10 Years + Ten Milestones: National Championship Competitions (No. 7)

The Rosevelt Soccer Club is celebrating its 10th season, so over the next ten weeks we'll be celebrating ten of the club's milestones over the last decade.

No. 7: National Championship Competitions

In previous posts we've written about how our club's structure is designed to position ourselves as just one of numerous regional clubs in Maine that represent distinct communities and compete in a state-based league called the Maine State Premier League.

But that's not to say that we limit our club's aspirations and programming only to the confines of the Pine Tree State. 

There is, of course, the Iceland capstone experience that we're designing for future teams, so that our club's members may experience international play at least once in their youth club careers. 

But on an every year basis, we're looking to provide more opportunities for our teams and members to experience national-level competition. And we've been doing that by competing in the U.S. Youth Soccer (USYS) national competitions, the National Championship series and the Presidents Cup competition.

The geographic footprint of U.S. Youth Soccer's National Championships and Presidents Cup

There are four regions in the USYS national competitions, and our state's region spans from Maine to Virginia. Each year, USYS hosts a National Championship and a Presidents Cup with similar structures and processes for 12U-19U teams: Qualify to represent your state in your age bracket, compete in one of four regional events, and potentially earn a spot in a national championship.

A photo of our U18 Boys team in 2015, before setting out for a 13-hour drive from Westbrook, Maine

to Charleston, West Virginia in a 12-passenger van we rented from a local muffler shop

Since our inaugural season, four of our club's teams have competed in USYS regional events, and we have two more teams--our 17U Boys and 14U Girls--competing in the 2024 edition of the Presidents Cup in West Virginia next month. 

Over the last decade, our teams have traveled to West Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. And over the last decade our teams have become progressively more competitive each trip, with our 17U Boys and 14U Girls teams earning our first win and first positive result respectively last summer in Pennsylvania.

A team photo of our 17U Boys team that earned our club's first win in a USYS national 

championship event last season

A team photo of our U14 Girls team that earned our club's first point in a USYS national

championship event last season

As a club, we'd prefer if these two options for regional and national competitions featured an Eastern Region that was split in half from, say, Maine to New Jersey. We think this would not only boost the number of teams competing in the regional tournaments, but also the number of teams competing in the state-level qualifying competitions. 

But we'll continue to be deliberate about selecting which competition best fits our teams, so that we can provide our members another level of positive developmental experiences.

- John C.L. Morgan

10 Years + Ten Milestones: Regional Club Model (No. 6)

The Rosevelt Soccer Club is celebrating its 10th season, so over the next ten weeks

we'll be celebrating ten of the club's milestones over the last decade. 

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.

Scenes from our members' high school games at Scarborough High School, Gorham High 

School, Westbrook High School, and Windham High School in 2023 

But there are also more practical benefits for our club's regional model:

• 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

A simple graphic that shows the developmental pathway Maine's soccer stakeholders

could follow with more regional clubs serving as connectors between local, 

town-based programs and statewide programming

Unfortunately, the trend in U.S. youth soccer is the development of soccer "clubs" that aim to vacuum up as many (relatively high) registration fees as possible across an entire state, across state lines, or even across national boundaries. 

This trend has resulted in a confusing and ever-changing alphabet soup of competing leagues and competitions. And this trend has also resulted in a disjointed and uneven developmental ecosystem that requires the highest participation fees and the most time-consuming travel demands in the world.

On the other hand, Maine has shown with its Fall Classic youth clubs and high school programs that geographically-defined organizations cultivate more stability, ensure lower participation fees, and foster good levels of competition.

And we're proud that our club has demonstrated over the last decade that more regional clubs in Maine can provide more affordable, more competitive, and quality experiences *within* our state.

- John C.L. Morgan

10 Years + Ten Milestones: Cooperative Club Model (No. 5)

The Rosevelt Soccer Club is celebrating its 10th season, so over the next ten weeks

we'll be celebrating ten of the club's milestones over the last decade

No. 5: Cooperative Club Model

Since our club's founding in 2014, we've tried to utilize a cooperative club model whenever possible--especially when it comes to our club's geography, size, governance, and relations with other Maine clubs.

