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Post by soccerdaddy on Apr 16, 2019 9:31:22 GMT -5
Tuesday, April 16, 2019 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Georgia Rush Board Contact Info: board@georgiarush.com Georgia Rush Hires Accomplished Leader as Executive Director: Michael Rodriguez To Serve as Executive Director Effective Immediately Milton, GA – Michael Rodriguez, the former Director at MOBA Soccer Academy has been named as Executive Director of Georgia Rush Soccer Club. Michael will officially assume his new role effective immediately. “The search committee of Georgia Rush unanimously selected Michael Rodriguez to be our next Executive Director,” said a representative of Club’s Board. “As one of north Atlanta’s leading soccer clubs that focuses on player development, we understand that our members expect the highest level of professionalism from our staff. With Michael at the helm, we are now led by a respected leader in the state and national soccer community who has experience not only on the field as a coach, but also in the clubhouse as a leader and a visionary. We have a lot of work to do to be the club we want to be, and Michael’s arrival ushers in an exciting time as we pursue the next phase in our lifecycle as a club.” Michael’s background uniquely positions him to assume the role as Georgia Rush’s Executive Director. He joins Georgia Rush with nearly 15-years of experience coaching at various levels both domestically and internationally. He has coached at the collegiate level at Columbia University, internationally at C.D. Alcala (Spain), at the development level at Albertson USSF Academy and MOBA Soccer Academy. Michael played competitively for the U-17 and U-20 US National Team, at Old Dominion University at the collegiate level and then within the USISL. He currently holds his UEFA “B” license and is enrolled to complete his UEFA “A” license by next year. At most clubs, it is rare that you will see an Executive Director spend time on the field and as part of the day to day training sessions. To the contrary, Michael will be very visible and present on the field. “I look forward to continuing to serve youth soccer with Georgia Rush across all programs, teams and players”, remarks Michael. “Georgia Rush plays a key role in supporting and developing children in the north Atlanta area and as part of the broader Rush Soccer organization. I am dedicated to advancing the initiatives to serve every age and level of soccer. I will be working diligently to continue to build our relationships across the regional and national stage for all our players to have the opportunity to excel at the highest levels of competition. As a club we will utilize the Rush pathway to all levels of play to include USSF DA, Rush National Select events, Collegiate, and Professional opportunities that most other clubs are unable to offer to their members.” The Board would like to thank George Altirs, CEO of Capelli New York and Tim Schulz, CEO of Rush Soccer for all their support through this process. Georgia Rush is one of north Atlanta’s leading soccer clubs that focuses on player development and progression. Georgia Rush serves approximately 1,200 players from ages 4 through 18. Our mission is to provide an environment where young soccer players from diverse backgrounds are guided and inspired to reach their full potential both on and off the field. 14295 Birmingham Highway, Alpharetta, GA 30004 1 www.GeorgiaRush.com |
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Post by cleansheet on Apr 16, 2019 10:06:05 GMT -5
When was he last at MOBA and why did he leave?
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Post by atlfutboldad on Apr 16, 2019 10:17:13 GMT -5
I didn't realize Ambush and Rush were so close geographically, just over 2 miles apart. Both have a good bit of teams. Based on number of teams, together they would be about the size of the combined GSA (but significantly closer geographically). Seems silly (to me) that mid-sized clubs this close together would be competing for talent. This would be a no-brainer merger IMO.
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Post by fanatic21 on Apr 16, 2019 10:25:39 GMT -5
Think there has been a little merger talk in the past between Santos, Ambush, and maybe Rush as well. I've heard the problem is that Santos and Ambush are partnered with the city of Roswell and city of Alpharetta - Rush of course is a private club. I thought Rush might eventually get swallowed up by (or merge with) UFA (UFA Milton is only a few miles away as well) or TH (TH Milton is close too).
