Dear Barbarians:
The progress that we seek is measured here in terms of improvement. It is our stated goal, which remains from our beginning, that we measure our success or progress by the individual, the team and the club, weekly throughout the playing season and yearly, from season-to-season. You all must be aware that The Barbarian Football Coalition does not accept complacency, mediocrity, or the status quo in our efforts to improve the level of play for its players and in our efforts to hopefully raise the level of play within the area we encompass through the players who come our way. We offer as evidence to this our Code of Conduct, something we feel violates no one and helps enable all who venture into our ranks with the ability to have stated clearly how we view ourselves as well as those who want to be a part of what we are doing. The newsletter also helps to serve in this capacity and lends itself to all who take the opportunity to read it. It is our contention that we do not wish to bring harm to anyone, neither do we wish to hassle anyone about their perception of how things should or should not be done. It is however, words to the wise that we afford you, in a greater effort to enhance your ability to remain here in a capacity that lends itself to the improvement of those individuals who seek a higher level of play as well as the improvement of our teams and in the end, this club. While some are not on the same page as we would like to have them, most are, and while we illustrate some of the more extraneous points that tend to diminish what has taken place it is only done to give the participants feedback in hopes that all that we are doing will improve our time together now, and in the future. We appreciate everyone, but certainly we appreciate more those who work with us wholeheartedly, and understand, perhaps more importantly, we accept those who would oppose our efforts for whatever reason they divulge!
Whether we would admit to it or not, much of what shapes our future is what has happened in our past, and as is the case most noticeably our more recent past. It is all behind us and what lies ahead can only be measured after we have passed it. I remember an anecdote to this point told to me as a very young child by my mother that will hopefully give you some insight as to what I am referencing. It went something like this; several ladies were out at a social gathering when they came across a blind man. One of the ladies remarked, ‘a blind man’ to which another responded, ‘poor man’. The man overheard both comments to which he retorted, “Do not have pity on me, for I can see as far into the future as any of you.” Of course it took me a long time to know what the point of this was, and perhaps I still don’t know but I think it applies to what I am attempting to say to all of you. I am neither blind nor deaf however, what I see for the future is most assuredly less immediate than what many of you are concerned with in regards to The Barbarians and what we intend to accomplish. I do not seek anyone’s pity for the hardships I may have to endure, or endured, nor will it ever be my intent to burden any of you with what I have to endure, but it is my intention to work closely in support of those who support what we are doing in a spirit of cooperation, in hopes that over time we can move what ever obstacles lay in wait. While I was also taught that ‘no man is an island’, I am not one who is adverse to going-it-alone as has been the case for much of the time I spent getting this far. I appreciate greatly all of you who have assisted in moving things forward in light of those who remain pessimistic or at the very least distractive.
We were moving into the start of the 2005-2006 season in our last writing and will not go through the entire season of retiree in order to expedite some the overview faced in managing the club’s affairs. There are many topics on which to touch and perhaps many that are left untouched will be discussed in some form at a later time but for now the matter at hand is the natural world and its application to the super natural world of youth soccer. I know you may not have been aware of this underlying method of writing but after all, the world around us plays as big a part in our life as we play in it! Without a doubt one of the greatest aspects of our natural is world is the affect that death has on us all. November, December, and January brought what we may view as untimely deaths to loved ones near and dear to us but surely when it comes to time we are all at a loss. One death is not more noticeable or significant than another (please do not misinterpret this statement, it is not meant to incite anyone based on religious belief) and perhaps the greatest attribute of death is the cause, it gives to those who remain, for introspection and for reflection. Knowing this does not lessen its sting, but surely our heartache is not all for those who have gone on as much as it is for those who remain. You see there is no season or time to it. There is no time for us to do this or that in order to prepare for it. It is there with or without us, whether we wish it so or not. Yet while we are here amongst the living we have every opportunity to make a difference on a daily basis in our caring towards one another, to be gracious enough to acknowledge each other’s struggle, and to keep our humanity by working together with respect to our commonality while not exploiting our differences.