Club Geography + Club Size

One inspiration for our club's name is the Roosevelt Trail, or the Route 302 road along the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway that was initially designed to be part of a highway that connected Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon. 

Specific to our club's name, Roosevelt Trail connects three communities we initially identified as the geographical footprint of our club. And though that specific geographical footprint has evolved over time, our club's aspiration to serve as a regional club has not shifted.

We've never had aspirations to become a statewide franchise, a multi-state franchise, or even an international franchise like other youth sports organizations in the United States. 

Instead, we've always aspired to just be one of numerous regional clubs in Maine that could work together to play an important connecting role between the 40+ town-based clubs in our state and a statewide select program in our state. 

This specific definition of our club's geography has not only motivated us to try to be as cooperative with other Maine soccer clubs as possible, but it's also helped us define our club's size.

Because we've deliberately focused on a handful communities to roster our teams, we've tried to be careful about emphasizing quality instead of quantity when rostering our teams. And we've tried to be careful to emphasize quality instead of quantity when designing our programming. 

As a result, we've figured out over the last decade that an 18-team, 332-player club that offers playing opportunities to boys and girls ages 9-19 is probably the maximum ideal for our club's cooperative model. 

Club Governance + Club Relations

When we're developing our programming and budgets, we see ourselves as a responsible steward of our members' funds to maximize our players' on-field experiences instead of a business that devotes a significant amount of our budget toward staff salaries and/or profit margins for investors. 

We strongly believe amateur soccer clubs should be professional, but not professionalized. And our cooperative approach to our programming, budget, and registration fees reflect that belief.

Thinking of our club's players and their families as our members instead of our customers has also helped us develop good governance practices like including a club representative elected by members on our Board of Directors and providing numerous opportunities for our members to provide formal feedback and attend our Board meetings. And when we restructured our club has part of the process of becoming an independent club, we put into place a process for our club's coaches and directors to become co-owners of the club. 

In fact, we currently have one majority owner, 15 co-owners who've accumulated (and continue to accumulate) actual equity in our club through their sweat equity, a number coaches and directors who are potential future co-owners, and a plan to eventually sell at least 10% of ownership in our club to members and/or supporters as we continue to mature as a multigenerational club. This cooperative approach within our club has also informed our attempts to be as cooperative with other Maine clubs as possible.

The primary reason we run our programming from January-June, for example, is so that our club complements--instead of competing with--the town-based U9-U14 Fall Classic clubs and high school programs in Maine. We love the fact that our players can focus on representing their communities and their schools from August-November, without also worrying about juggling responsibilities and schedules for our club.

And when it comes to our working relationships with our Maine State Premier League clubs, we try to adhere to the mantra of one of the former directors of that league: Compete on the field, and cooperate off the field.

- John C.L. Morgan

10 Years + Ten Milestones: Iceland Capstone (No. 4)

The Rosevelt Soccer Club is celebrating its 10th season, so over the next ten weeks we'll be celebrating ten of the club's milestones over the last decade.

No. 4: Iceland Capstone

Our club first developed a relationship with Icelandic soccer clubs in February 2019, when one of our co-founders and chairman visited Iceland's federation and three clubs for a whirlwind 72-hour tour of Iceland's federation and three of its clubs--Breiðablik, Grindavík, and Víkingur Reykjavík.

We had hoped to further develop those relationships by planning a 3-game tour for our 19U Boys team in April 2020, but that trip was unfortunately canceled when international travel was shutdown by the outbreak of COVID-19 about a month before our team was scheduled to fly to Iceland.

But we reconnected with all three clubs with another set of administrator-level meetings in Iceland in April 2022, which laid the groundwork for our 19U Boys and 16U Girls teams' 3-game tour in Iceland last April.

That inaugural trip featuring 78 of our members was such a positive and successful experience that our club's directors have identified it as a culminating experience we'd like our club's oldest players to continue to experience in the future.

