As Flaubert once said: There is no truth. There is only perception. The Squamish Youth Soccer Association (SYSA) has a perception problem – that perception being that some parents in the SYSA are more equal than others.
• SYSA sent our children invitations to accept a position on a select team (similar to the one they played on last year)
• Then SYSA got negative feedback from parents who have children in house league that the second select team was impacting the house league
• SYSA then reversed their decision and told our children there is no select team for them and to go play house league.
Right or wrong, the perception my child is left with is that she is less important than others. We’ve been given vague reasons for the SYSA capitulation including “there weren’t enough coaches,” although there was never a request sent asking if anyone had experience or was willing to coach. Considering I coached girl’s soccer for years, I would have been happy to help out.
The SYSA say they are looking after the children’s best interests, yet they have not had any direct conversations with those children. Instead we, the parents, are left cleaning up the mess they made.
While the lines of truth and perception may be blurred, all I see is once again doing what’s right for the children got derailed by adults that couldn’t set aside their own agendas.
Heidi French
Squamish
Editor’s note: SYSA president Tim Sjögren said that at the time of the player evaluations in April, officials were considering a change to the current “house” league soccer for the U13 to U14 girls, which might have seen a second “select” team and or a “house travel” team created, or retention of the current house league soccer structure for that age group. At the time it was suggested that a “house travel” team could be formed, but after the selections were made for the “select” team, there were not enough players to form a second “house travel” team. He said SYSA issued request for coaches before evaluations and appealed for coaches afterward and no one stepped forward. The intention now is to continue with the current “house” league program at that level. Certainly through this process, there has been some miscommunication and inaccurate information; however, the goal remains the same, to provide all players a positive experience, he said.
