What are the responsibilities of the CASL Management Team? Who is CASL DOC Rusty Scarborough

The CASL Management Team is composed of 4 positions. Those positions are CEO, Chief Executive Officer, which I, Charlie Slagle, charlies@caslemail.com, am the CEO (see blog on Thursday 2/24/11 for information on me). Working with the CEO are the Business Manager, the COO, Chief Operating Officer, and the DOC, Director of Coaching. Each of these positions has staff that work with them to fulfill the various needs of CASL.

The CASL Business Manager is Lisa Stevenson, lisas@caslemail.com. The Business Manager is responsible for all financial matters that concern CASL. She assembles information for the staff to help the CEO create the budget yearly and is in charge of Human Resources, as well as other financial duties. The COO is Michael Milazzo, mikem@caslemail.com. The COO is responsible for all the business operations of the organization. This includes the administrators of the various playing levels, the numerous CASL events including tournaments, CASL communications, CASL IT, field maintenance and the marketing of CASL. The DOC is Rusty Scarborough, rustys@caslemail.com. The DOC is responsible for all soccer aspects of CASL. The DOC oversees the directors of each of CASL’s levels and is responsible for the soccer direction of the club and league.

The Management Team meets at least weekly to determine the direction of the league. The positive interaction of this group and the sharing of ideas that are garnered from CASL staff and outside sources help decide that direction.

Let’s meet the members of the Management Team:

Who is CASL DOC Rusty Scarborough?

            Rusty Scarborough became the DOC almost a year ago replacing Jay Howell who moved to Birmingham (AL) United to become the club’s Executive Director. Rusty has worked for CASL for seven years. Rusty grew up in Buies Creek, NC and stayed in his home town to play and star at Campbell University. Rusty has been a coach his whole adult life and has coached at the club, high school, professional and college level. He spent much of his coaching time in Greensboro where he was the assistant coach at UNCG and the head coach of Greensboro College.

            Rusty has been in the soccer business for 30+ years. Rusty has stayed in soccer because he “loves the opportunity to work with many different ages and dealing with all aspects of the sport.” Also, Rusty enjoys “watching players enjoy and experience success and maturing as individuals.”

            The most challenging part of Rusty’s job is “making sure that all players are in the correct environment for success and establishing a cohesive staff and maintaining the chemistry needed for success.” Rusty works closely with the CASL coaching staff to ensure fairness throughout the league and club.

            Rusty’s assets are many. He is a tireless worker that is competitive and understands all aspects of the game of soccer. He understands people, from the players he coaches, to the staff that works for him to the parents that allow their children to play for CASL. Rusty has a great rapport with college coaches and this helps with the college recruitment of CASL players.

            CASL is lucky to have a man of Rusty Scarborough’s qualifications and integrity leading the soccer end of the league!

                                                                        Charlie Slagle

             

Who is CASL CEO Charlie Slagle?

I am Charlie Slagle, the CASL CEO and the writer of this blog. At the end of July, I will have been with CASL, as its CEO for 10 years. Prior to CASL, I was the Men’s Soccer Coach at Davidson College for 21 years (1980-2000 seasons).

I consider myself unique in the soccer profession as I did not “find” the sport until late. I had brushes with the sport but did not play it competitively until my junior year in college (at Davidson College). I played football, basketball, baseball, tennis and track during my high school years. I went to college to play football and after two years became a goalkeeper (it was a lot easier to switch over to soccer in those days as the sport wasn’t as popular as it is today).

Prior to my senior year in college, the soccer team led by coach Chip Stone (yes the same Chip Stone that just retired from coaching at Leesville High School) took a three week trip to England, Wales and Scotland to play. I was the only gk on the trip and played all 12 games (record of 4-4-4) that the team played. We also saw 6 professional games and did some sight-seeing and socializing. I left with a love of the game due to the passion that the English et al had for the game.

Five years after graduating from Davidson, I was hired to be the soccer coach (a not too important position in the athletics department hierarchy back in those days). While at Davidson my record was 209-202-30 as we played the best schedule that we could find each year. The soccer programs two biggest successes during my tenure were the team advancing to the Final Four in 1992 (losing to The University of San Diego 3-2 in OT) and hosting three very successful College Cups on campus (1992-1994). The Town of Davidson had a population of 3,500 people then and the single day crowds for those College Cups were 8,000 in 1992, 10,000 in 1993 and 12,000 in 1994 (there were only 5,000 permanent seats in the Davidson stadium). Due to those two events, I was awarded the NSCAA Division I National Coach of the Year, the Bill Jeffrey Award and the Charlotte Sportsman of the Year Award.