By December we started the season and what haunted me throughout the month, and most of winter, was what I viewed in many of the deciduous trees throughout our local area. The number of wasp nests that were located in the trees that were greater than a foot long and probably 8-10 inches in diameter and at least 30 feet or more off of the ground. Nearly all of them seemed to be located in forested areas that were isolated but visible to the eye while motoring. If you remember, December brought some very high winds (50 mph in some instances) as well as some isolated thunderstorms yet, those same nests I saw shortly after the trees went barren still remain at this writing. It may not be so to you, but that baffles me. The nests, so perilous, seemingly so vulnerable to the wind with nothing there to protect them, attached high atop to the tiniest of tree branches. The same winds that sent heavily weighted ground objects flying, uprooted trees in some locations yet did not even phase these nests! Maybe it is because of the barrenness of the trees that the exposed nests caught my eye or maybe it was the way things unfolded with Coach Rich having to leave us in December that moved my eye to the heavens, but whatever the reason they both weighed heavily on my mind. You see, no matter how much preparation I do, it was the passing of Coach Rich’s Grandfather that better prepared us for his eventual leaving than any time I spent planning for what direction we would take in the upcoming season. That is, the natural world’s most profound affect on us, while we have little or no say in these matters of the universal laws of nature. As you can tell by now it does not take much for me to be introspective or reflective! Somehow we managed to continue moving forward, not as consistently or with the continuity envisioned, yet we managed.
It became very apparent that we could not sit idly by in wait for Coach Rich’s return to us, yet we are counting down the days and will hold him to his promise of being gone from us for only a year or so! The scarcity of the newsletter throughout the course of the season was impacted by his absence but it was just one of the contributing factors that affected the output from that in years’ past. Our numbers had grown, which meant more time involved in match play, more schedules in effect and greater variance in hearsay with some of those ringers taking charge, leaving me in a quandary like dealing with a young child you take by the hand, who goes where they wish and not where you want them to go! Yes, there are many dynamics to even the best organizations no matter the size, even when there is only one who is accountable for every aspect of its propriety. There were a litany of contributing factors that kept the newsletters from being delivered but there was also the perception that some of them were too repetitive in their repartee and not those broad strokes of feel good news our society seems to demand nowadays, and I can remember feeling the expression, ‘no news is good news’, something I think allowed issues to work themselves out without my untimely input and finally, in a better light I realized “it is better to be thought a fool rather than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt!”. Believe me when I tell you, this season proved to me more times than not that I wished I did not speak so freely to some, as it would come back to bite me on more than one occasion. I am not the most conversant person on the face of the earth but I do value conversation. I soon learned you have to be careful in what you hold as conversation with one because so many are willing to paint a mosaic you had no idea could lend itself to others who might add their own interpretation to it. It was almost like being in our nation’s capital with so many tails wagging but I can also remember concluding that this is the reason so many of the people who run certain classic clubs in our area do not avail themselves to the very people they are supposed to serve, and why even more are looked upon as being a little shy when it comes to being truthful!
January brought us four State Champions and two Runner’s Up and a wave of disharmony that was fouler than the weather that could have been placed outside our doorsteps in Western, Pa for the month. It also brought with it the end of the first half of the indoor season, leaving us with a winning record for most of our club’s teams as well as a sense of uneasiness over the lack of respect many held over the perception of the lack of competition faced in league play. Even in that, most of our teams were not playing in the fashion that we strive to have them play, from top to bottom, start to finish, something which required a great deal of patience on the part of our coaches and management. With The Northeast Regional Tournament less than a month away, many did not understand the necessary focus it takes to compete there for a desirable outcome. Of the six teams we had qualified to travel we could only muster the four State Champions into battle but in the process we learned a lot about the make-up and perception of some of the members of this coalition, and learned even more once we traveled to Maryland and back, that whatever the outcome could have been we were more aware of directions that will be necessary for any type of future growth within The Barbarian Football Coalition. Through competing there we also learned how we could get closer to where we should be the next time around and with whom we will take to do so. While many of the players of our U14B team have been around us for several years, it took our getting involved in futsal over the past few years to be able to measure where we really are. Once again, our sincere appreciation for those players and parents involved over the past three to four year period, for their commitment and dedication that delivered our first regional champs now in search of the national title!
