Barbarians:
In an effort to allay any fear you may have, I will do my utmost to respond to each individual question that has been asked but hope that you all understand that we are not given to changing who we are in our manner or approach in doing what we do. Our greatest strength in who we are is doing what we do in as consistent a manner with caring for the human condition. Hopefully the writing today will answer some things in your mind so that we can continue to progress. At some point you will comprehend who we are and why there are none like us as well as what your membership means, to each of us!
Thank you all who have responded thus far and even more so who have made an honest effort in making the initial payment. We will lay out the fee schedule shortly but want to make certain everyone knows that if you have any issues with fees to let me know immediately. If you had to hesitate on returning or have not responded because of a pause in your financial situation, or if things change through the course of the season, for those of you who have committed, be certain to let us know. In the event that there is an interruption to the season due to the Covid-19 coronavirus, any fees that have been paid will be prorated and returned and we will suspend fees until which time we can return, or in the case of individuals, you can return. Please keep your effort honest by meeting the payment date requests. It helps us meet our obligations in a timely fashion.
At this time we have no information to share with you on how the leagues will proceed with respect to mask wearing or physical distancing, for playing purposes. As you all are aware, politicizing and populism do not trump common courtesy or common sense, nor the guidelines that have been given in clear evidence as to how we should approach the mitigation of this pandemic. We were able to successfully offer training this summer while having players and coaches in masks and maintaining physical distancing. It is our intention to begin training for the season with the same protocol in place. We will continue to monitor temperatures and will make certain that only the players who are scheduled to train will be permitted to do so, again, no parents within proximity of the players unless circumstance warrants otherwise. Remember, futsal is an indoor sport, here in Western PA, and we are obligated to follow mandates by all governing bodies including insurance. With that said, please take time to do the paperwork requested under the My Docs Tab and submit them electronically. So that we may stay on task and move forward to have a smooth transition to our year, please do so that we do not have to continually request your compliance. Hopefully you will complete them all before September 30.
It is not our custom to cut players from our ranks. We are focused on each player’s development and understand that everyone does not develop at the same time. In being committed to our approach of selection or playing time, each of you must recognize that we make our decisions on maintaining a consistent and competitive environment, whether in league play or tournament play, it requires that we do what is best for the collective. Complacency does not enter into what we do or how we do it. Parents who continually try to instruct players on the pitch in training or match play and in particular, on the ball, need to understand thoroughly that the team and its players get their instruction from the bench. While we have not cut players from the club, we have in our 25 plus year history asked several to not return due to this type of behavior. The lack of availability to regularly attend scheduled training, the disruption to a team, or interference in match play by engaging officials, are egregious to what we do and how we maintain respect for the game and all of its participants. Even though we have alluded to this type of behavior in our HANDBOOK, we had several of these occur during the course of the 2019-2020 season. While we understand frustration with one’s inability to not feel the need to proffer their well intended misguided instruction (as we are only human), please let this serve as a cautionary reminder that we all will be upheld to our standard and that none of us are above the spirit or tenant of what is necessary to not become an also-ran. At the end of the day, we do what we do for you, not to you!
It is my sincere appreciation to move forward with each of you especially those who chose to at this time. We hope that we will all become who we are in spite of who we think we are.
We will see you on the pitch!
dws