You know what’s crazy? I’ll tell you what’s crazy.™
2 boy’s soccer clubs merging as one.
But not just any two soccer clubs. Two soccer clubs that once had a palpable dislike for one another.
Imagine the Hatfields and the McCoys playing soccer and now you are starting to get the picture. Then imagine, suddenly, one day, the Hatfields and the McCoys lay down their shotguns and pour out their moonshine and suddenly embrace as one big happy family.
This is what is about to happen.
This past weekend Franklin played it’s arch rival Brentwood. Or if you will, Brentwood played it’s arch rival Franklin.
It was like the Russians playing the USA in hockey, only with a better dental plan.
There is a lot of angst when these 13 year old boys lace up the spikes.
The game was a preliminary bout in the state tournament. It was hard fought and Brentwood won. Their parents and kids cheered. Franklin’s parents and kids skulked off the field.
Both sides wanted to win the championship, but if you could only win one game, then this is the one you wanted.
More importantly, the game marked the end of a rivalry that dates back years.
Brentwood vs Franklin is like cops vs robbers. It’s Batman versus the Riddler. It’s superman versus Kryptonite. It’s a rivalry of epic proportions.
The two clubs have so much in common. They play in the two most affluent communities in the richest county in the state. They go to the same camps and know the same people and attend the same private schools.
Brentwood and Franklin literally touch each other, their city boundaries crossing down the middle of streets, through parking lots.
The high schools are rivals. The shopping centers are rivals. Even the police departments are rivals.
Brentwood and Franklin soccer clubs are polar opposites on the field. Like matter and anti matter they clash.
The kids play each other hard. A push or an elbow in this game can incite a riot. The parents have been known to get up out of their chairs and get chest to chest on the sideline. Rival coaches have had no problem squabbling with one another in front of officials, kids, parents.
It can get pretty ugly and frankly, kind of embarassing.
When you play Brentwood you want to win. You can be a good sport when you lose to another team, but to lose to Brentwood is a different feeling. It burns like immersing a paper cut in vinegar.
In the past there have been choice words and strong emotions. In the past, there were rrumors that the Brentwood parents didn’t want to schedule games against Franklin because the hostility had risen to such a degree it was not healthy. Perhaps that is urban legend. Perhaps there is an inkling of truth to it.
Then something strange happened. Worlds collided – the unthinkable took place.
Two bitter rivals came together as one.
In the last few months, the hierarchy of the two talented clubs voted to merge.
Why?
To create a super team that will be competitive, not just in Tennessee, but across the South East.
The idea is to take two decent squads and make a Hall of Justice style all star team. Now aquaman and superman can play with batman and green lantern and crush all the other villains.
The days of Rec ball are over. The days of everyone wins a ribbon don’t exist anymore. Little boy travel soccer is a business whether you like it or not.
Is it good for the kids? That part of the formula is only now unfolding.
Why merge? The idea is to forge some of the best 13 year old soccer players in the area into a well oiled machine that scores goals and shuts down opposing offenses.
If you have a spear, you need to keep it sharp. Why have a dull spear?
According to some, a super soccer team will generate revenue from Nike that will bring new facilities and better training for the kids. A super team will also create a buzz that will reportedly attract coaches from around the country to look at kids who might just be offered college scholarships in the future.
Tonight was the first night that both teams stepped onto the field as one big team.
It was just a scrimmage to see what the hell we have here. I think what we have here could be special.
Franklin in blue and Brentwood in Red. The kids stood in their respective groups. The parents by and large chit chatted politely, mostly hanging with the parents they are most comfortable with.
Then the coaches took a handful of Brentwood kids and teamed them up with a handful of Franklin kids and said play.
It was a hodge podge of youngsters playing like hell.
At first it was a bit odd, like mixing ice tea and gasoline in the same glass. They are both liquids but you don’t normally drink them together.
But kids are kids and soccer is soccer and soon, there were no red kids or blue kids, just kids playing soccer, a high octane version of soccer.
I saw speed and toughness and expert passing. I saw kids switching the action clear across the field with precise passes.
During water breaks the Franklin boys stood with the Franklin boys and the Brentwood boys stood with the Brentwood boys.
They say old habits die hard. I think that will pass soon enough.
I made it a point to talk to a Brentwood dad whose kid I have always admired. You know what? He is a pretty good guy. Except for the color of our jerseys, we are pretty much the same kind of dad.
We all want this to work because travel soccer is a full time job. It is expensive, and it takes up a ton of time and money.
If this fails it will be a colossal fail.
As someone once said; failure is not an option.
It’s only one hour. It’s only a glimpse into the possibilities. But I saw something special tonight. It’s like looking at the Hope diamond for just a moment. You don’t need a lot of time to realize when something is special.
I think that the new club will coalesce into something powerfully exciting.
They say winning fixes everything. I have a feeling this club is going to be doing a lot of winning.
I expect it will take about one game as a new club to forge a friendship and a bond that pushes this new club from once bitter rivals into the spot light of a regional super team that will have to be taken very very seriously.
In the laboratory of the mad scientist of soccer, somehow foes will become friends.
And that is crazy.™