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Post by cleansheet on Apr 16, 2019 11:44:59 GMT -5
I didn't realize Ambush and Rush were so close geographically, just over 2 miles apart. Both have a good bit of teams. Based on number of teams, together they would be about the size of the combined GSA (but significantly closer geographically). Seems silly (to me) that mid-sized clubs this close together would be competing for talent. This would be a no-brainer merger IMO. NASA Top Hat Milton took a lot of kids from Rush in their inaugural season this year. Ambush and Santos get subsidized by the cities so they are comfortable being small and less intense. Ambush is well run and their coaches have low turnover. Rush is in trouble IMO. |
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Post by atlfutboldad on Apr 16, 2019 11:48:21 GMT -5
I don't think a merger with UFA Milton buys the small clubs anything. UFA is too spread out IMO to take advantage of the large player pool. Players from Milton can go to Fowler to tryout for DA if they want to trek it (not meaning to ruffle UFA feathers).
But there's legit power in merging 2 smaller clubs 5 minutes apart from one another and having 3-4 teams at every age group. They would be a formidable club. Santos also could make this nearly an NTH-sized club, but they're a ways down the road.
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Post by mistergrinch on Apr 16, 2019 13:42:36 GMT -5
I don't think a merger with UFA Milton buys the small clubs anything. UFA is too spread out IMO to take advantage of the large player pool. P layers from Milton can go to Fowler to tryout for DA if they want to trek it (not meaning to ruffle UFA feathers). But there's legit power in merging 2 smaller clubs 5 minutes apart from one another and having 3-4 teams at every age group. They would be a formidable club. Santos also could make this nearly an NTH-sized club, but they're a ways down the road. You realize that Cumming is one town (er.. city) north of Alpharetta/Milton, right? It's like a 10min drive. |
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Post by atlfutboldad on Apr 16, 2019 13:57:14 GMT -5
I don't think a merger with UFA Milton buys the small clubs anything. UFA is too spread out IMO to take advantage of the large player pool. P layers from Milton can go to Fowler to tryout for DA if they want to trek it (not meaning to ruffle UFA feathers). But there's legit power in merging 2 smaller clubs 5 minutes apart from one another and having 3-4 teams at every age group. They would be a formidable club. Santos also could make this nearly an NTH-sized club, but they're a ways down the road. You realize that Cumming is one town (er.. city) north of Alpharetta/Milton, right? It's like a 10min drive. At rush hour on 400? No idea. I haven't driven up at way at 5-6 PM in many, many years. But like you said, no point merging into the behemoth when its right there. But both the other 2 have A/I teams that would be made stronger with a merger. |
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Post by sidelinesdad on Apr 16, 2019 14:41:23 GMT -5
Ambush and Rush are close but not actually 2 miles. Ambush plays primarily out of Webb Bridge Park which is about a 25 minute drive from Rush. Maybe 12 miles. Ambush and Santos are city based with Rush private from my understanding which may make any merger talks effectively not possible.
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Post by atlfutboldad on Apr 16, 2019 14:56:47 GMT -5
Ah, ok. From the club's website it had them close to Rush. Was really just spitballing. Its just interesting when you see a team with 2-3 really good players at a smaller club, and so many small clubs.
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Post by oraclesfriend on Apr 16, 2019 15:01:24 GMT -5
You realize that Cumming is one town (er.. city) north of Alpharetta/Milton, right? It's like a 10min drive. At rush hour on 400? No idea. I haven't driven up at way at 5-6 PM in many, many years. But like you said, no point merging into the behemoth when its right there. But both the other 2 have A/I teams that would be made stronger with a merger. Depends on where you live...many never get on 400, plus older kids don't go during rush hour. Could be 10 or 30 minutes. |
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Post by Soccerhouse on Apr 16, 2019 15:29:43 GMT -5
Will check again at 5 if I remember --
GA rush to Fowler park right now is 11 miles, 23 minutes
GA rush to summerour - 20 miles, 53 minutes
GA rush to p'ville - 19 miles, 50 minutes
GA rush to South forsyth - 16.7 miles, 45 minutes
GA rush to UFA milton - 4.8 miles, 10 minutes
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Post by sportsdad on Apr 16, 2019 15:55:43 GMT -5
This guy can be successful if he can get Michael J Fox to loan him his DeLorean and go back in time to recover all of the funds that were siphoned off by the former and previously arrested executive director. And I'm not talking about the tiny $30k he embezzled. That was a months work back in the day. He bled that place dry and it will never recover without an influx of capital.
