no. These programs will continue to stand on
their own just as they do now. Existing select teams will also stay
as they are and continue to play at their existing park. As always
there may be players that chose to tryout for other teams within the
Silverbacks Soccer Club. The general goal is that, in the fall of
2005, those players graduating from each parks U-12 Academy program
(i.e. rising U-13 players) will attend a general tryout (much like
ODP) and will be placed on teams according to their skill levels.
Depending on the number of fields we are able to develop at the new
Central park, we may look at a general tryout for other age groups.
Where and when those teams practice will be available at the time of
tryout so that players and parents can make decisions on what team
they might be interested in based on their personal preferences.
8) Who will run the new organization?
-
The administrative staff (John Benton and Carrie Crawford) will
continue to manage administrative and operational issues at United
Quest Park and they will be joined by additional staff from Metro
North Park to manage the new clubs other operational issues.
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Rocky Harmon and Dave Smith will be involved with the soccer side of
the new club. In addition, the new club will have the luxury of
having the fine staff from Metro North. Together we will have an
exceptional staff to take us to the next level on soccer and
administrative issues.
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The Advisory Commissions will help advise the Club Board and Staff.
There will be Commissions on the following: Recreation, Academy,
Select, Super Y, Amateur, Operations, Membership, Marketing, etc.
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The Silverbacks Soccer Club board of directors will be comprised of
members from Metro North Youth Soccer Association and United Quest
Soccer Club. There will be equal representation from both clubs. The
responsibilities of this board will be similar as they are now -
supervise and direct all youth and amateur soccer programs operating
under the Silverbacks Soccer Club.
-
The Atlanta Silverbacks Foundation's primary mission is to raise
funds and develop property. It is composed of 2 members from each
park or current youth club and Boris Jerkunica (owner of the Atlanta Silverbacks).
9) Will there still be a role for volunteers in the new organization?
Absolutely. The Silverbacks Soccer Club will still be a
"volunteer based" organization much like United Quest
Soccer Club was. In fact, there will be several "advisory
commissions" developed to help guide the various soccer programs
(recreation, academy, select, Super Y, amateur) and operations,
membership, marketing & communication, etc. Each of these
commissions will work with our professional staff and the club board
to make the Silverbacks Soccer Club one of the premier clubs in the country.
10) Will fundraising still be important?
Yes, just like any other non-profit we will continue to be dependent
on outside support from sponsors and grants from foundations. We will
also still need additional financial support from our parents who can
support our efforts to build more fields.
11) Just what does the Atlanta Silverbacks professional club bring
to the table?
12) Why is the Silverbacks name important?
As silly as this may sound, by bringing the youth clubs together
under the Silverbacks "banner" you eliminate squabbles over
the name of the new club. There have been so many partnerships fall
apart just because the parties couldn't get together on the new name.
We don't have that problem here. We will also be one of the first
clubs in the country to be part of an organization that has a
professional team.
13) When will the Silverbacks have a women's professional team?
The plans are to have a Silverbacks women's professional team
(W-league) by 2005/2006.
14) How will select tryouts be handled?
Just as they are now. Players will show up to tryout for those teams
that they currently play for or for the team they would like to play
for. The big difference is that if your child doesn't make the 1st
team in an age group, he/she will have the opportunity to play for
the 2nd team which will probably be playing in the same division as
the 1st team without the "stigma" of leaving the club
(playing for the "enemy") or dropping down three levels of
play (e.g. Athena "A" to "C" for example.).
15) You mentioned Super Y before, what's the attraction?
The Super Y program is parallel to ODP in regards to being the best
road for elite players to have exposure to Regional and National
teams as well as college and professional teams. It provides an
excellent opportunity for the "best of the best" to play
competitively at a very high level.
16) Why are we pursuing this?
That's a good, no a great, question. Over the last few years, we have
seen many more competitors to our recreational program. There's more
competition (YMCA, Church leagues, other soccer clubs, other sports,
etc). Our select program has continued to improve in the level of
play, but the size of the select program is growing at a slow rate.
So, financially, to do the things we want to do with staff and
improved programs, we need to consider joining forces with other
clubs - who are in the same situation we are. Mergers such as this
one are a current trend, which parallels professional clubs in
Europe. We will be one of the first clubs in America to implement
this player development model of full integration.
With the aid of the Atlanta Silverbacks we are better able to control
our destiny by taking responsibility for developing more fields privately.
In addition, because of the size of United Quest Soccer Club we will
never be able to provide multiple levels of play on the select side.
We sometimes lose players to other clubs because we do not have a
team at the level of play that a player believes they are at so they
leave to find a team at another club. With close to 4,000 players we
will be able to field multiple teams (4-6 teams) at every level of
play so players can remain at the club to continue their development.
17) What else is there?
