| Moving Day (March 2006) |
By Louise Waxler
The convention always is the highlight of the NSCAA calendar. This year almost 10,000 coaches, vendors, administrators and business executives came to Philadelphia from around the United States and the world to make the 2006 Convention the largest ever.
For our members who attended the Convention, little needs to be said about its size and scope. It has become the largest soccer conference and exposition in America, bringing together virtually every soccer organization, many of which now use this venue for their own meetings and events, including Major League Soccer’s SuperDraft.
What is far less known, however, is that a staff of only 13 people and a handful of dedicated volunteers make this event possible. The perception this team has been able to convey is that the NSCAA is a large, wealthy organization. The reality, however, is that, although the NSCAA is the largest soccer coaching organization in the world with almost 20,000 members, it is still a budget-conscious non-profit organization that makes every penny scream before it gets out of our hands! That’s how we’ve been able to keep our membership fees low and our services ever-growing. It is the revenue from the Convention and the frugality of the staff that makes this possible.
The NSCAA is at a crossroads
Our organization now stands at a unique crossroads. Even though our staff is small, we have outgrown our office space in Kansas City. And just as when any business or organization moves, we’re forced to ask some tough questions about what our next home should be like. How big, what amenities and where should it be located are just some of the questions that have to be re-thought from scratch.
As is often the case, there are distinctly different schools of thought on what our next move should be. It will be an important aspect of my term as NSCAA president to explore what comes next for our organization.
There are two basic points of view on how the NSCAA should handle its next move. Neither of these two positions is right or wrong. They’re just different. It will be up to our board of directors to make the difficult decision of what direction to pursue.
I believe in listening to the opinions of our membership. So I would like to outline our two possible directions and get your feedback. Please email me at LWaxler@nscaa.com with your thoughts. I regret I will not be able to respond to you personally, but I will read your messages and forward them to our staff and board of directors.
My attempt here is to outline both of these positions from their respective proponents’ point of view. The decision is such a difficult one that I’m personally still listening to the debate and have yet to decide either way. If in any way I seem to sway one way or the other with these descriptions, then it is my limited ability to communicate them, not a bias on my part. This is the time in our decision process when your input is the most valuable.
Moving Option No.1
One school of thought is that the time has come for the NSCAA to have a home that includes extensive teaching and training facilities. We would invest in a first-class complex of fields, classrooms and office space that would attract coaches from around the nation and the world to its facilities for coaching education.
This new compound may be located anywhere in the U.S. that has excellent travel access, but most likely in a moderate climate to offer the maximum year-round use of its facilities. It will be at the same standard as the great coaching facilities of the English F.A. It potentially could host tournaments and events, creating a new revenue stream for the organization.
There would most likely be the loss of most of our current executive and administrative staff. As we are all aware, every one of us is replaceable, so we must not let the need for staff changes hold back the organization’s development. We may not have the money today to make this move, but only by planning in a large, dynamic way will our organization move effectively into the future.
Moving Option No. 2
The second school of thought is that the NSCAA already has chosen the right path and that, rather than have coaches come to it for education; it should go to where the coaches are.
The view is that the grassroots of the game is where a U.S. coaching organization needs to be focused. Sending our Coaching Academy personnel to cities across America serves the membership in the most effective way and that’s where the investment should be made. Our move should be made to more traditional but larger office space in the Kansas City area, which is both reasonable in cost and reduces the loss of staff that almost certainly would come with a major move to a new city.
If our organization loses the national office staff we currently have, we may find our resources are not sufficient to replace them with people that are as good or better. If our staff chooses to move, our resources may be sorely taxed in accommodating relocation expenses. Ultimately, this kind of staff loss could set back the Convention and other revenue projects of the NSCAA for a few years.
The pain of a move
Each of us has had to move a household, a company or an organization and we all know what an overwhelming process it is. There are no shortcuts. The process includes finding the right new home, closing out the old one, packing up a lifetime of possessions, setting up all the equipment necessary to run a modern organization, the sense of displacement and ultimately the tremendous time and resources required to make the move – and then make it work. The cost always is more than anticipated and is a lot more work than expected.
One way or another, a move is upon the NSCAA in the near future. Please weigh in with your thoughts about what direction you’d like to see the NSCAA take. Your opinion – the membership – is very important. |
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