There are too many better options for players and parents. Good place if you want to play rec or just have something fun to do now and then. But if you have a serious player, you better get lucky and be on a boys squad with Juan or one of the few good girls teams. Otherwise, you get coaching director or coach churn.
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Post by atv on Apr 16, 2019 16:16:08 GMT -5
I don’t think that. I think they are many, many levels above ... Ga Rush Always did a good job with girls teams. That’s hard to do at a smaller: midsized club. I’ve always been impressed with how technical their girls are.
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Post by soccerlegacy on Apr 16, 2019 19:31:16 GMT -5
The club I always thought would make sensible merger with Rush, was Impact.
They are 11 miles apart with 20 drive time, and access to each other without interstate/highway travel... both are mid-sized clubs with decent reputations. Together they could make some competitive teams.
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Post by justreading on Apr 16, 2019 21:55:39 GMT -5
When was he last at MOBA and why did he leave? He left MOBA about 1-2 months ago. Interesting that he didn't note his time at AFC in his bio. I think he was at AFC longer than he was at MOBA. |
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Post by rifle on Apr 16, 2019 22:01:30 GMT -5
Feels like tryout time must be near. Small clubs being badmouthed.
City affiliated clubs would do well to forge alliances, but they won’t because it would require an ounce of effort.
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Post by atlfutboldad on Apr 16, 2019 22:06:01 GMT -5
Plus, the alliances seem to be focused on DA, but ECNL has to be the easier goal and AL FC is a good example of clubs forming an alliance to get a team in an elite league.
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Post by soccerdaddy on Apr 16, 2019 22:25:30 GMT -5
Plus, the alliances seem to be focused on DA, but ECNL has to be the easier goal and AL FC is a good example of clubs forming an alliance to get a team in an elite league. i believe you are correct but the biggest factor is $$$ and Power. Small club Boards, DOC and other Directors/Coaches can’t agree on pay structure with a merger. They must be happy with what they make now. How would the merger benefit them? Do you think this new Director is getting more or less than MOBA? |
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Post by atlfutboldad on Apr 16, 2019 22:46:44 GMT -5
Kinda depends on the people (coaches/ parents/directors). If they're happy with the status quo then avoid mergers at all cost. If you're interested in progress/growth/improvement, you make compromises for the needs of the many.
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Post by soccerlegacy on Apr 17, 2019 2:13:33 GMT -5
The club I always thought would make sensible merger with Rush, was Impact. They are 11 miles apart with 20 drive time, and access to each other without interstate/highway travel... both are mid-sized clubs with decent reputations. Together they could make some competitive teams. ... but I forgot... isn't Rush a big thing nationally? Would that have an affect on mergering with anyone, period? Still I like my proposal. Except for the whole power thing atlfutboldad is talking about. |
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Post by cleansheet on Apr 17, 2019 5:10:36 GMT -5
The club I always thought would make sensible merger with Rush, was Impact. They are 11 miles apart with 20 drive time, and access to each other without interstate/highway travel... both are mid-sized clubs with decent reputations. Together they could make some competitive teams. ... but I forgot... isn't Rush a big thing nationally? Would that have an affect on mergering with anyone, period? Still I like my proposal. Except for the whole power thing atlfutboldad is talking about. Rush is national so they aren’t merging unless they are the buyers. |
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Post by atlfutboldad on Apr 17, 2019 7:49:27 GMT -5
Thats strange then. Big club has ECNL so they form an alliance to get top players from other clubs in a less underhanded way. IMO it takes away from their club brand since they're the club already in the elite league.
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Post by atlsoccerdad on Apr 17, 2019 9:18:05 GMT -5
The club I always thought would make sensible merger with Rush, was Impact. They are 11 miles apart with 20 drive time, and access to each other without interstate/highway travel... both are mid-sized clubs with decent reputations. Together they could make some competitive teams. I heard rumors that the facility was split up after the divorce... the indoor facility and the outdoor fields were granted to separate legal entities... making any interest from other clubs unlikely. I could be wrong... |
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Post by atv on Apr 17, 2019 9:29:32 GMT -5
Those fields and indoor facility have been there a while. That has got to be the oldest indoor soccer facility in Georgia. Curious, were they a different club before affiliating with Rush?
