The
Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area is a hot
bed of excellent youth soccer. Hence, many college
coaches target this area for recruiting players. Youngsters
through adults can play soccer from the time they are
knee-high through high school and hopefully beyond. The
Greater Cincinnati Soccer Alliance (GCSA) allows players
to continue the Dream. Thanks to the tremendous
efforts of many youth soccer clubs, there are over
42,000 youth soccer players in Greater Cincinnati/Northern
Kentucky today playing year round, the game we all
love.
On a Regional and National level, few Greater Cincinnati/Northern
Kentucky teams have been successful. A few girls
teams have succeeded, but there has not been a dominant
boy's team in some time. The reason is not that
Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky has less exceptional
soccer talent than other areas, but that for many years
some of the more talented players have played for other
premier teams as far away as Columbus and Toledo where
they performed very well. The main reason was
that the young, exceptional player pool was fragmented
all over the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area.
The Cincinnati United Premier Soccer Club was founded
with the clear understanding of all the pitfalls and
problems other cities are experiencing, with an up
front commitment to learn from their mistakes, and
while always keeping in mind the main objective of
CUP . . . to give those soccer players
who have exceptional talent and are committed to be
the best they can possibly be - - an opportunity to
play as a team against the best competition - - under the
guidance of the best coaches - - and at some of the
best soccer facilities (i.e., Metalex Park).
The vision and concept of CUP is unique - - a simple
organization following the ISO9001 system, commonly
used in the business sector as a guide promoting quality
and commitment to excellence in everything CUP does.
The Club is operated by a Board of Directors, which
at this time represents Team Cincinnati and Lakota
Soccer Club. Each club is represented by three
(3) members with two (2) Board Members at large, giving
the CUP board eight (8) members and eight (8) equal
votes. A chairperson presides over all Board
functions. For this concept to be successful,
it must encompass the entire Greater Cincinnati/Northern
Kentucky boy's and girl's youth soccer resources. The
GCSA seeks partners (youth soccer clubs) that embrace
this concept and understand and support its benefits.
The partnership between the Greater Cincinnati/Northern
Kentucky soccer clubs and the GCSA will in no way,
shape, or form effect the club's day-to-day operations. It
will only enhance their ability to offer special talented
players (U-15 and older) an option to decide if they
want to take advantage of this unique opportunity. Participating
clubs will have the opportunity (through the partnership)
to provide input on how the GCSA and CUP will operate
in the future to serve the total Greater Cincinnati/Northern
Kentucky soccer community.
The coaching staff will consist of a Director of Coaching
and a single quality Coach for each team. The
Director of Coaching will be appointed by the Board
of Directors. The Director of Coaching will be
responsible for the selection of the individual team
coaches and the performance of those coaches. The
selection of the players will be through an unbiased,
extensive tryout. Player selection lies with
the Coaching Staff. The Director of Coaching
is also responsible for being proactive in the resolution
of complaints about coaches and is agreements between
coaches and players/parents. The Board will be
made aware of all such situations.
The GCSA will support CUP teams in five age groups
U15 to Ul9 for boys and girls. Ages UI5 to Ul8
will be targeted to have two teams per age group. Only
one Ul9 team will be supported and only if players
are committed and the team will be competitive. Our
intent is to attract a few special talented players
with the support of their club and coaches, if it is
the right thing to do for the players.
Hopefully, we can elevate the commitment to soccer
from our young, talented players in the same way the
English and German youth organizations approach it. They
not only reward their coaches on how many games they
win, but how many players have developed their full
potential and how many players they have placed in
the national pool.