New York Cosmos: The Children of BW Gottschee Comes First
“Please assure the coaches and parent of our players that I will return from London
On Sunday, November 13, we were informed by a BW Gottschee (BWG) representative that the New York Cosmos have yet to contact them after they were assured they would receive an answer by Friday, November 11, 2011 regarding the outstanding balance of $210K owed to them.
Last Monday, BW Gottschee filed a lawsuit against the New York Cosmos for violating their sponsorship agreement. Basically, it’s been over 100 days since the New York Cosmos failed to pay the sum of $210K owed to BW Gottschee.
While it’s easy to dehumanize a 60-year old program like BW Gottschee… one thing that will not be dehumanized are the families, the Cosmos Academy coaches, and BWG representatives who were present at last Monday’s meeting.
Last Monday’s meeting was also attended by Borough Boys President Nick Laveglia, Chris Dobens of TotalFootblog.com, and me as we were made aware of it during the weekend. Prior to Monday’s meeting, we tweeted that BWG has filed legal action against the Cosmos and had obtained the lawsuit document within hours.
With permission to attend last Monday’s meeting by a BWG representative, we witnessed BWG Youth Director of Coaching Paul McGlynn inform the families of the possibility of having to revert to a “pay to play” format because the New York Cosmos organization hadn’t met their contractual obligation.
Representing the New York Cosmos that evening was Cosmos Academy Director Giovanni Savarese who read a statement emailed to him from Interim Chairman Terry Byrne. It was pretty clear to everyone the difficult position Savarese was in as he addressed the families. Unfortunately for him, he played the role of the bearer of bad news.
In an effort to keep Cosmos supporters aware, Laveglia, Dobens, and me have been in direct communications with both sides and have provided the latest updates through the Borough Boys website ThisIsCosmosCountry.com, our social media outlets as well as the Cosmos Facebook page. To read the recap of how the lawsuit against the Cosmos unfolded, please go to TotalFootblog.com.
What a lot people need to understand is that this lawsuit isn’t about one organization against another organization. It’s about the children involved… plain and simple. It’s about them potentially losing their soccer education that was contractually promised to them by the New York Cosmos.
Other than covering matches, I always find time to talk with parents who have their children enrolled in soccer academies, such as BWG. Learning about the sacrifices they’ve had to make, in not only adjusting their schedules so their kids can practice with the team, but also in raising the money so their children can continue with their Soccer Education has given me a tremendous respect for the time and energy they put forth in making sure their children are able to compete at the highest level.
I understand there are Cosmos supporters who are more interested in hearing about the Cosmos becoming the 20th MLS Team with a Stadium deal intact and the latest Cosmos gear they can purchase for the Holidays. And frankly, who can blame them for they’ve invested their money and time defending an organization they believe will eventually become a MLS Club?
However, if you’ve been supporting the Cosmos since their NASL days, reading about the lawsuit against the Cosmos has to be hard to digest. Who would want a club as historical as the Cosmos which had players such as Pelé, Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto, and Chinaglia labeled as a deadbeat organization? Whether you agree or not, a situation like this is a poor demonstration of the organization’s commitment to grassroots and youth soccer.
The only thing clear about this situation other than the $210K balance is that BWG and the Cosmos are in a position neither wants to be in. I’m sure both parties are hoping that this financial matter gets resolved as soon as possible.
From my conversations with a couple of representatives from BW Gottschee, they made it clear that they will continue to uphold their obligation as Cosmos Academy
While it would be easy to aggressively attack the New York Cosmos front office and question their “business as usual” status, I’m not going to take that route. Like any organization who’s dealing with a lawsuit which involves children, there are staff members who had nothing to do with the financial decisions of the organization.
The reality is that they were more than likely following orders. From having interacted with the staff on a regular basis, I’m sure they couldn’t have imagined ever being in the position their organization is in right now. While it might have been helpful to be clear to their supporters about their situation with BW Gottschee and allow them the opportunity to offer a helping hand, the reality is they were probably ordered to remain silent.
With that said, I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe they were ordered to post MLS Commissioner Don Garber’s mention of the Cosmos during his “State of the League” teleconference instead of issuing a public apology to the children, and family of BW Gottschee.
At the end of the day, we have to remember that any professional club or organization who forms a partnership with any youth soccer club, their number one priority are the children and their families. I hope this situation doesn’t have a negative impact on the families and their children who are currently involved with BW Gottschee.
With the rumors of Seamus O’Brien of World Sport Group ready to take the reins of the New York Cosmos, I hope the first thing Mr. O’Brien address and resolve is the monies owed to BW Gottschee. This matter is now his responsibility as the lawsuit was filed against the New York Cosmos not the previous owners.
Even though Mr. O’Brien is taking over the Cosmos in a bad situation which is no fault of his, he will have a chance to restore faith in their most loyal supporters by handling this extremely important matter. In doing so, many supporters will finally be able to simply focus and hope the Cosmos becomes the second New York MLS Club.
*Today I reached out to the New York Cosmos for comment, but received no response.
Cesar Diaz is a freelance soccer writer for several online publications. If there's a soccer topic you believe that needs to be written about, please feel free to contact him. Easily accessible, you may contact him at CoveringSoccer@gmail.com and @CoveringSoccer.
2 comments:
The situation with the Academy is just disgusting. I am also surprised that this topic was not mentioned by Gerber when he spoke of the ownership group in his public statements. My concern is that if Gerber overlooked this issue, or was not aware of it when he met with the new group, it may be taken as a sign of the disinterest of the MLS in the plight of Gottschee. Is there a way to communicate with the MLS about what is happening and see to it that some pressure is brought to bear? It is beyond me how and why this has not already been addressed by Spera, whether through payment or a public statement.
rumor that gottschee got their check and still charging players to play. ?? is anything to that??
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