The planning, logistics, and resources required for a recurring trip to Iceland are too daunting for us to undertake every year, or even every other season. 

But it's probably realistic for us to plan a similar every third year, which will play a factor in how we structure our youth pathway to try to ensure our 17U, 18U, and 19U players have the opportunity to play in Iceland at least once before the end of their youth careers with our club.

Our members' on-field experiences during our inaugural trip were eye-opening, and our off-field cultural and social experiences were enriching. And our continued partnership with Icelandic clubs can be just the latest example of growing connections between Maine and Iceland.

Breiðablik is a large club located in the Reykjavik suburb Kopavagur, and the club hosted both of our teams for friendlies. Their women's team earned a spot in the Round of 16 in the UEFA Women's

Champions League in 2019-2020 before being knocked out by Paris Saint-Germain.

Grindavík is a small club located along the coast, and the club hosted both of our teams for friendlies. Their men's and women's teams are known domestically for punching above their weight, but 

their town has been the focus of international attention since December because 

of an active volcano in the area.

Not only did Víkingur Reykjavík host both of our teams for a friendly, but they also recognized our 

club and players during the pre-game introductions of one of their club's

men's Iceland Cup games.

- John C.L. Morgan

10 Years + Ten Milestones: Youth Pathway (No. 3)

 The Rosevelt Soccer Club is celebrating its 10th season, so over the next ten weeks we'll be celebrating ten of the club's milestones over the last decade.

No. 3: Youth Pathway

As we wrote in a previous post, the original plan in 2014 was for our club to roster only a U18 Boys team and a U16 Boys team for the remainder of those players' high school soccer careers. 

But before we kicked off our first season in the Maine State Premier League in April 2015, we'd added a U13 Boys team to our club's roster. And in 2017, we added our first girls' teams to our club's roster. 

So what started as a small club that was designed to last only a few years has gradually grown to become a club of 17 teams that has articulated a very ambitious long-term plan.

One of the key milestones that we identified for our club was the development of a youth pathway that provides playing opportunities for players ages 9U-19U, and we're excited that we're well-positioned to build a roster of teams that will help us build that pathway among our boys' and girls' teams next season!

- John C.L. Morgan

10 Years + Ten Milestones: MSPL Success (No. 2)

The Rosevelt Soccer Club is celebrating its 10th season, so over the next ten weeks we'll be celebrating ten of the club's milestones over the last decade.

No. 2: MSPL Success

When our club was founded in 2014, there was concern that there may not actually be a Maine State Premier League (MSPL) in 2015.

Two of the biggest youth soccer programs in Maine had decided to exit the state-based league and enter dozens of their teams in New England-based competitions, and there was some chatter that the remaining clubs in Maine may either follow those programs out of Maine and/or may not be able to collectively roster enough teams in enough different age divisions to constitute a viable league.

Fortunately, that proved not to be the case when our club made its MSPL debut in 2015 and fielded U13, U16, and U18 Boys teams. And over the last ten years, the MSPL and our club have both grown in quantity and quality.

In 2015, there were eight age divisions, 11 clubs, and 41 teams in the MSPL. 

And in 2015, our club's three Boys teams went 7-7-2 with a 27-32 (-5) goal differential in those 16 recorded games. The MSPL didn't organize playoffs or league finals that season, but none of our three teams finished in the top two spots of their respective age divisions.

This spring, there are 15 age divisions, 12 clubs, and 115 teams in the MSPL.

And in 2023, our club's eleven 12U-19U Boys and Girls teams went 41-18-7 with a 100-36 (+64) goal differential in those 66 recorded games. Six those eleven teams earned a spot in their league final, with three of those teams winning their league final.

In between those two bookend seasons, both the MSPL and our club have experienced consistent growth in quantity and quality, and we're looking forward to those trends continuing on and off the field!

Thirty-one of our club's teams have competed in their MSPL final since 2016, with seventeen of those teams winning their final.