I came to CASL in August 2001 to try my hand at administration of the game that had become my profession. I wanted the new challenge and have enjoyed my time here greatly. In my first years, I wanted to give CASL a personal touch, so I did almost all of the weather hotline announcements (some people thought my humor was good on those announcements….others, not so much). I was given the task of overseeing the building of what is now WakeMed Soccer Park. CASL had spearheaded the effort to get the funds ($14.5 million) from interlocal taxes (hotels and prepared food taxes) prior to my arrival. These funds were made available due to the success of CASL’s Shootout and Showcase tournaments (now the CASL visitraleigh.com National Soccer Series presented by Chelsea Football Club).

I was also given the task to try to lure major events to the area and the new soccer park. With the great aid of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, NC State and the Town of Cary, the park has hosted eight College Cups, US National Team trainings and games, ACC tournaments, pro teams, huge cross country events etc. The Town of Cary now manages the park and has done a wonderful job with their management.

At CASL and WRAL Soccer Center, we have bid for and hosted many non-CASL tournaments and events. Major events have included the USYS Southern Regionals and the USYS Presidents Cup finals.

I have enjoyed my time at CASL and want to continue, for many years to come, with the mantra, “Have Fun and Remember it is Just a Game!” Youth sports are a great time for the participants and they will remember their games, practices and teammates for decades. The overlying principle is that sports activities should be fun because in the long run, individual plays, individual referee calls, etc. don’t mean as much as the big picture of youth participation!

                                                                        Charlie Slagle

What is CASL? What is YTS?

CASL is a non-profit 501 c 3 company and has been in existence since 1974. CASL’s mission is to provide youth soccer playing opportunities in Wake County. We like to say that CASL stands for Character, Attitude, Success and Love of the Game!

CASL has three main playing divisions that form a pyramid of participation. Any one season CASL has 8,000+ players playing the game through the organization. Another 1,000 players play only one season so there are 9,000+ playing members of CASL on a yearly basis. The base of the pyramid is the Recreation Division with has about 5,000 players playing seasonally. The next level of the pyramid is the challenge division with about 2,000 players per season. The top of the pyramid numerically is the classic division which has about 1,000 players playing seasonally.

What is YTS?

The CASL YTS (Youth Training System) is a precursor for the older competitive teams that CASL has in the Challenge and Classic Divisions. YTS has Under 9 and Under 10 year old boys' teams and girls' teams. Each year between 150-200 players participate in the YTS program. The players practice twice per week and have a game on the weekend, usually on Sunday.

The YTS program is run by professional coaches under the tutelage of CASL's Youth Director, Paul Forster, paulf@caslemail.com. The main administrator is Jean Hogshead, jeanh@caslemail.com. The focus is on developing the technical ability of the player and developing good training habits. The YTS program provides player evaluations at the close of the fall and spring season. Recommendations will be made to each family at the end of each year, prior to tryouts, as to which level the player should consider trying out for(of course, parents can decide to have their children tryout for any program or not try out at all, as this is just a recommendation).  The YTS blog can be reached at http://caslyts.blogspot.com/.

The YTS teams play in the NCCL (NC Champions League), http://ncchampionsleague.com/. This league is a local Triangle area league.

YTS families pay CASL registration fees per season, a tryout fee and a monthly coaching fee. The families are also responsible for uniform fees, as well. YTS evaluations are held during CASL's tryouts in May. For more information on CASL YTS, please visit the CASL web site and click on the YTS link at the top of the home page.

What is CASL? What is CASL Classic?

CASL is a non-profit 501 c 3 company and has been in existence since 1974. CASL’s mission is to provide youth soccer playing opportunities in Wake County. We like to say that CASL stands for Character, Attitude, Success and Love of the Game!

CASL has three main playing divisions that form a pyramid of participation. Any one season CASL has 8,000+ players playing the game through the organization. Another 1,000 players play only one season so there are 9,000+ playing members of CASL on a yearly basis. The base of the pyramid is the Recreation Division with has about 5,000 players playing seasonally. The next level of the pyramid is the challenge division with about 2,000 players per season. The top of the pyramid numerically is the classic division which has about 1,000 players playing seasonally.

What is CASL Classic?

