Happy New Year!
I hope you have all enjoyed the holidays. As we resume our schedules this week, please do take the time to read through this newsletter and see what is happening with your club. As you all know, we have undertaken the task of exploring a merger between the clubs of Peace Arch Soccer and Semiahmoo Soccer. Accordingly, the overall sentiment has been that this merger is “a long time coming.”
You may be asking yourself why we are undertaking a cross-club look at merging Peace Arch Soccer Club, Semiahmoo Soccer Club and South Fraser Soccer Club. The following points, below, will explain this proposed merger in detail:
A. Background
Currently, there are three soccer clubs in the South Surrey / White Rock area: Peace Arch Soccer Club (PASC), Semiahmoo Soccer Club (SSC) and South Fraser Soccer Club (SFSC). Each of these clubs is a registered not-for-profit society under the BC Society Act.
In the South Surrey / White Rock area, recreational and elite soccer development programs are delivered by:
- 1. PASC, to approximately 1,200 boys and 120 men;
- 2. SSC, to approximately 1,000 girls and 120 women; and
- 3. SFSC, to approximately 200 boys and girls. SFSC was formed in 2010 by PASC and SSC in order to apply for a BCSPL franchise, which was successfully obtained in February 2011.
These clubs all share many commonalities, which include:
- Serving the same families
- Offering soccer programs from U6 through U18 along with adult programs
- Utilizing the same facilities
- Having the same administrative functions
- Sharing a common objective of developing soccer players
- Operating in the same geographical area
- Having common executive member(s) in both clubs
- Having common administrative operations
- Having common coaches
- Having the same relationships with the City of Surrey, School District 36 and the City of White Rock
B. Current Organizational Challenges
Operating with three separate soccer organizations in South Surrey / White Rock, with so many commonalities between the Clubs, creates many challenges that could potentially be addressed and resolved through organizational and structural modifications.
These challenges include but are not limited to:
- Game and field scheduling conflicts and less than optimal use of scarce field resources
- Communication errors between the Clubs and their members
- Misunderstandings between the Clubs, leading to less than optimal relationships between the Clubs at times
- Duplication of many administrative tasks
- Duplication of executive resources
- Separation of ideas and energy between the Clubs
- Duplication of City administrative fees for contracts
- Duplication of registration and communication interface processes with families having boys and girls
- Duplication of website functionality that is serving the same families
- Lack of clarity on who owns what equipment
- Duplication of sponsorship efforts
- Confusion in the community as to what each Club does or represents
- Constraints on growth opportunities
C. Organizational Review
After a number of sporadic and isolated attempts over the past five years to deal with the organizational challenges noted above, the Executives of PASC and SSC approved the formation of a cross-club committee to undertake a comprehensive review of the issues and challenges associated with a potential merger of the three soccer clubs.
The primary committee is comprised of three Executive members from each of PASC and SSC, which is being assisted by a number of sub-committees formed from other coaches, directors and members of PASC and SSC.
To date, we have developed the Vision stated below, and sub-committees are working on other organizational requirements of a potential merger, such as administration, financial, policies, governance and operational structure, and name/logo.
D. Vision
- Developmental: coaches, players, officials, leaders, programs
- Growth: in members, facilities and programs
- Top Club: professional, quality, competitive, dynamic
- Inclusive: all ages, all levels, all related activities
- Scope: giving-back, grassroots, local, partnerships, international
Members are encouraged to attend upcoming Information Sessions, the first of which will be held at the South Surrey Fieldhouse on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 @ 8 p.m.
All members are encouraged to attend one or more of these sessions. There will be an area on our website www.peacearchsoccer.com where all merger information including Q & A sections can be found. Keep checking back regularly.
There are a number of other things happening at this time. Don’t forget to show your support by taking in some of the Women’s Olympic qualifying games coming up soon in Vancouver. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_CONCACAF_Women’s_Olympic_Qualifying_Tournament
Cup play will be starting shortly for the U11-U18 age groups. We will be hosting the Men’s Cup finals at SSAP at the end of March. Check website for details as we get closer.
We are continuing to explore the concept of a full size indoor field with the city of Surrey. We are also looking at streaming video up at SSAP to have games recorded for streaming and/or playback.
This weekend will play host to a U12 showcase tournament. This is done to see all of the strongest players in this age group from the surrounding areas to help identify potential players for September’s U13 BC Premier League teams.
We have had great success using social media like Twitter with keeping our coaches and managers up to date on home schedules. Thank you to all of those that have registered to receive these updates. Please note that any of our club members can sign up to receive these schedule updates if desired. Just go to the game schedule page of our site to register.
Spring soccer is just around the corner. Registration will be open soon. An email notice will go out to all current and past registrants as soon as registration is open. Spring soccer registrations have grown dramatically over the last few years and appears to soon rival that of the fall season. Perhaps the weather has something to do with it.
Our current U18 graduating players have all been sent an email with information regarding scholarships that are available to them as soccer players including that of our club and the connected organizations such as BC Soccer and Fraser Valley Soccer League as well as our District.
Thank you for your continued support of your club.
Thank you and I look forward to meeting you if we haven’t already.
Sincerely,
Mike Hornak
Peace Arch Soccer Club