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Post by jjfutebol on Apr 17, 2019 10:59:31 GMT -5
Plus, the alliances seem to be focused on DA, but ECNL has to be the easier goal and AL FC is a good example of clubs forming an alliance to get a team in an elite league. BUSA was already in ECNL when they launched Alabama FC. That was a formalization of what was already happening on the ground. Small club players were playing with their local team and moonlighting in BUSA’s ECNL teams or being recruited outright away from the small clubs. Alabama FC wasn’t formed to get the combined group into ECNL. I agree with atlfutboldad, it seems that the situation with BUSA was NOT to form alliances. Within AL, BUSA ECNL has zero competition and that is not right. The result of forming Alabama FC seems to be to destroy the other surrounding clubs and giving competitive kids fewer choices. ECNL should step up and bring a partner club to Alabama FC into the fold. |
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Post by putmeincoach on Apr 17, 2019 11:04:53 GMT -5
AL can hardly support 1 decent ECNL club, NO CHANCE that they could make 2 competitive. They recruit from the Panhandle to West GA to TN to MS in order to make 1 competitive team. I think all the Southside clubs plus Columbus, Macon, etc should form some alliance maybe based out of AFC and be allowed in. Will never happen though as the current Directors dont want to shut off that pipeline of kids that drive north everyday.
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Post by sportsdad on Apr 17, 2019 11:15:59 GMT -5
The club I always thought would make sensible merger with Rush, was Impact. They are 11 miles apart with 20 drive time, and access to each other without interstate/highway travel... both are mid-sized clubs with decent reputations. Together they could make some competitive teams. I heard rumors that the facility was split up after the divorce... the indoor facility and the outdoor fields were granted to separate legal entities... making any interest from other clubs unlikely. I could be wrong... Wife got the land and fixed assets and husband maintained ownership of GA Rush and in-place lease. So ex wife is the landlord and Rush (the board via lease) is the tenant. This is the issue where the long term viability of this club at this location is in jeopardy. I'll give you an example - last year the tenant, Rush, needed to water the fields as the grass was dying. They use the creek that runs along side as a water source but they needed more water. Who is going to put in a new irrigation system? The owner who is already over-leveraged and has no interest in putting in this high cost capital improvement? Or the tenant who basically has no cash on hand and would be improving the owners asset? The outcome - no irrigation and fields suffered. And that is only one of the problems. |
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Post by jjfutebol on Apr 17, 2019 12:57:55 GMT -5
AL can hardly support 1 decent ECNL club, NO CHANCE that they could make 2 competitive. They recruit from the Panhandle to West GA to TN to MS in order to make 1 competitive team. I think all the Southside clubs plus Columbus, Macon, etc should form some alliance maybe based out of AFC and be allowed in. Will never happen though as the current Directors dont want to shut off that pipeline of kids that drive north everyday. I also agree that the recruiting from every which direction is not ideal. A true alliance between clubs (whether in GA or AL or wherever) is the best way to bring competition and increase soccer intensity - but this will NEVER happen as club presidents seem more intent on keeping their revenue stream. My point is that ECNL administrators should be mandating this to the local clubs rather than encourage cannibalism. |
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Post by atlfutboldad on Apr 17, 2019 15:39:37 GMT -5
It doesn't matter if BUSA recruits from Huntsville to Mobile and Columbus to Tuscaloosa. Few people will relocate to put their kid at a soccer club. Few people will drive more than an hour each way for club soccer. One would think that with BUSA and VH near each other, only 1 club would be on top, but that's not the case. Strategically placed regional locations based on population seems (TO ME AT LEAST) to be the best way to build elite teams.
if you parked an alliance in Peachtree City and recruited from CSC/East AL/AFC/SSA South/MOBA, I am positive you could field an elite team at every age group, but we've been through this.
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