Soccer families push back over Coral Springs’ vision to reshape sport’s future
Members of the Coral Springs Youth Soccer (CSYS) association showed up in force to make their voices heard on what they say is an existential threat to the future of recreational soccer in the city.
After the city issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking organizations to help create a “comprehensive” soccer program, which would include travel, recreational and developmental leagues, volunteers and parents expressed concerns that their beloved program would disappear.
During the Wednesday, Feb. 18, City Commission meeting, officials were quick to note that they had no intention of eliminating CSYS and told the organization’s representatives that they were open to collaborating, including hosting a future workshop to examine potential options.
Several commission members, including Mayor Scott Brook, highlighted personal connections to the league.
But, concerns remain.
Supporters expressed that bringing a for-profit company into the mix could hurt CSYS, making local youth soccer more expensive while pulling players and parents away from recreational play.
CSYS president Denise Fatigate was the first to speak.
“Our mission is simple: To provide safe, affordable, inclusive soccer for every child who wants to play,” she said. “We are not a revenue-driven operation. We are a community institution built on equal playing time, accessibility, competition and fun.”
Fatigate highlighted core concerns, including differences in mission between travel and recreational play, likely increased costs to families and loss of the structure that CSYS has built over its 53 years in the community.
City officials repeated multiple times throughout the meeting that they believed there had been a miscommunication about the RFP.
“Coral Springs Youth Soccer is not being eliminated, and maybe we did a bad job of explaining that,” Deputy City Manager Brad McKeone said. “I don’t envision, and neither does Rob [Hunter] as the Parks and Rec director, envision a youth soccer program here that doesn’t contain or have Coral Springs Youth Soccer participating in it.
“Now, will there be one organization, under one umbrella of soccer? Yes, that is the vision, because it does allow us to have better use of the fields, better efficiency.”
For parents who spoke, changes to the soccer program threaten its positive impacts.
Heather Zardis, an attorney and mother of two, said she has seen the program’s positive impact on her youngest child.
“When she joined Coral Springs Youth Soccer, she found a community,” Zardis said. “It was there to build her up, to support her amongst a bunch of other little girls who, some had played soccer, some hadn’t.”
“Everyone gets to play. Everyone gets to learn skills. Everyone gets to learn that they have something to contribute, that they are special and unique amongst themselves.”
It’s an assertion backed by the National Athletic Trainers Association, the Australian government, Project PLAY, the National Academy of Athletics, and the After-School Alliance, all of which highlight lifelong positive impacts on health, social, educational and career outcomes for children who participate in athletics.
But, further studies have shown that hypercompetitive atmospheres can have a detrimental effect on children, especially when it comes to sports-related injuries and mental health.
The Coral Springs News reached out to Coral Springs Youth Soccer officials for comment on Feb. 19 but did not get an immediate response.
