Official word is he still gets to coach at OEFC but not at the ECNL level. That is of course subject to change. I’ve heard two reasons. No clue which one or both are true or not
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⚽️⚽️⚽️…Delusional Youth Soccer Parent Thread
- Thread starter lawpoke87
- Start date
I am hearing some crazy rumors about why he is being let go…but the rumor I am hearing is he is not being allowed to stay
I’ve heard it over and over: “The talent pool in Tulsa is too shallow.” But here’s the truth — that’s not the real problem.
Yes, Tulsa isn’t as big as Dallas or Kansas City. Fewer kids means a smaller pool, no doubt. But let’s be honest: Oklahoma already proves size isn’t everything. We produce basketball, baseball, football and softball athletes at an elite levels year after year. Per capita, this state punches way above its weight. Why? Because the culture in those sports embraces the grind, supports development, and demands excellence.
So why can’t soccer be the same? The kids are here. The athletes are here. What we lack isn’t talent — it’s buy-in. Too often, when a kid struggles, parents point at the coach, the team, or someone else. But struggling is part of the process. Every great player has to go through those tough moments. That’s how they build resilience, confidence, and skill.
And let’s be honest — club politics hasn’t helped the culture either. When decisions get clouded by egos, favoritism, or club rivalries, it distracts from what really matters: developing kids. Instead of pulling in the same direction, too often energy is wasted on turf wars that only divide parents and confuse players.
If we want to raise the level in Tulsa, it starts with us. Stop making excuses. Stop pulling kids out when it gets uncomfortable. Stop demanding quick wins. Instead, let’s build a culture where kids are encouraged to fail forward, to “embrace the suck,” and to grow through the grind.
We have everything we need to build not just one good team per age group, but multiple competitive teams. The question isn’t whether Tulsa has the talent — it’s whether we as parents, clubs, and a community are willing to create the culture that lets that talent shine.
It’s time to stop talking about what we don’t have and start fixing what we do.
Tulsa soccer can be great. The only thing standing in the way is us.
Yes, Tulsa isn’t as big as Dallas or Kansas City. Fewer kids means a smaller pool, no doubt. But let’s be honest: Oklahoma already proves size isn’t everything. We produce basketball, baseball, football and softball athletes at an elite levels year after year. Per capita, this state punches way above its weight. Why? Because the culture in those sports embraces the grind, supports development, and demands excellence.
So why can’t soccer be the same? The kids are here. The athletes are here. What we lack isn’t talent — it’s buy-in. Too often, when a kid struggles, parents point at the coach, the team, or someone else. But struggling is part of the process. Every great player has to go through those tough moments. That’s how they build resilience, confidence, and skill.
And let’s be honest — club politics hasn’t helped the culture either. When decisions get clouded by egos, favoritism, or club rivalries, it distracts from what really matters: developing kids. Instead of pulling in the same direction, too often energy is wasted on turf wars that only divide parents and confuse players.
If we want to raise the level in Tulsa, it starts with us. Stop making excuses. Stop pulling kids out when it gets uncomfortable. Stop demanding quick wins. Instead, let’s build a culture where kids are encouraged to fail forward, to “embrace the suck,” and to grow through the grind.
We have everything we need to build not just one good team per age group, but multiple competitive teams. The question isn’t whether Tulsa has the talent — it’s whether we as parents, clubs, and a community are willing to create the culture that lets that talent shine.
It’s time to stop talking about what we don’t have and start fixing what we do.
Tulsa soccer can be great. The only thing standing in the way is us.
Good post. I will add the top club in town must aspire to field elite teams. The club must encourage the grind. The club must encourage training. The club must push its players to become elite. The club must focus on quality over quantity.
I was told time after time that my kid was over training. I was “strongly” discouraged not to train with certain quality trainers. Not over quality of training but due to club politics or a coach’s personal feelings. I was given strict guidelines on outside training periods.
A club will seldom field elite teams with this mindset. Furthermore, elite kids will migrate to clubs which do push them. Clubs with an expectation of greatness for their players. When my kid moved to FCD, I discovered every kid on that team outside trains. Most multiple times a week. It was expected. It was the culture. Tulsa needs such a culture. Develop that culture and the elite kids will stay home.
Were the strict guidelines backed up with a threat of being kicked off a team or even out of a club? Or were they just strong words without a stick to punish?
I never specifically asked what the punishment would be. I was just told not to do it. My daughter was benched for her first ECNL Showcase by her coach for attending an outside training the club’s ECNL Director had approved in writing. TSC was pretty dysfunctional at times.
