Dear Seashore Parents, 

In case some of you may not know me, I have been involved with Seashore Soccer for almost ten years now, with all 5 of my children playing. I have been a coach on the recreation side for all age groups, from U6- U15. For the past two years, I have been the Director of Recreation as well as Vice President of the Board. I am stepping down from the Board to take over the operations so that I can fully commit to ensuring the club's stability and growth.

First of all, we would like to apologize for not being more communicative and responsive to the extraordinary conditions that have befallen Seashore Soccer on behalf of all Board Members.  

A combination of COVID19 stopping play, our coaches being sent back to Europe, and then to top it off GPS declaring bankruptcy. All of this has left us in an unusual predicament, and the inability of the Board to keep up with this chain of events caused a lapse of communication with all of the families affected by these events. 

This lapse of communication left everyone with more questions than answers. Now that we are getting a handle on the situation, we would like to provide you with accurate and transparent information. We are taking the opportunity to revamp and upgrade our program to provide a more quality environment for both players and their families while addressing the issues that have occurred at the classic level with our last two vendors. 

At this time for the coming Fall and Spring, and going forward, the club is committed to classic soccer at all levels. This coming season we expect to support: 

• Classic Soccer: training and league matches at all levels of play as much as the NCYSA and State and County health officials allow. Seashore has a very high standing in the coveted NYSCA (North Carolina Soccer Association) with highly ranked and respected teams. One of our boy's teams has been accepted to play in National Level Piedmont Conference 

The Piedmont Conference consists of teams primarily from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The top teams in the Conference will earn advancement to the US Youth Soccer Regional Championships, part of the US Youth Soccer National Championship Series

• All Recreation Soccer levels: The amazing volunteer parents, will be receiving even more support in the upcoming seasons through the development of regional coaches

• Qualified regional coaching to upgrade our Academy Program to produce more fundamentally skilled players at a younger age and, more importantly, consistency in training from year to year, building a more sound foundation. 

We are also using this downtime to research the many opportunities presented to us to fill our competitive Classic Teams' coaching needs in conjunction with the regional coaches who have shown a desire to be a part of this club. Seashore players have worked hard to gain their standings in a highly competitive league, and quality coaching is at the forefront of our decision making. This type of research and vetting does take time, and we are doing our due diligence. 

Some of the options we are considering are: 

• 1 USL Team and 2 MLS Teams Partnerships: This relationship would afford us to send teams to camps and clinics during the summer with their Pro Players Academy and Classic Youth Teams. Relationships like this would allow us to bring some of their coaches and players in for guest visits, workouts, and professionally run clinics. These teams are all on the east coast, facilitating easy travel for them and us. 

• Several nationally recognized soccer organizations have contacted the club to fill the void left behind by GPS. These organizations will be thoroughly vetted, so mistakes of the past may be avoided, and we are not left abandoned by an organization that promised better. 

In the spirit of transparency, we have listed those companies for your review as a parent: 

• Capelli Sports 
  • Albion Soccer http://albionsoccer.org/ 
  • Rush Soccer https://www.rushsoccer.com/ 
• Surf Soccer 

Now to address the elephant in the room. Carolina Velocity is in the process of creating a club in this area. A lack of messaging on our part has caused some of our players to register with their club. We one hundred percent support families doing what they feel is best for them.  However, do not let a lack of messaging during these very uncertain times be confused with a lack of enthusiasm on the part of Seashore Soccer. This situation has been a trying yet enlightening time in everyone's life. It has shown us that the volunteers at Seashore are more committed than ever to provide our families with a great experience. One that not only provides a quality soccer environment for the players but one that we can say is an easy and pleasant experience for the parents and players.

Finally, we have no idea if we will ever see any refunds from GPS. All fees and deposits went straight to them. We were told that an 88% refund directly to the parents was on the table, but they have since shut down their entire operation. We are, however, prepared to offer discounts on registration fees and month-to-month payments as we go to accommodate any closures related to COVID19. 

Thank you for your patience, and be assured that we are diligently exploring the best options for this organization and its families. Seashore is more than 40 years old and has done much for this community, and we hope to provide 40 plus more years of serving you and your families. 

Dennis Felipe

Director of Operations

Seashore Soccer League

T:202-996-7960

E: dor@ssl-nc-.com

Hello to all our members, Classic and Academy players, 

I wanted to reach out to everyone on the topic of Global Premier Soccer or GPS. Like many organizations during this health crisis, GPS has announced that it will no longer be in business. Their parent company Legacy Global Sports, declared bankruptcy earlier in the year. While this is not an ideal solution, the club has been monitoring it, but there has been little forthcoming from GPS. 

SeaShore was in the final year of a multiyear contract with GPS. The goal was to try and leverage that status as a customer to push GPS to refund parents for this springs Classic Fees. Since these fees were paid by parents directly to GPS and not through the club, the only legal option we had was to hold to our current contract status. Unfortunately, all communications were met with delays and messaging around "we will have a plan," which never materialized. SeaShore has had limited formal contact from them as a whole during this time. To this end, we have estimated that GPS owes parents approximately $65,000. We are doing what we can, as a club, to continue to press for refund information. Unfortunately, since we did not collect these monies on behalf of GPS, our options are limited.  

Over the last couple of seasons, we have worked with GPS to increase our regional and local staff. At this time, we are looking to leverage them over this Fall and Spring. We are also in communication with ex GPS coaches, along with other members of our local community. The community is lucky to have licensed and certified coaches with experience from high school through college. Several have played both overseas and at the US College level, and we feel this approach will provide this most flexibility at this time. 

Where we go after that is unknown. We think the best option, given the vendor issues and the current unknowns for the Fall and Spring is to work locally and with individual coaches and then reassess this time next year. We will look to announce fees for this approach very shortly and appreciate everyone's patience while we work through these items. 

Thank you to everyone who has registered and come to tryouts thus far. We will continue to hold tryouts and build teams with a focus on getting kids out and playing ball. We appreciate the support afforded the volunteers working behind the scene to get things done. 

As always, we are here for questions or concerns, and I am happy to speak to each of you directly or as a group. 

We appreciate each of you and look forward to getting back on the pitch with our players! 

Joe Costanzo

President

Seashore Soccer League

E: president@ssl-nc.com

M: 919-889-2430