The top competitive level at CASL is the Classic Division. The division begins at the Under 11 age bracket and goes to Under 18 in single year age brackets. Classic teams are coached by paid coaches under the guidance of CASL Director of Coaching, Rusty Scarborough, rustys@caslemail.com, John Bradford, Director of Boys' Classic, johnb@caslemail.com, and Sean Nahas, Director of Girls' Classic, seann@caslemail.com. The administrator of the Classic Division is Jean Hogshead, jeanh@caslemail.com.

CASL has multiple teams at each age level and the teams all, but two, play through the NC Youth Soccer Association system in regards to registration and schedules. Two teams play through the USSF Developmental Academy, they are the U16 and U18 Academy boys' teams. CASL also plays in the Elite Clubs National League with the top older girls' teams. Many CASL teams play in the Region III Premier League, as well.

It is the goal of the classic division to provide a high competition level for each player in order for each player to improve his/her game. Teams practice three to four times per week and play games on the weekends. The three to four practices per week are as important as the competition in regards to the development of the players.

CASL Classic has had much success. This past fall, the four oldest girls' teams (high school ages) each won the NCYSA State Cup marking the first time that any NC club has swept the fall championship. All of these teams, therefore, qualified for the US Youth Soccer Southern Regionals this June. The Boys' Academy Teams have gone to the USSF Developmental Academy Finals (Final 8) in five of the six opportunities in the first three years of the program. No other club in the nation has had more than three appearances and no MLS youth club has had more than two appearances. Due to these and other successes, CASL was ranked #2 in the nation for Boys' Soccer Clubs in Soccer America magazine. The Girls were placed #18 by Soccer America. Only five other clubs had both their girls and boys in the top 30 ranking. 

Tryouts are held yearly in late May to pick the multiple classic teams per age bracket. Every player must try out each year as the teams are picked anew yearly. This system allows for movement between teams in each age bracket.

CASL fees associated with Classic include a tryout fee, a registration fee per season and monthly fees to pay for training. Uniform fees and team fees for travel and tournaments are collected by individual teams.

For more information on CASL Classic please visit the CASL web site. The next blog will cover the precursor to Classic, the Youth Training System (YTS).

                                                              Charlie Slagle

 

 

 

What is CASL? What is CASL Challenge?

CASL is a non-profit 501 c 3 company and has been in existence since 1974. CASL’s mission is to provide youth soccer playing opportunities in Wake County. We like to say that CASL stands for Character, Attitude, Success and Love of the Game!

            CASL has three main playing divisions that form a pyramid of participation. Any one season CASL has 8,000+ players playing the game through the organization. Another 1,000 players play only one season so there are 9,000+ playing members of CASL on a yearly basis. The base of the pyramid is the Recreation Division with has about 5,000 players playing seasonally. The next level of the pyramid is the challenge division with about 2,000 players per season. The top of the pyramid numerically is the classic division which has about 1,000 players playing seasonally.

What is CASL Challenge?

The CASL Challenge Division is a self-contained league within CASL where teams are picked through a tryout system and play all of their regular season games against other CASL challenge teams. The first age bracket in the challenge division is at the Under 10 years old age bracket. There are single year age brackets to Under 18. as in recreation, Under 10's play 6 v 6 including a goalkeeper, Under 11's and 12's play 8 v 8 including a goalkeeper and Under 13 and older play 11 v 11 soccer. Coaches in the CASL Challenge Division are unpaid and many are parents of players on the teams. Challenge teams are geographically based as there are teams from Raleigh, Cary/Apex/Morrisville, Wake Forest and Garner.

CASL Challenge teams practice twice per week and usually play a game on the weekend, primarily scheduled on Sunday. Coaches are required by their second year coaching to have a USSF D Coaching License or an equivalent. The major tryout for Challenge teams occurs at the end of May into early June. Teams are formed at this time for the following fall season. Players are allowed to stay on their teams from season to season and do not need to tryout if they were on the team the season before (there are exceptions to this when teams are contracted and in a few other cases). There is also a supplemental tryout between the fall and spring season that occurs in December every year. Parity is the main premise of the division as teams are drafted fairly from all geographical areas. Teams in the Challenge division also participate in out of town tournaments including the NC Youth Soccer Association State Cup.

CASL's Challenge division usually has about 140 teams and 2,000 players seasonally. There is more information on the CASL web site about challenge soccer. The main CASL office staff that deal with the Challenge Division are Ann Gordon, Challenge Administrator, anng@caslemail.com and Rob Andrews, Director of Challenge, roba@caslemail.com.