TSC is a case study in what happens when leadership is short-sighted. Once viewed as the standard in Tulsa, they’ve fallen from grace—losing both status and players. Why? Because they focused more on control and politics than on development and culture.
Elite players will never stay in an environment that discourages growth. When the mindset is about limiting outside training, prioritizing quantity over quality, and protecting egos instead of pushing kids, the result is inevitable: talent leaves. That’s what we’ve watched play out.
If clubs truly wanted to see the game grow in Tulsa, they would welcome tough competition in town. Having multiple strong clubs only raises the bar for players and coaches. Iron sharpens iron. Instead, too often the focus has been on monopolizing talent, not developing it.
The reality is simple: Tulsa doesn’t have a talent pool problem—it has a culture problem. Build a culture that encourages the grind, sets elite expectations, and embraces competition, and this city could be producing top players at a much higher rate.
Elite players will never stay in an environment that discourages growth. When the mindset is about limiting outside training, prioritizing quantity over quality, and protecting egos instead of pushing kids, the result is inevitable: talent leaves. That’s what we’ve watched play out.
If clubs truly wanted to see the game grow in Tulsa, they would welcome tough competition in town. Having multiple strong clubs only raises the bar for players and coaches. Iron sharpens iron. Instead, too often the focus has been on monopolizing talent, not developing it.
The reality is simple: Tulsa doesn’t have a talent pool problem—it has a culture problem. Build a culture that encourages the grind, sets elite expectations, and embraces competition, and this city could be producing top players at a much higher rate.
Thanks for reminding me. I forgot about the benching being part of the already done punishment. They don't really have to kick you off the team, or out of the club if you don't get to play. That way they can still take your money while punishing you.
Lots of good posts in the last day regarding the issues in Tulsa. I think you're right, there is plenty of talent right here to make an elite team that would be able to compete with the top teams in the nation. The one thing that hasn't been mentioned is $$$. This is all a business to someone and like used car salesmen, they will literally lie to your face to get you to spend your money with them and especially in Tulsa where there are a number of good options, they will all try to sell themselves as the best. I don't know anything about WSA's internal culture. I'm not a huge fan of Roger personally but my interactions with him were outside the WSA sphere. TSC-once Barry took over it all became about the badge. He talked a good game but he thought the TSC brand and badge were enough to sell to kids and their parents. He never once improved the quality of training. He hired coaches with good resumes but weren't great fits for Tulsa necessarily and he ran off coaches who grew up in the soccer demosphere of Tulsa, developed in it, and then came back to coach in it. Like the Carrenos. He kept berating parents who were leaving the club and said "we train and play on the elite complex in the state" all the while my kid is there in the urgent care having gravel removed from his arm and getting stitched up after diving to make a save in training. Blitz has a loyal following of parents and kids. The coaches all seem reasonable and there seems to be reasonable buy in to the club culture. My son was only there for two years (we were at TSC for 6) but he said he had the most fun in those two years than he did most of his time at TSC. And I don't know the biggest differences between all 3 but if you've been around them there is definitely a different vibe. TSC literally gives off a "we don't really need you" vibe while begging you and your kid to stay and getting mad if you look at other options, including not playing at all. WSA, and this is from the referee perspective because I've worked with them on that side gives the "we're elite but we're disorganized as **** behind the scenes", and Blitz, the 2 years I was there anyway, always seemed like a place that the parents wanted to be as much as the kids. Do they lose good players to the NL sides, sure, but I don't think it was ever the club making the kid feel unwanted or unneeded.
And there are way too many egos involved between Barry, Wilber, and Roger to ever allow a single Tulsa united group that could play at the highest level. Throw JM's Greenwood group into the mix and now it's even more muddled.
And Lawpoke, I remember you going through the situation with your daughter and how TSC basically reneged on their word and I'm almost 100% positive it's because they felt you were shopping her and not truly just trying to make sure she stayed fit during the situation you all were dealing with. And this tells you instantly that TSC is not the club or the culture for kids to truly grow because that moment just screams that it's not about the kids developing and getting better.
You’re absolutely right—money is the motivator. But that’s the short-sighted piece. If the “adults” running these clubs would focus less on maximizing today’s dollar and more on developing players and building the right culture, the money would come naturally. Parents and players will always buy into an environment that is transparent, organized, and genuinely committed to growth.
That’s why you see places like Blitz with such a loyal following. Even with their top league being the Frontier League, they’ve continued to grow and keep families invested. That doesn’t happen by accident—it speaks to a culture where kids and parents feel wanted, valued, and part of something.
