Dear Members,
Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in our annual survey. Your feedback is invaluable, and I’ve
carefully reviewed each response. Several key themes emerged, and I’m excited to share how we’re addressing them:

1. Strengthening Club Communication
Starting with this message, I’ll be providing regular updates to keep you informed about what’s happening now, what’s on the horizon, and what your Executive Board is working on. We know many families want to stay involved, and transparent communication is essential to building a strong and connected community. These
updates will help ensure every member feels informed and empowered.

2. Clearer Communication Channels
We’re committed to improving how questions and concerns are handled. Moving forward, communication should follow this pathway: Coach → Director → Board Members (TBD) This ensures that your concerns are heard at the right level and addressed with clarity and fairness—without fear of dismissal or reprisal. Our goal is to foster a respectful and responsive environment for all.

3. Enhancing Goalplayer Development

We’re introducing a more integrated and consistent approach to goalplayer training:

• Goalplayer training, when possible, will include training with the team and an online session. This is in addition to the previous goalplayer only format, which will now include forwards being invited. 
• A new scheduling format will be introduced this July with our current goalplayer coach (Benny) coaching our oldest (B11/U15 and older) Sparta goalplayers. This schedule will be shared with all coaches, managers and goalplayer families within these age groups. 
• The club will be advertising for additional goalplayer coaches. Our first priority will be to assign another goalplayer coach to the B15 (U11) to B12 (U14) age groups. 

This new model encourages better collaboration between the goalplayer coach and team coaches, leading to more targeted development. Additionally, is supports long-term growth by aligning technical skill-building with the broader team context.

4. Expanding Competitive Opportunities for Girls
We recognize the desire for increased competition, especially for our older girls’ teams. While many advanced
leagues require a full slate of age-group teams (U13 and up), our current numbers don’t yet support that. However, we are actively recruiting, training, and retaining players—particularly in the U14+ range—to meet this goal. Rest assured, your board and coaches are exploring every option to provide the competitive experiences our athletes deserve. We’ll keep you updated as progress continues.

5. Field Access and Practice Scheduling
As both an Executive Board member and your Field Coordinator over the past five years, I understand how
important consistent practice times and field locations are. Ideally, every age group would have the same field, same day, same time each month—but field availability in Tacoma is limited. We’re competing with many other youth and adult sports organizations, which makes securing consistent space a challenge.That said, we are making a concerted effort to prioritize age-appropriate practice times, especially for our middle school athletes during the academic year. Your input helps guide these decisions, and we’re working to improve wherever possible.

Thank you again for your continued support and thoughtful feedback. It’s your engagement that helps our club grow and thrive. As always, my door is open—please don’t hesitate to reach out at president@nortac.org or vp_organization@nortac.org.

Warm regards,

Mary Anderson

NORTAC, Board President