February and March provided their own diversity with many quality matches being played yet with dismal training sessions due to the lack of player populous. Truly rewarding however was the emergence of several teams and development of players like the U9 and our first ever U8 teams. They made whatever in deference we had to suffer with from some of our older, more established teams, seemingly paltry. We do not wish to take away from the consistent outstanding effort of the U14B team, whom captured our first undefeated season in regular league play (15-0-1) and who only suffered one defeat in tournament play (7-1-0) on their way to becoming the regional champions, or the effort exhibited by some of the other finely organized Barbarian Sides, but the U8 and U9 played and trained with the most passion, from top to bottom, than we have witnessed in several years’ time. They are definitely the up-and-comers, and it is for them that we have reason to believe we will make an attempt at training some of our sides and a year-round basis. There are other teams, or players that we are considering too, and we know, accept and understand that it is not for everyone. This is not a solicitation for participants because we already have the players we are interested in offering this program. We are considering these steps because we believe it will enhance our overall competitiveness outside of Western Pennsylvania.
Again this year we will also have organized sides for certain players with regards to the 3V3 league, which is something that is another tool for development since we are an organization that strives to help in the development of players here, in hopes of raising the level of play throughout our area. Several of the players we intend to use have not had any experience within The Barbarian Football Coalition while others have been around us for a while. Selection for one does not discount anyone for or from another. This is separate from our indoor atmosphere but nonetheless a part of who we are and what we do. Though the 3V3 league is in its infancy in our area we are aware that it too has national implications and a structure apart from any other 3V3 tournaments that make the rounds, so we would like to make certain we have some sort of input for our interests as well as for others in our area. Of course those who participated last year can see how things have changed for this year just from the use of player passes and costs. I am constantly reminded that ‘things happen suddenly no matter how long they take.’ Just as it has been with trying to establish a higher level of futsal, while truly only one of the original franchise clubs remains consistent and a part of West Penn Futsal’s so-called Prime League, we know the importance of trying to have some accept what might enhance this league but be that as it may, it is worth trying to be involved.
The standards we try to maintain within The Barbarian Football Coalition are meant to demand of everyone who calls themselves Barbarians, or who associates with us. The basic concept is respect of the game of football and all of its participants, whether in games or at training, on a continual level of consistency and competitiveness in our approach to better ourselves as players and people. What needs to be understood is this discipline is not for everyone, nor do we wish to impose it on those who view things differently. The understanding that one gains from knowing what should be obvious is that if you are here this is what we expect in your behavior, and if you do not wish to follow the guidelines that have been established over a ten-year span you are free to leave as you came. If you find it difficult to remain and not be disruptive then this is my dilemma: the majority accept and understand what we are attempting to do with all who are here; so do we allow time for those who do not wish to accept this concept of team play, or just let them go? We are certain that we will strive to continue to operate in the manner that has delivered us to this point, without deviation or exception, and we will always attempt to improve our ability to do so by taking whatever steps we see as necessary. Common courtesy, common sense, and commonality require it to be so through a cooperative effort with regards to our basic premise of competitiveness and selection. A few accept and understand, that in truth there is freedom and in freedom there is truth: yet what is it you seek, truth or freedom? Both, you say? We do not ever wish to be the ones who take freedoms with the truth like some that we know do. And the truth of the matter is, that even though the leaves have been borne from their shoots to cover the trees, most assuredly the wasp and their nests still remain: obscured and intact!
As always, I will see you on the pitch!
David W. Sayles