Tulsa has plenty of talent. Build strong environments like that across the board and not only will elite kids stay, but the entire soccer scene will elevate. The revenue always follows a healthy culture.
As stated in previous post from others, Tulsa (and Oklahoma in general) has some pretty terrible complexes. Scheels is an improvement, but it still doesn't compare to Stryker in Wichita, or one of the 5 complexes in Kansas City. OKC has even worse complexes. Celtic spent quite a bit of money updating their complex, but it just isn't as good as what you see in KC or Dallas. The new set of fields at Energy fields by the lake are nice, but the rest of that complex is trash.
And the problem goes beyond soccer in OK. I have a kid play softball and those complexes are terrible in general as well. There is one exception, that is the complex they built in Shawnee called Firelake for softball. That place will rival any complex in the entire country.
It would be great if we could get someone to invest some money into something like that in Tulsa. Maybe one of the casinos would do it.
Beyond the terrible fields... the other thing hurting Tulsa in soccer is keeping the players in the market.
Too many kids are leaving Tulsa to play at Energy. Funny though how that dynamic has changed now o nthe boys side with many boys leaving energy to go to Greenwood.
So it just goes to prove that kids/families will follow where they have the best chance to high level soccer.
Obviously the club plays a huge role in this. Running people off like TSC did wasn't helpful. I am not sure WSA is serious enough to entice those girls that left for Energy to come back.
How do you get them back???
1. Be competitive, win games, and allow your players opportunities to be scouted. Hard to do if you are a terrible team.
2. Have a decent complex for training and games.
3. Have a good organization that places kids based on merit and not on favoritism, etc.
Greenwood proves the kids will follow if they think it gives them a better shot at the next level. How can WSA do the same thing to bring back the talent?
And the problem goes beyond soccer in OK. I have a kid play softball and those complexes are terrible in general as well. There is one exception, that is the complex they built in Shawnee called Firelake for softball. That place will rival any complex in the entire country.
It would be great if we could get someone to invest some money into something like that in Tulsa. Maybe one of the casinos would do it.
Beyond the terrible fields... the other thing hurting Tulsa in soccer is keeping the players in the market.
Too many kids are leaving Tulsa to play at Energy. Funny though how that dynamic has changed now o nthe boys side with many boys leaving energy to go to Greenwood.
So it just goes to prove that kids/families will follow where they have the best chance to high level soccer.
Obviously the club plays a huge role in this. Running people off like TSC did wasn't helpful. I am not sure WSA is serious enough to entice those girls that left for Energy to come back.
How do you get them back???
1. Be competitive, win games, and allow your players opportunities to be scouted. Hard to do if you are a terrible team.
2. Have a decent complex for training and games.
3. Have a good organization that places kids based on merit and not on favoritism, etc.
Greenwood proves the kids will follow if they think it gives them a better shot at the next level. How can WSA do the same thing to bring back the talent?
So here is where I always had a problem with most of the clubs...mind you, my kid is a GK. NONE of the clubs had a consistent GK training program nor did they have anyone who could properly evaluate a GK. I was talking with Donivan Bradshaw at the WSA NL girls game on Sunday about a flaw I noticed in that side's GK and how she approached shots above her waist. He acknowledged it and then mentioned that WSA doesn't really have a GK trainer right now. TSC has run through so many GK trainers it's stupid. And Blitz runs GK training but I have no idea who does it and the few times my son went he said it was pointless because it was all geared towards brand new keepers...there was no refinement of skills. My son's development as a GK was always us seeking out private trainings, GK camps, etc. And Tulsa has had some really good GK contacts/coaches in the area that my son was lucky enough to train with (Donovan Ricketts, Lewis Amos). Heck the guy FC Tulsa had a few seasons ago (Brian something) was excellent at training young GKs, and TSC hired him...well he quit at the end of the FC Tulsa season so no GK coach the rest of the season. TSC, IMO, has never valued this aspect of the game.
Again, the clubs don't value the position (and thus the players in those positions) to help them develop and won't spend the money necessary to get a quality GK trainer/evaluator. This was a main beef of mine with TSC as GK parents were always promised that a set GK training program was coming and that GKs would be put through GK specific drills and evaluations at tryouts. Never happened. Ever. Only place my son got a full GK evaluation was the one time he went to a WSA try out for a team his friend was on that needed a GK. The coach happened to be the former Bahamian GK coach and put the 4 keepers that were there through some pretty extensive GK drills to evaluate them. TSC's version of tryouts was to throw 22 kids on the field and have them scrimmage. There was 1 day of tryouts my son, as a GK, never touched the ball. How the hell do you evaluate GKs if they never touch the ball?
