Boehm: Notes from U.S. Soccer’s Board of Directors meeting
ORLANDO, Fla. — The shadow of the U.S. Soccer presidential election hangs heavy over everything and everyone at the federation’s annual general meeting.
But there are plenty of other pressing matters in front of USSF and its member organizations, and many of them — plus a few bits of good news, too — were discussed at the board of directors meeting on Friday morning.
I was one of several journalists and other outside observers present at the open period of the meeting, which ran nearly four hours before the BoD segued into its “executive session,” a private phase in which legal and other sensitive matters were broached. It marks my first time to attend this meeting, as well as the USSF AGM in general.
Hoping to shed some light on this powerful but often-overlooked body, I took notes and tweeted out what I considered important or interesting elements of the meeting, which was incumbent president Sunil Gulati’s last in charge, as well as the final one for independent director Donna Shalala and immediate past president “Dr. Bob” Contiguglia.
For those who missed it or prefer to stay off of Twitter (I understand why!), here is my thread of tweets from the morning’s proceedings.
The day at #USSoccerAGM starts with a USSF BoD meeting, where Sunil Gulati opens by providing an update on WC2026 bid. One key selling phrase: “low risk and operational certainty.” ST notes positive meeting with Asia/Africa reps in Oman this week.
— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 9, 2018
Gulati reports on FIFA’s proposed overhaul of youth World Cups, which would merge the U17 and U20 events into one large (likely U19) tournament. Also lays out FIFA’s concept for a 16-team women’s league of nations, a year-round competition to launch in 2020.
— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 9, 2018
Brand manager Kay Bradley delivers a detailed report on SheBelieves and other WNT matters, including activation concepts like “roster reimagined,” “WNT skillz,” “WNT everywhere,” “mobilize America,” “diy watch parties” etc
— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 9, 2018
Couple interesting items in the (somewhat dry) internal reporting going on now:
*Fed is entering phase 2 of DoublePass evaluation – club standards, ratings etc coming to grassroots level.
*Biobanding youth tournament set for April in Tx
*GPS tech being distributed more widely— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 9, 2018
A few notes from a report on the fed’s recent participation survey (complete study will be presented at April member mtgs):
*Soccer typically the first sport kids play, but biggest shift (ie dropouts) happens at 11-12 as adolescence begins…— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 9, 2018
*Decision to move kids to higher levels happens really early (too early) – 8 or 9
*High interest in unorganized soccer across the board
*In a member survey, most popular options were standardization of coaching and online resources explaining structures and options— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 9, 2018
Substantial time spent on USSF policies/procedures in the wake of gymnastics abuse scandal. Training and policy updates – “integrity hotline,” background checks, affiliation with US Center for SafeSport – USSF got a passing grade in 2017 and will expand programs in ’18
— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 9, 2018
#USSFPresident election notes:
Atty Michael Malamut has served as parliamentarian at Natl Council meetings for 17+ years and will do so again tmrw
Accounting firm Plante Moran will serve as independent auditors of prez election— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 9, 2018
After a brief break, BoD resumes with proposed @opencup policy change, to remove foreign player limit (5) on pro teams. Rationale is to emphasize competitive value, make tourney a more attractive commodity. Gulati, Flynn opposed, conversation ongoing
— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 9, 2018
Don Garber: “We need to make that tournament more valuable … because it is an enormous strain on our schedules,” other pro reps make similar points. Flynn et al speak up “in support of the American player” – motion tabled.
— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 9, 2018
JP Motta proposes to cut youth/ amateur member fees (50c to $1 pp) by 50%. Would drop fed intake from $4.5 mil to $2.4 mil.
Gulati et al oppose, citing timing, short notice, perm. budget hit, low impact on participation levels, member orgs rerouting $; motion soundly voted down— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 9, 2018
BoD closes with tributes to outgoing members Gulati, Shalala, Contiguglia. Gulati drops a few acerbic quips, incl. about the $30 to 50 mil Twitterati says he’ll get for WC2026, cracks that his wife tried to go to the bank to borrow against that future payout
— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 9, 2018
Gulati again lambastes the tone and tenor of #USSFPresident race, alludes to “nonsense” allegations etc, but closes with heartfelt tribute to service of rank-and-file members, volunteers, staff. Meeting breaks and non-members depart ahead of executive session.
— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 9, 2018
