Joint Venture Website Media Release May 28, 2004 Today, three local Atlanta soccer organizations: the Atlanta Silverbacks (men's professional team and adult/amateur teams), Metro North Youth Soccer Association (youth soccer club) and United Quest Soccer Club (youth soccer club) announced the formation of the Atlanta Silverbacks Foundation and the Silverbacks Soccer Club. A celebration of this exciting merger has been planned for June 19th at the Atlanta Silverbacks game. This will be the first time in the United States that several youth soccer clubs have truly merged all of their programs from Recreation to Select with a professional soccer organization. The new soccer club will continue the tradition of providing excellent soccer programs to players in the Atlanta area and Cobb County. Plans to work with other clubs in the region are being considered. The primary goal of the Atlanta Silverbacks Foundation will be to develop soccer fields for the Silverbacks Soccer Club. Boris Jerkunica, Co-Owner and Chairman of the Atlanta Silverbacks, has been the primary force behind this exciting development to improve Georgia soccer. Boris states, "I have a 40 year plan for soccer in Georgia which involves the professional organization taking an active role in assisting the youth club to develop players at all levels of play. We hope these players will develop a real passion for soccer and continue to enjoy and participate in the game as an adult. We want to create a model for the rest of the country to follow." The Atlanta Silverbacks have already completed the first phase of the Atlanta Silverbacks Park, located at I-285 & I-85 (spaghetti junction), which will eventually be the home of the Atlanta Silverbacks professional teams (men and women in 2006). The driving force behind the vision for the soccer park and its development has been Stephen Pratten, Co-Owner and President & CEO of the Atlanta Silverbacks. Currently, the park includes 3 lighted fields: 2 artificial turf fields (using FieldTurf the product used in the Georgia Dome) and 1 bermuda grass field. The professional team, amateur/adult players and youth players in the club will share the new park. The plans for the park are to create a true club atmosphere which will include: 5,000 seat stadium, media room, indoor artificial turf field, pool, tennis courts, fitness and free weight facility, locker rooms, sand volleyball, administrative offices, sports bar and a café style restaurant. Stephen Pratten, says "One of the primary goals of the Atlanta Silverbacks is to promote the sport of soccer in both the United States and Georgia. Atlanta Silverbacks Park will be among the very best soccer specific facilities in the country and the creation of this new park, combined with joining with two premier youth clubs like United Quest Soccer Club and Metro North Youth Soccer Association, are significant steps towards our achieving that goal. Considerable time and effort has been required to ensure both these projects were handled in a thorough and professional manner. We have been very impressed by the expertise of the staff and the dedication of the volunteers at both United Quest and Metro North, together we will move our sport forward." Many people at all the clubs have put in countless hours to make this merger a success. Their dedication to the mission of ONE CLUB * ONE VISION was critical to our ability to pull this all together. Andy Walker, Executive Director of the Silverbacks Soccer Club said, "I am thrilled that the three organizations have been able to combine their efforts to create one entity. Our new club will lead to many years of success at all levels of soccer (Recreation, Academy, Select, PDP/Super Y, Amateur and Professional) both on and off the field. I feel that our staff is second to none! This merger is great for the overall promotion of the sport of soccer. I am excited to be part of it!" One of the challenges we faced was to maintain the legacy and fine reputation both United Quest and Metro North had in the soccer community. Both of these clubs has been providing youth soccer programs in their communities for 16 years and 26 years respectively. In order to recognize the names of the previous clubs we will be changing the names of the soccer complexes to United Quest Park and Metro North Park. Rocky Harmon, Co-Director of Soccer of the Silverbacks Soccer Club said about the merger, "Frankly, we looked hard to find any negatives in the deal. The only one was based on the sentiment of giving up the United Quest name. However, if you think with your brain instead of your heart, you quickly realize that the advantages of this merger are overwhelming. Our goal is to become a model franchise for other youth clubs around the country to emulate. It is an exciting concept." Essentially our soccer model is very similar to what is used in the rest of the world. Player development will be a cornerstone for our club. The club strives to be able to provide multiple levels of play for every player and with 4,000 players it will be much easier to realize this goal. The larger club will also enable us to enhance our very professional staff and provide them with more career opportunities from both the club and professional side. Nuno Piteira, Co-Director of Soccer of the Silverbacks Soccer Club said, "The model we are implementing is the model used where I grew up in Portugal. We want youth players to develop a real passion for this beautiful game and to continue to play as an adult. It is also important that we implement a model to develop players from Recreation to Academy to Select to PDP/Super Y to College to Adult/Amateur or Professional. My dream is to one day have one of the players I worked with to play for one of the Atlanta Silverbacks professional teams." Another benefit of this merger is to be able to create more levels of play for Select players. It is difficult for a smaller club to provide multiple levels of play within an age group. This new club may have 6 teams in a single age group, playing at multiple levels of play. This will mean that every player in the club will now have an option to play on a team that fits their skill and commitment level. Players will not have to leave the club to find a team that fits their needs. Dave Smith, Girls Director of Coaching of the Silverbacks Soccer Club said, "The new club will enable us to provide more