One major advantage of the merger is the ability to offer soccer
programs to all players of all skill levels from recreational, to
several levels of select, to Olympic Development, to US Club Soccer,
to Super Y, to amateur, to disabled athletes (TOPSoccer). On our own,
this would be more of a challenge to do, with nearly 4,000 players in
the club the resources exist to expand the playing opportunities well
beyond what we currently offer.
18) But there has to be more than just that. What else?
Well, certainly by combining the 2 youth and 1 amateur clubs we
increase our "clout" in several ways. As one of the largest
club in GYSA we should have a bit more influence. When we deal with
vendors on uniforms or equipment we can negotiate a better deal which
means potential cost savings to our members. Our select teams may
have an easier time getting into the more prestigious tournaments.
The recreational players should have access to better coaching, more
clinics, and increased tournament or championship play. And really
that only touches the tip of the iceberg.
19) I hate to keep coming back to this, but it seems that all the
benefits go to the select kids. Is that right or am I missing something?
It does seem that way at first, but that is only because it is easier
to see the immediate impact on that program. Over time, recreational
players could benefit in the following manner: bigger club means more
purchasing power, which should translate into cheaper uniforms and
equipment for everyone. The Atlanta Silverbacks are much better at
generating sponsorship dollars than we are and we will share in those
revenues for our fundraising needs. We've already seen the benefit of
the bigger recreational program in our ability to schedule locally
the older teams so that they have a more competitive season with less
travel. The next step will be to refine the bracketing so that all
age levels can have more and less competitive groupings - just like
in tournament play. The Atlanta Silverbacks professional team brings
an increased ability for top-notch clinics for players and coaches
and a real development program for those kids who want to achieve
certain goals with their game such as playing varsity high school
soccer. Finally, as the central complex gets developed and teams
"move out", the recreational and academy teams which remain
at United Quest Park, will have more space with which to practice.
This translates into better training and competition.
20) All of that sounds a ways off, so there are no immediate
benefits to the recreation program that you know of?
Aside from the benefits of intra-league scheduling, better parity
between teams and less travel for the older teams which we are using
this spring, the other benefits will take a little longer to develop.
The Atlanta Silverbacks however have impressed upon us their belief
that the Recreation program is just as important as the Competitive
programs. We want all players to develop a love for the game and a
potential lifelong affinity with the sport. They will then be happy
to remain involved in soccer and hopefully give back to the sport by
acting as future coaches of youth teams and playing themselves for
fun as adults. The Atlanta Silverbacks want everyone within the club
to have the best experience of anyone playing this game in the United
States and have challenged the coaching staff with their help to make
this a reality. It will take time to pull together the "best
practices" from each club and turn them into a better
developmental curriculum for all recreational players, but that is
our plan and commitment.
We will all be known as the Silverbacks with the same name used for
the competitive programs. We will be one true club instead of
different programs.
21) When will all this merging take place?
The first vestiges of the merger will begin to form next fall as
coaches are put in place and practice sessions are planned.
Administratively, the process will begin much faster as budgets and
the like have to be prepared, submitted, and approved. And of course,
the new Club Board and Commissions must be established.
22) Is it going to cost more to play?
Rates for fall 2004 have been set based on the budget of United Quest
Soccer Club. The fees for 2004 will increase some, but it is based on
the needs of United Quest Soccer Park and not the needs for the club
as a whole. Metro North will have fees based on the needs of a budget
associated with Metro North Park.
23) What will be done to improve our administrative/operational
capabilities and achieve the "economies" you spoke of?
We will now be able to utilize some of the staff resources available
with the Atlanta Silverbacks organization. Administrative/Operational
jobs will be redefined as either centralized functions or park
functions and they will focus more on specific duties. The multiple
bookkeepers will be combined into a club Controller position to
better manage and control our club financial activities. To be more
efficient, we may combine the multiple park Game & Practice
schedulers with the park Referee Assignors into one club Game &
Practice Director. In the future, we will hire a Director of
Facilities to manage all of the private facilities (Metro North Park,
United Quest Park, and Central park) we have developed and manage the
park Facility Managers. In the future, additional seasonal grounds
keeping staff will be utilized to maintain all of our private facilities.
24) So will the new organization have new employees in 2004?
Administratively, we have to "add" a club Controller. Down
the road we will look at adding a facilities manager and a game and
practice scheduler. On the soccer staff, we are looking at redefining
some roles to "add" directors for the recreation programs
at each park, directors for the academy programs at each park, a
technical director, a coaching education position, a goalkeeping
training director, and a director for the amateur program.
25) How do you plan to pay for all these improvements?
Through operational efficiencies, economies of scale, additional
sponsorships and grants and a small increase in annual fees. In some
cases, we may add some additional responsibilities to the current
staff but all this has yet to be worked out.
Answers To Questions 26-32 |