I know it’s FC Dallas but they have a dedicated keeper coach exclusively for the girls competitive side. Keepers train with him once or twice a week. He attends every game and warms the keepers up pregame. FCD obviously has resources the local clubs don’t but I still found the emphasis they place on the position interesting
So the best complexes, if they are not MLS programs building complexes for their youth academies (Toyota in Frisco), are the result of public investment dollars. Moneygram, the St. Louis complexes, Scheel's in Overland Park, and Stryker, are all publicly funded complexes with a good corporate partnership/sponsorship. Problem in Tulsa is none of the local communities are willing to do the up front investment in a complex of that nature because they won't see the financial return on it for 10+ years. Seriously look at the Plano Labor Day tournament...it's grown to so big it's played at like 5-6 different complexes in the Plano area and the money that both the youth soccer club org that sponsors it and the complexes themselves (mostly city owned) are making $. Mohawk could have been that complex for Tulsa but the city never invested back into the complex after the initial construction, and they cut a ton of corners to do it as cheap as possible. BA could be that complex if they opened it up to some of the clubs. And found a corporate sponsor to put their name on it to help with some of the maintenance and upkeep. Keas in Bixby is a nice complex but they don't seem to sink anything back into it and they really need to expand (and they have the space to do so). Scheel's could be that complex if they could get the Jenks on board to partner. I mean the reason why Titan failed is because they did everything on the super cheap and didn't reinvest back into the field conditions to make it better or even maintain. Edmond just redid their main complex on Danforth...but they invested in buildings and not the actual fields themselves. It's really short sighted IMO. Scheel's in Overland Park is probably the best example of that city investment in the complex and then being able to sell the naming rights to help support the maintenance. Other than it being turf, that complex, support structures, parking, etc. is top notch and a reason why teams love to travel and play there.
My guess is the GKs also set up extra private training sessions with him which might be a nice incentive for the GK coaches. A good GK (not necessarily just a good shot stopper) is an asset to a team. Between his time with Donovan and Lewis, my son learned a lot of the nuances of the position, how to communicate, how to distribute, how to position his defenders, and how to see the field (#1 asset of a GK IMO). Putting the big kid back there because they can stop shots is such a disservice to a team these days. If your GK isn't comfortable with the ball at their feet, you can't play out of the back effectively and that opens a team to being pressed and really makes it difficult to build an attack. I was watching the FC Dallas girls turning and firing 40 yard back passes to their GKs on Saturday.
Parents, if your kid is a GK, you need to be asking the coach of your team and the club what their plan is to help their player develop. They all have plans for the outfield players but so few of them have plans for the GK.
Hell, BASC has weekly GK training sessions free to any player in the club who wants to learn. And that guy gets paid a decent amount to teach kids.
Do you know why Greenwood players are leaving the GW teams and wanting to go back to their original clubs, 2010's to be exact? Several are asking to get out of their contracts over several age groups?
im curious — what do yall think is a reasonable bar to meet to say Tulsa is “good” or a team is “competitive” in the sense that it meets this vision.
Having a majority of your teams finish .500 or better in the Texas League NL would be a solid accomplishment for a Tulsa based club. Having 2 teams qualify for Champions League at nationals would be another goal.
What I believe will never happen. If ECNL or whatever platform had promotion/regulation or some way to qualify for each age group. (Like a Supercopa) You could play for a coach and not a "Club". That would weed out the under performing coaches. That lead to player/Coaches/Parents recruiting players to one team to make that team the strongest possible. I see clubs where their best coaches are coaching 2nd / 3rd teams. Let's pay those coaches an amount where they can coach for a living. That coach could be at the club that provided the other essentials needed like facilities and support.
The top level teams (ECNL) should not be losing games by more than 2-3 goals except on a rare occasion as bad games happen. But 8-0, 13-0, 15-0...that's not competitive. And having witnessed those games, they weren't competitive at all. Every top level team here should be competitive in their division...they may still lose every game, but losing 1-0, 2-0 is a competitive contest where the players on both teams benefit from the competition and can grow.
I'm sure you know the game your daughter's team played on Saturday was vastly different than the one on Sunday and despite the loss on Sunday, you could see them grow as players. I'm not sure, outside of conditioning, the game on Saturday really benefitted anyone.
The larger national clubs do tend to operate on a merit system as far as coaches. Coaches at places like Solar, Surf, FCD, etc… aren’t allowed to stay coaching at the ECNL level if their teams aren’t competing at a high level. Basically, these clubs weed out coaches on their own based on performance. Probably should mention that they pay very well which makes it easier to replace non performing coaches
FWIW: Coach Preston made it a point to tell the parents that he's here to win and winning is expected. He will build the team to get to that goal and if he can't get them there, he will be removed.
