We've passed several milestones in this new chapter of the club's history. For the most part things have gone better than we could've possibly imagine. We saw over 3000 at the club's "first" home match, a tough 2-1 win over redrhinos. We're currently ranked 4th in our series and believe we have every chance of improving that over the remainder of the series. But we've also had our share of troubles and this new version of Cedar Park Hounds wants to be honest about our shortcomings.
The team performance against Tansen was not good enough and many fans are pointing the finger of blame at coach Randy Alfaro for fielding a less than full strength team. We understand your frustration, but please remember that we are chasing multiple objectives over the course of the season and we are not a big enough club to achieve them all. We placed a high importance on defeating the Cambridge Streak (formerly of Reno no matter what they say) and Randy thought we needed our best players to do it. The consequence of that was a public humiliation on the biggest stage our series has to offer at the Tansen Dome. You can argue that coach Alfaro's priorities were wrong, but you really can't say he wasn't doing his best for the team. We can't ever have direct fan input into team selection, but if the fans consistently tell us what their priorities are, we will respond accordingly, since you are our bosses.
A bit more out of the public eye have been the travails of the new youth academy. The youngsters haven't been getting meaningful matches due to the disintegration of their league, NY Stud Farms. CPH is committed to this league for 7 more weeks and in that time we hope to encourage the other clubs to put together teams capable of participating. We will definitely not be renewing our commitment to NY Stud Farms and will be looking for other leagues for our youth academy to play in.
Back on the bright side, we are very comfortable with the roster of first team players we've assembled. We are very optimistic about our second home match against series strugglers Molson Export. The two following weeks will likely be the most important of our season as we play back to back matches against Davison SC who we consider to be our most important rivals this season. We're very close to releasing the details of our club's membership policy which will place the power firmly in the hands of the fans.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
We're Back (And Why We Left)
Season 32 was a trying time for Cedar Park Hounds. We stated as a club that our goal for the season was to go as far as possible in the cup, and our 7-round cup run was thrilling. But the toll it took on our league performance was plain for all too see as we failed to pick up a single point all season long.
The mystery that many of you have pondered is why the club closed up shop after this season of ups and downs. We probably did owe it to our fans to accept relegation and come out swinging in division V. The common misconception seems to be we quit for financial reasons. After all, that is the customary reason why an American soccer club fails. But the real truth is not quite so tangible. We simply lost our will to compete. It permeated all levels of the club, from the director all the way down to the field crew. With such a mindset we couldn't continue.
We realize now the shock this was for our fans. As we see it there are two things we can do to make it up to you. The first is to offer our eternal and sincere apologies. The second is to make ourselves into a club you can be proud of again.
If you come back you will notice many changes. We will be competing in division VI. The Dog House was torn down a year ago, and our club's new home is at the far more humble Milburn Park. We have made a new commitment to be a club that represents where we come from. That means a focus on American players and particularly on players that we develop ourselves via our youth academy. We may not win all the trophies, but we will be a club with heart. We will be offering fans the opportunity to purchase Barcelona-style membership in the club so that we can truly be a club of the people.
We've made a good start to our season with 2 road wins. (and many division observers didn't expect us to do that.) Our first home game is this Sunday at Milburn Park. Please consider giving us a second chance.
The mystery that many of you have pondered is why the club closed up shop after this season of ups and downs. We probably did owe it to our fans to accept relegation and come out swinging in division V. The common misconception seems to be we quit for financial reasons. After all, that is the customary reason why an American soccer club fails. But the real truth is not quite so tangible. We simply lost our will to compete. It permeated all levels of the club, from the director all the way down to the field crew. With such a mindset we couldn't continue.
We realize now the shock this was for our fans. As we see it there are two things we can do to make it up to you. The first is to offer our eternal and sincere apologies. The second is to make ourselves into a club you can be proud of again.
If you come back you will notice many changes. We will be competing in division VI. The Dog House was torn down a year ago, and our club's new home is at the far more humble Milburn Park. We have made a new commitment to be a club that represents where we come from. That means a focus on American players and particularly on players that we develop ourselves via our youth academy. We may not win all the trophies, but we will be a club with heart. We will be offering fans the opportunity to purchase Barcelona-style membership in the club so that we can truly be a club of the people.
We've made a good start to our season with 2 road wins. (and many division observers didn't expect us to do that.) Our first home game is this Sunday at Milburn Park. Please consider giving us a second chance.
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