For the third straight summer, CASL will take groups of challenge players to a foreign country to compete. These teams have played in Sweden, Denmark, Spain and England thus far. This summer' teams have been already picked and they will be competing in Sweden near the arctic circle in late June and early July. This exciting new program highlights the learning experience of going abroad with a great soccer experience. For more information, please see the CASL web site! 

                                                                Charlie Slagle

Entry #2

What is CASL? What is CASL Recreation?

CASL is a non-profit 501 c 3 company and has been in existence since 1974. CASL’s mission is to provide youth soccer playing opportunities in Wake County. We like to say that CASL stands for Character, Attitude, Success and Love of the Game!

            CASL has three main playing divisions that form a pyramid of participation. Any one season CASL has 8,000+ players playing the game through the organization. Another 1,000 players play only one season so there are 9,000+ playing members of CASL on a yearly basis. The base of the pyramid is the Recreation Division with has about 5,000 players playing seasonally. The next level of the pyramid is the challenge division with about 2,000 players per season. The top of the pyramid numerically is the classic division which has about 1,000 players playing seasonally.

           

The recreational division starts play at Under 5 years old (the player must turn 5 between August 1 and July 31 during the fall to spring playing seasons to be eligible to play) and goes through Under 18/19 years old (seniors in high school for the most part). CASL Recreation plays in single year age brackets up to the high school age where the age brackets are two year brackets. The Mini-kickers (Under 5 and 6) play once per week on Saturdays and it is a training session that culminates in 3 v 3 playing amongst the team members. The U7’s and 8’s play 4 v 4, without a goalkeeper in a modified four goal system which is unique to CASL. The Under 9’s and 10’s play 6 v 6, including a goalkeeper. At the U9 and 10 age brackets, CASL for the first time keeps track of scores and standings. At the Under 11 and 12 age brackets the teams play 8 v 8 including goalkeepers. At Under 13 and older, all teams play on a full field and play 11 v 11.

            Coaches are volunteers and most are a parent of one of the players on the team. CASL provides coaching assistance through its Director of Recreation, Jim Wright (jimw@caslemail.com) via coaching clinics, blogs and answering of e-mails. All recreation teams, except mini-kickers have one practice per week and usually a game on the weekend. Eight games are considered a full schedule.

            Recreation teams are formed by CASL’s two Recreation administrators, Lorraine Qualle and Vicki Rohde (lorraineq@caslemail.com and vickir@caslemail.com). Teams are formed by geography. This is done to allow for practices (CASL schedules practice sites as well as game sites) and games to take place near the player’s home. This also helps provide parity to the league as no special requests for placement are accepted. Players must play in their age brackets and cannot play down an age bracket nor play up unless the child is in a grade ahead of their age bracket peers. Parents of children in this situation can decide whether their child will play with their age bracket or their grade. CASL will try to place the grade-appropriate children with their grade if there are spaces available at that age bracket.

Entry #1

Why a Blog?

I will write entries for this blog about 4 times per week during the season to answer the Wh’s of CASL. That is the Whos, Whats, Whys, Whens, Wheres, Whiches, and Hows (yes it does have a w and an h), etc. of the organization.

This 37 year old league has quite a tradition and quite a number of  participants, volunteers, alumni  that want to know the answers to the wh’s above. I will try to explain the answers so that our CASL families and others know what is going on and the reasons behind what is going on. An informed membership is a stronger membership!

Some of the things you can expect from the Wh’s are:

Whos: Who are the people that run CASL, staff and board, and what are their backgrounds and experience in the sport? Who are the coaches in CASL and their backgrounds? Who are the community leaders that support CASL? Etc.

Whats: What is going on in the league, new initiatives, events, etc.? Etc.

Whys: Why does CASL do the things the way we do? Why are certain rules in place? Etc.

Whens: When are deadlines? When should members think about moving their child to a different level via tryouts? Etc.

Wheres: Where do members go to get an answer to a certain question? Where do members go to get extra training for their children? Where do members find out certain information? Etc.

Whiches: Which program is better for my child? Etc.

Hows: How do I sign up for a certain program? How do I help my child get better? Etc.

            I will be looking for material for this blog, so please feel free to ask a Wh and at some point, I will probably respond via the blog but will also try to respond to the individual. Please identify yourself as I will not respond to anonymous questioners! This should be fun and I am looking forward to this blog!

                                                            Charlie Slagle-CASL CEO and now Blog Guy!