I would consider improvement year over year winning. Do the 12s have a better record this year compared to last? Do the 12s improve their record in 2026-2027 compared to this year? Improvement every year a coach has a team is the mark of a good coach imo.
We will see if WSA removes NL and RL coaches that fail to win and/or improve. I have my doubts. TSC certainly didn’t and it resulted in the retention of poor coaches and the loss of quality kids.
Most coaches only stay with an age group for 2 years. I would expect improvement (maybe slight) from every age group. (13's didn't play). Most TSC ECNL players went to WSA and WSA had some good RL players. WSA has some good coaches. I personally think they should be full time at the ECNL level. Will there be improvement from 25/26 to 26/27 will be a bigger challenge. How many teams reach .500 this year? Honkv seems to think the 12's can. 09's maybe?
The 09s are the only WSA NL team with a chance to reach .500 this year imo. (Sorry Honv) The 12s will be better. They added a few girls from RL and their coaching was upgraded. Too many girls left in the 10s and 11s due to issues at TSC for those age groups for be competitive. That’s obviously not on WSA but they will suffer the consequences. WSA hope starts with its 14s and their academy and building teams from bottom up. Still a very tall task
I don't think anyone is expecting WSA, especially the 12s, to win the whole thing. But they do expect us to compete and I'd say that, so far, we've been somewhat competitive. Moreso that we were last year. There's already improvement that you can see. Sting Royal, who won the conf last year, had a much more difficult time with us. We played them, they beat us 5-0, but we also had arguably our best defender and one of our attacking players out hurt. We also have one of our keepers out hurt. The last time the majority of these girls played against Sting Black / Royal, it was like 10-0. Before that, 8-1. Isn't that an improvement?
FC Dallas beat them 2-0 last time. This time? They drew. They beat KCA. They lost to SLSG, but one of those losses were questionable.
There are absolutely teams in the TX conf that WSA is better than. There are at least 2 CO teams that WSA is better than. Probably better than the current Sting Black, I think they're probably better than Classic Elite and also Texans. I think we can beat Energy as well. It's not impossible for WSA to not reach .500.
I get the doubts though. I've said it before: I'm being optimistic. That's just my mode. It's my personality. I'm trying to be objective about it though, and the reason I feel the way I do is because I saw how it was and how it felt at TSC and I see how it is now and how it feels at WSA and it feels better. The coaching feels better. The team feels better. The girls get along and work for each other. At TSC, there was so much turmoil and drama on the team, we had players that wouldn't play the ball to other players. Ever. That's where we were. We had parents that were clearly talking trash about players on the team to their kids, players calling other players names, etc.
He resigned and is no longer the director or coaching ECNL but will stay with OEFC. I would let things play out because the meeting we were in was pretty vague, if there were some wrong doings they will come out soon enough. Not sure who will take on the 13’s or 11’s.
The last time TSC 12's played Sting Royal was 9/29 Texas Cup and it was 3-0, League game was 5-0. I think the 12's will be better. I really like a couple players. You said expectation was to "Win". And I'm not throwing shade. We are currently the #1 2013's team in Oklahoma and would finish 3-6 in Texas NL.
Allegedly…..a dad of a 2011 was buying things for the coach last season. The player wasn’t quite ECNL level. Likely some quid pro quo going on there to be on the NL squad. Fast forward to this year and the girl wasn’t offered a spot on the NL team. Dad gets pissed off and goes scorched earth exposing everything to OEFC. I will say parents have been buying coaches stuff since the beginning of time. It was certainly common during my time at TSC. A parent exposing the relationship to the board is a different matter
I find benefit in the tape -- both to celebrate the success found even in tough games (maybe it's a great touch, or off ball positioning, or a won duel), as well as highlight weaknesses to work on. Also I feel it's beneficial to give girls a mental model for the highest level play.
this isn’t the same sting royal. This is sting black from last year. The entire team went to Royal.
Maybe yall would finish that high. Maybe not.
Well 3 kids got cut last season from the NL team, if this is in fact what happened I’m pretty sure I can figure out who this parent is.
Nah, none of the girls were bad players so don’t want to crap on them. Just asking around it can be narrowed down.From the wealth of the parent or the talent level of the kid?
I wasn't thinking about crapping on players, just how you might determine which kid it might be. You don't have to say how you narrowed it down.
it absolutely is, and it seems like when we talk about WSA NL right now, Tx conf being the toughest conf isn’t taken into account.