Since our founding in 2014, our club has always aspired to just be one of many regional clubs in Maine that serve a distinct geographical area.
Initially we referred to our regional model as a "sister club" model, and then there was a period of time when we referred to our model as a "hub club" model. But more recently, we've found the "regional club" moniker to be the most descriptive and simplest way to describe our club's model.
Whatever we've called our model, it's always featured the same characteristics: Drawing most of our administrator, coach, and player pool from a limited number of neighboring communities; providing programming that complements the programming offered by those communities' high school programs and fellow Soccer Maine member clubs that offer programming from August-November; and fostering collaborative working relationships with the other soccer programs in our region.
As a result, most of our club's administrators and coaches live and/or coach in Gorham, Scarborough, Westbrook, and Windham. And about 89% of our club's 300+ players live and/or play in those four communities.
A cool dynamic our model creates occurs every fall, when our club's coaches and players compete against each other while they represent their respective high school and town-based clubs in competitions.
- A regional model for clubs would lead to the development of more clubs in Maine, which would likely result in lower coach-to-player ratios in clubs, lower registration fees for players, less travel time for everyone, and other benefits that are more beneficial for all of Maine's soccer stakeholders
- A regional model for clubs would lead to closer working relationships among the all soccer stakeholders in particular regions, which give Maine clubs the best chance to provide coaches and players with a consistent, 10-11 month experience coaches and players around the world receive by playing with a single program
- A regional model for clubs would provide everyone--parents, players, coaches, administrators, etc.--a clear developmental pathway within Maine. Our state does pretty well offering defined and understood programming at the local and state levels, but more regional clubs would serve as a vital connector for the local and statewide programming we have in Maine
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