Our Approach
Our Philosophy
We believe that while no two clubs are the same, there are certainly patterns in how clubs operate, on and off the field, and there are pitfalls that make it difficult to move forward.
Our role is to support the current board, volunteers, and staff as an external resource that pulls from a number of experts who can provide input and guidance on the task at hand.
We want to work with progressive clubs, who have identified that sometimes it’s OK to need help. We want to be a short term team member to help your club achieve one or more goals.
Soccer clubs come in all shapes and sizes; there is simply not one model that can be considered the ‘right way’ to operate a club. It’s important to avoid becoming static or ‘stale’.
Most clubs are made up of a diverse membership, representing all ages and stages of play. This wide variety of stakeholder interests can be very hard to manage and more importantly to make everyone happy. Leaders of clubs need to accept this challenge and prepare and communicate the club’s vision, with careful consideration of all members.
Our assessment is that the following characteristics are found in successful clubs, no matter where they operate, or how big they are:
• Well developed strategic plan
• Strong leadership (board) focussed on governance
• Technical experts to drive soccer programming
• Open minded and not threatened by new ideas/people
• Transparency
• Accountability
• Exceptional Communication
• Financial Strength
• Positive industry relations with (peer clubs, governing bodies, City)
Understanding Clubs
How We Do It
We start by listening. Nobody knows your club better than you do. We want to understand the specific challenges that your club faces so that we can recommend a plan to achieve success.
What We Do
We activate our team of administrative and technical experts, who have years of experience operating soccer clubs at the community and professional levels, to provide practical solutions for your soccer club in areas such as:
• Strategic Planning
• Fundraising
• Human Resource Management
• Event Management
• Program Audits
• Operations Review
We provide written feedback with suggestion actions to improve a specific area of focus.
We can be involved in a single project or segment of the club that may need a ‘fresh set of eyes’ to a broad project.
Our club services are tailored and therefore there is not one single way that we take on the task(s). That said, generally we follow this model:
• Conduct informational interviews with key stakeholders
• Assemble an E11even Management project team
• Provide a written workflow plan for agreement/approval
• Provide a final report and recommendations
Our Services
Clubs have a tendency to operate in the ‘here and now’ and while they may have a strategic plan, in many cases it becomes a plan that is created once and may never be reviewed the measure progress.
It’s important to remember that the strategic planning process is dynamic and requires ongoing attention.
The strength of any club is directly tied to the people who are involved, especially in key positions. Some clubs operate with more emphasis on volunteerism, some rely more heavily on paid staff/contractors, and some combine the two. It’s important to note that there is no ‘right’ way.
One of the pitfalls of a soccer club is that some or all of the club’s operation can become outdated very quickly. This can be especially true when there is a high dependancy on volunteers to perform operations tasks. Often times the operations are seen as “good enough”, but are they really optimizing the club’s resources or providing the best service to the membership?
The Technical Programs are the club’s products and they are the biggest influence on Player, Coach, and Referee development. We will engage your professional coaching staff to review current programs, along with discussing opportunities for new programs.