A Message from the Club President 

To Our Players, Parents, Coaches, and Administrators: 

We are pleased to announce Franklin Pierce and South Hill Soccer Clubs are deeply engaged in discussions regarding a possible merger of the clubs into one 
new club. 

At the present time, there has been no conclusion to these discussions. However, through 
various committee meetings and a joint meeting of the boards of directors of these clubs, it 
was determined that we share similar ideals, commitments, training philosophies, and structures.  Soccer professionals generally run both clubs and boards who know each other well 
and have developed a trust from those years of interaction. Franklin Pierce and South Hill will be extensively involved with the new club. Because both clubs have so much in common, we 
believed it appropriate to discuss what a new club would look like drawn on a clean sheet of 
paper. 

Our vision is simple: 


•We want to become a economically feasible option for top level competitive players and players of all skill levels in area 


•We want to improve soccer opportunities for every player at every level of interest and ability. 


• We want to “raise the bar” for Pierce County /WA soccer in terms of:

1. Player Development                                         

2. Coaching Education

3.  Facilities and resources 
                                         

4. Performance at State, Regional, National levels 
          

5.  Outreach to the greater soccer community in              coaching education and training

6.  To create an integrated program from the junior levels to College Prep teams.

The benefits of such a merger are numerous. They include the opportunities for players 
to grow within one club from the junior ages through their collegiate playing careers; 
pooling our soccer professionals; creation of highly competitive teams capable of consistently 
competing for local and state championships; providing resources for soccer training and 
development for players at all program levels and minimize the duplication of resources. 


One of the goals of the potential merger is to maintain neighborhood based support 
centers (FP and SHSC).   They would still be coached by 
parents and trained by professional trainers, as they are now. They would continue to practice 
and play home games in similar places. However, the merger would allow us to combine players 
on teams which struggle to fill a roster to assure that all of our teams have adequate numbers for 
training and playing. 

Our merger talks continue on a rapid pace. Our clubs’ soccer professionals are beginning 
to outline how the new club would be structured in terms of assuring appropriate player 
development. Representatives from each of the clubs is analyzing our individual and combined 
financial resources and will prepare sample budgets so that players, parents, and coaches will be 
assured that there will not be a negative impact from such a merger. 

At the present time, we are working on those and other issues. The enormity of the task 
cannot be understated. Similarly, the enormity of the opportunity to create something special for 
greater Pierce County soccer players cannot be ignored. In fact, other clubs upon hearing the rumors 
of our discussions have informally asked to be considered in the process as well. Additional 
clubs may be involved either in the early discussions or as time and the development of the 
proposed club progresses. 

We are all very excited about the potentials of such a merger. It makes sense 
economically, it makes sense geographically, and most importantly it makes sense for our kids. 
Our goal will be to serve all players, from the youth level through their college career, at a higher 
level than now possible for individual clubs in this area. 

Our research of other clubs throughout the nation who have created such a merged club 
convinces us that all players of whatever interest or ability level; coaches – both parent and 
professional; and the soccer communities will all be benefited. This is an exciting opportunity 
and we are proud to be a part of it. 

We will update you on matters as they progress and plan on having an informational 
meeting for the club as soon as details are sufficiently developed. 
  Please attend the 2010 January AGM meeting for a full informational update.  Voting and non-voting members are all encouraged to attend, as we want all our members to feel comfortable with the opportunity to be a part of an exciting time in Pierce County Soccer development.

Regards,

SHSC Presidents