I received the following e-mail today from Mike Kerr, vice president of administration for South Kitsap Soccer Club. Mike wanted me to know that the club, serving more than 1,500 players, has reformed its ways since last year, when I did a story on the Kitsap Peninsula Youth Soccer Association’s intervention into club administration.
I was at the school board meeting Mike references, but I arrived late (with a focus on the district’s 2009/10 budget presentation) so wasn’t in on the presentation of a $10,000 donation from the club to the district to help with field maintenance. That’s not chicken scratch, especially considering the district’s budget crunch. The district for 2008/09 had to make $2.9 million in adjustments to balance its budget. With the state facing a $6 to $7 billion budget deficit, SKSD, along with all other Washington school districts, is bracing for even deeper cuts in the upcoming school year.
South Kitsap School District Superintendent Dave LaRose said he is grateful for the club’s donation and partnership. “It’s just another example of how we see our schools and facilities as having so much more influence than just bell-to-bell,” LaRose said.
On the flip side, little over a month ago, I heard from a former SKSC board member that, despite Mike’s upbeat report, there are residual and ongoing feelings of discontent with SKSC among some community members. I said at the time I would consider doing a story to update the club’s situation. My editor and I discussed the newsworthiness of the story (which is essentially about a group of adult volunteers who are having a hard time getting along) and, relative to other events and issues that needed coverage at the time, we decided to put it on the back burner. I guess I’d need to hear from people evidence to suggest this is newsworthy. Is the previous rift on the board actually harming the players the club is set up to serve? If so how? Have dynamics on the board improved? What do you think of the change from 21 to 13 board members?
If you prefer not to comment in this public forum, contact me by e-mail at chenry@kitsapsun.com or call (360) 792-9219. If you do post a comment, remember to avoid libelous or defamatory statements. Thanks, Chris
Here’s Mike Kerr:
Chris,
While this time last year we, the South Kitsap Soccer Club, were taking a political beating from infighting and resignations to the point of having State intervention I thought that news of how the club is doing might be interesting.
This year we reduced the size of our executive board down to 13 members from the unmanageable 21 member size it had been. During the elections this year we also worked hard to identify other relationships that had been disregarded during the restructure including relationships with both Kitsap County Parks and especially the South Kitsap School District. The SKSC Board voted to have our organization as a public supporter of the upcoming Levy vote for SKSD and last night I appeared before the SKSD board meeting and donated a $10,000 check on behalf of the SKSC to the district to help keep the school grounds fields used for soccer in top shape. This was the result of my having met with the Facilities department head Tom O’Brien and discussing a renewed partnership between our two organizations for the betterment of the kids.
I don’t know if this is considered newsworthy, but it most certainly would shed light upon the positive direction our club has taken out of the ashes of last year’s political debacle. You sources on the SKSD board can confirm my claims.
Best regards,
Mike Kerr
SKSC VP of Admin
www.sksoccer.com
Things are not better. They just have only the people they want. When there aren’t objective people there to stop their agenda how can you say it is good. They are not about the kids. They are about their status and are only interested in pushing SKSC toward only being ran by Select Soccer Club memebers. We have more non select players than select and that is as it should be. There are enough select programs out there. What about the kids that just want to play not commit their entire life to the game. When money is spent without the people who put the money theree knowing, I do not believe that is an ethical thing either. Coninuously they change the rules to suit them but when they are showed they are breaking the rules they don’t care. Then they change them to again suit them. They don’t let some people vote but then let their friends and family vote. They treat club members like dirt and say they are doing nothing wrong. Their Select program takes priority over everything. See how many voting members are selecct coaches. Where is the balance in that. They commited completely un ethical audits and when called on it shoved it under a rug. They formed an audit committee without letting the Board vote on it. They Bylaws were very clear on that. They also let a paid member of a tournament audit the books. They also let a signer on the account audit the books. Tell me that is ethical. They informed the board that there was a problem but never shared the problem with the board. At the Agm they were supposed to go over that audit but the just didn’t bring it up. They claim that some of the issues with the audit could have caused the club to lose its Non profit status. They wanted to clean up the problem before it became known. Yet they kept the board at that time in the dark. Non of this was ethical. Chris Henry put this story on the back burner because she thinks Mike Kerr is in it for the kids. Think again. He has taken complete control while the President has become a yes man. When a member of the club has to be deceitful to get what he wants it surly can’t be a good thing. If it is such a good thing their would be no reason to lie or sneak around.
South Kitsap needs to wake up and take a stand or there will be no program for our future young ones just to play a fun game of soccer at. SKSC has formed a reputation that I am truly ashamed to say I ever was a part of.
This was amusing to run across. As a parent who has given up with helping coach or be team mom even, I can say things have not chnaged and it is the same poorly run group that thinks they are the be all end all of volunteerism.