The problem with LA Open

I'm really frustrated with the break-up of Strike-Slip. I thought that we had a really successful first season, winning sectionals etc. We had the core of the team coming back, and for once there looked like there would be some continuity in LA Open. No team is great in its first year together, and I thought we were really going to do big things this year. I thought we were committed to a new season.

Honestly, I don't really even know what the full story is. I think that some people thought that we weren't going to be good enough this year, or that we weren't going to get the players that we expected and decided to form a new co-ed team instead. Or maybe they decided that they just didn't want to play open at all. We lost a fair amount of players from last year to people moving away, and I was part of the problem because my status for the summer was up in the air with my injury. People left and the captains were left with a different team than the one they had signed up to captain.

People are just too afraid of losing. We just want to win as quickly and as easily as possible. It's understandable that some of the guys are getting older and don't want a multiple year commitment to rebuilding a team, but that is exactly what being a successful club team takes. The best club teams are the ones that have a core committed to continuity. Team chemistry and experience is extremely important.

It's true that LA doesn't have the type of player that dominates at the elite level, but those guys are just icing on the cake. LA has great players. I was always really impressed with my teammates last year. The commitment to building a lasting, quality team is more important than the players you have on that team. Of course you need some minimum level of talent, but we were definitely there.

Maybe what needs to happen is for LA Open to start over. Build a team with young guys that will commit to playing for multiple seasons. The first season will be rough, but it's all about developing players and building a team. Maybe in the second or third we'd start attracting the top players in LA who would have previously played co-ed, but want the challenge and reward of playing open. The club team would improve all the area colleges, who then feed it with higher quality players.

After all of that, I'm still not sure what I'm going to do this summer. I have my career to think about, and I don't know if I can commit huge amounts of time to helping lead a young team. I don't mind playing on a young and inexperienced team, but I don't want to play on a team without enough talent. It's very tempting to go play co-ed or to commute from Thousand Oaks to play with the Condors. For the first time, I don't have the obligation to my college team to play in the situation that will improve me the most as a player.

I'm going to check out the different teams and see what I like. I'll see what kind of roster the LA Open team could put together. Then I'll go from there.

First things first, though. College regionals are coming, and we have big goals. I have to rehab properly and make sure I don't re-injure myself.

SoCal sectionals were crazy. I'll do a write up of them soon.