A year-by-year breakdown of our teams' results in MSPL finals. (The league didn't host playoffs or finals in 2015 or in 2020.)

- John C.L. Morgan

10 Years + Ten Milestones: Qui Plantavit Curabit (No.1)

The Rosevelt Soccer Club is celebrating its 10th season, so over the next ten weeks we'll be celebrating ten of the club's milestones over the last decade.

No. 1: Qui Plantavit Curabit

When club co-founder Aaron Graffam and I met up at a bar in the Frenchtown neighborhood of Westbrook, Maine in late 2013, we sketched out an outline of what would eventually become the Rosevelt Soccer Club.

The plan had been modest, and it had been written on the proverbial back of a napkin: We'd organize a two-team club with a U18 Boys team and a 16U Boys team, and that club would exist until our then-U16 players graduated from high school.

I had recently stepped down as the boys' varsity soccer coach at Westbrook High School for family medical reasons, and Aaron's older son had just completed his freshman season on that team. My decision to step down wasn't expected, and I felt an obligation to continue working with returning players from that team for the remainder of their high school careers. 

And Aaron and I both recognized the importance for Maine's high school soccer players to continue playing regularly at a quality level of competition from at least January-June to complement their high school season from August-November. 

We also recognized that players from Westbrook--a working class suburb of Portland that has a rich history and present of welcoming families from around the world--were underrepresented among the current off-season clubs that existed in our area because of the relatively high costs of participation fees and travel demands that required multiple trips all over New England for league games.

Our club almost immediately grew to three teams by August 2014, when Ram Tray and Mark Hamblen--two youth coaches in Windham and Gorham--combined to roster a U13 Boys team that complemented their work with their town teams during the fall season Maine hosts for U9-U14 town-based clubs.

And over the last ten years, our club has lived up to its motto adopted from the Roosevelt family: Qui Plantavit Curabit--or "he who has planted will cultivate."

After our club's inaugural season in 2014 with three teams, we gradually grew each subsequent year while always trying to balance quality programming and maintaining our club principles with providing more opportunities for more players to play.

In 2016, we rostered our first three girls' teams--including a U10 Girls team that still has the same coaches and at least eight players on this year's 17U Girls team. 

And over the last ten years, we've gone from a club that rostered teams for about fifty players to a club that rosters teams for about 300 players--including an anticipated 9U-19U pathway on the boys and girls side and 23U Men's and 23U Women's teams.

And over the last ten years, we've not only been growing with new members, but we have charter coaches like Rob Krouskup who has coached with us since we hosted our first player evaluations in July 2014 and charter players like Andrew Sawyer who captained our 23U Men's team and coaches with our 19U Boys team. And the list of long-tenured (if that term can be used for a 10-year-old organization) directors, coaches, and players is a long list that we're proud of.

When Aaron and I sketched out an outline of our club in that neighborhood bar in Frenchtown more than ten years ago, neither of us had any idea of what that club would end up looking like in 2024. 

But the club's directors, coaches, and members have built over the last ten years is a testament to all the time and effort that our founding coaches and members put in back then--and all the time and effort our current directors, coaches, and members continue to put into the club today. 

Or to put it a different way, Qui plantaverant curabunt: They that planted cultivated.  

Rosevelt SC co-founders Aaron Graffam (left) and John C.L. Morgan (right) with goalkeeper 

coach Joel Costigan (middle) in July 2014.

A screenshot of the meeting agenda for Westbrook Soccer League (WSL) Board of Directors, when the WSL formally 

approved the creation of the Rosevelt Soccer Club to complement the town-based club's

U9-U14 programming in the fall. The WSL served as a de factor incubator for our

club until 2021, when Rosevelt SC became independent.

Two of the club's inaugural teams in February 2015, including the U16 Boys team coached by 

Rob Krouskup (far right), who continues to work with the club and was a coach 

with our inaugural 23U Men's team in July 2023

The club's first U10 Girls team in April 2017

Club photo in May 2017

Club growth from 2014-2024

 - John C.L. Morgan