levels of play for both girls and boys. I have been a strong advocate for this merger because it is the right thing to do for the players. The Atlanta Silverbacks are also committed to bringing a Women's W league professional team to Atlanta in 2006. I am proud to be part of this exciting new club." We are proud to announce this exciting merger which will help Georgia soccer continue to be viewed as a leader in the soccer community. President's Message To United Quest Club Members April 23, 2004 On March 29, 2004, the United Quest Board of Directors met to review the information presented by the merger committees of the new Silverbacks Soccer Club. After reviewing the information, a proposal was brought up to move forward with the merger pending approval of legal documents. The Board of Directors, Staff, and Operational Board would like to hold a members meeting to answer any questions about the proposed merger. Frequently asked questions have been posted on our web site to help answer concerns of our members. Sincerely, Paul Copeland President To: United Quest Players, Parents & Coaches From: United Quest Board of Directors & Staff Re: Silverbacks Partnership Discussions March 1, 2004 It's been over a month since we last communicated on the discussions with United Quest, Cobb FC, and the Silverbacks. And while you might think that little has been going on, because you haven't heard from us, quite the contrary is true. A great many hours of meetings have generated a good number of recommendations and the details of the arrangements are becoming much clearer. It is the goal of the transition committee to wrap discussions, present findings, and move toward having each club make a decision by the middle of March. At our last briefing, we promised a couple of things: Minimal disruption to the "recreational experience." We are pleased to announce that almost all of the recreational program games will be held at their current venues. In the older age brackets, where there are few teams to schedule games at the home park - we have been able to intra-scheduled between the three clubs so that nine game seasons can be played in Cobb County and travel is limited to only the MNYSA or Cobb FC complexes. A slow integration of the select program teams. We are further pleased to announce that whatever select team you might have a child playing on will still practice and play out of your current "home" park. There will be no driving around the county for practices. There is no good reason to "add to traffic" by sending a team that used to be at United Quest over to Tramore or vice versa. The rest of the major decisions are currently being finalized. In the near future, we will be calling a special membership meeting to unveil all the new plans and answer any questions that you might have. In the meantime, please don't hesitate to contact us on any issue. Thank you for your continued support of our club and we look forward to a very exciting future. To: United Quest Staff, Coaches, Parents & Players From: The Board of Directors Re: Joint Venture Discussions with MNYSA & Cobb FC January 13, 2004 The Atlanta Silverbacks and Metro North Youth Soccer Association (MNYSA) are in the process of creating a partnership called the Atlanta Silverbacks Youth Foundation (ASYF). The ASYF has invited United Quest and Cobb FC to become part of this partnership. The United Quest Board of Directors is announcing today that we have a signed a letter of intent to pursue this partnership and begin formal discussions over the next 3-4 weeks with MNYSA and Cobb FC soccer clubs to investigate the further development of our partnership with the Atlanta Silverbacks professional soccer organization. Only a beginning: Let us emphasize that we have only begun the discussions on this potential partnership. All of the details, and know that there are many, are "to be determined," but some of the guiding principles we will use in the discussions are as follows: Minimal disruption to the "recreational experience." We don't envision many changes to the way we currently manage our recreational program. At the older age groups, where team numbers are shrinking, we would expect to take advantage of the partnership so that larger divisions can be built and intra-league games can be played locally in Cobb County. In addition, we expect to be able to more easily create "playoff" and "championship" experiences for our recreational teams. Perhaps even a "Club Championship" of sorts in some age groups. A slow integration of the select program teams. The initial thinking is to leave all teams in place for fall of 2004 and begin combining players as they leave the "academy" experience at U13 in the fall of 2005. Advantages - at a first glance: The Board of Directors sees these benefits that a partnership provides for current and future players: Larger coaching "pool" of qualified coaches and trainers. Less "travel" for the older recreational players. With the clubs combined, age groups would be able to minimize interleague scheduling and "travel" would be confined to Cobb County. Increased opportunities for recreational divisional playoffs and / or tournaments. Greater opportunities for elite players to play on regional or national championship teams which, in turn leads to greater exposure to National Staff and college level coaches. Mid-level select players gain greater opportunities to play at multiple levels that match their commitment and skill level. Increased chances for all select teams to be accepted to highly competitive tournaments. Expanded base of volunteers to assist in running the organization. Increased ability to secure time on Cobb County owned soccer fields. Since all three clubs have owned and operated fields, the merger will facilitate development and expansion by spreading the costs over a larger membership and sponsor base. We will consider building a central select facility. Remember, these are only preliminary discussions. We promise to keep you informed at every juncture. Should you have specific concerns or questions, please feel free to e-mail a board member (see contacts page) or Paul Copeland. Thank you for your continued support of our club and we look forward to a very exciting future. Paul Copeland, United Quest President Copyright © 1999-2004, United Quest Soccer Club All Rights Reserved Website comments or corrections Visitors: Last Update: