I agree these academies are run like organized crime with some really bad kids around our kids.

So how do we take them down?

Go after US Club Soccer, not the academies. Start your own organization and league, market it as the only place for your soopah-stah stud kid to play. Send out dozens of people every day to sing the praises of said organization, and trash everyone else.

Good luck, let me know how it goes.

Answering your own posts?

You start by being the first to pull your kids and put them in a cheaper option. No doubt hoards will follow suit...not. Clubs have taken a hit with covid but most will be fine, especially the better run ones that have something parents/player want (better coaching, better competition, better exposure). Until the consumer en masse decides to leave the system nothing will change.

Good luck. You're not that important and your point doesn't really matter.

I feel like the T-S community doesn't do a great job of defining what the problem is.

Soccer clubs can be profitable companies. This in-and-of-itself is a good thing. They provide a service and wouldn't be able to do so if they couldn't fund their operations.

Some clubs have been very profitable which can be seen by venture capital coming into the market and the parking lots when the owners are on-site.

Competition between clubs should limit the profitability by allowing competitors to come in and provide their own product at a better price. But why isn't that happening in New England? (I don't know about how youth soccer is run elsewhere in the country- probably similar)

There are some natural/acceptable barriers-

* Limited number of players
* Limited quality coaches
* Limited field space
* Difficulty of launching a new club with full teams and coaches across age groups (just getting people to see and buy into your new club is a tough nut to crack).

And this last point would be hard enough if the above were the only barriers. But there are also some artificial/unacceptable barriers (in my opinion)-

* anti-competition compacts between clubs to not allow coaches to move (via NEP agreement)
* anti-consumer compacts between clubs to limit players moving between clubs (via NEP agreement)
* anti-competition compacts between clubs and leagues to maintain geographic advantage (ECNL and GAL barriers to joining the league)

it's this set of anti barriers that annoy me personally. and if you want to vote with your pocketbook, then take a look at the organizations involved with the leagues I've highlighted in parenthesis.

You are absolutely ridiculous...

and the NEP (anti-)recruitment rules are right here on the website. Its not a secret-

https://www.newenglandpremiership.com/rules (screen cap- https://imgur.com/a/lbBjUyd)

And then have a look at the board of directors-

President: Ian Burgess: Seacoast United
Vice President: Liz Lima: South Shore Select
Treasurer: Jason Braga: NEFC
Secretary: Gary Crompton: SFC New England
Director: Jason Dewhurst: FC Stars
Director: Brian Ainscough: Boston Bolts
Director: John Mark Andrade: Bayside

and then a lot of the "problems" of youth soccer in NE start to make more sense

Stop dancing around and start another Bolts thread.

I think there should be a maximum amount of money that teams can charge cover expense

I think there should be a maximum amount of money that teams can charge cover expense and pay for ours worked. It is supposed to a sport for the kids to play the greatest game - not a get rich scheme

You've all read this by now right?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/28/s...rts-model.html

By Tom Farrey
April 28, 2019
A decade ago, I wrote a book that comprehensively surveyed the landscape of youth sports. I wanted to know: How did the United States become the world’s sports superpower while producing such a physically inactive population? What contribution, if any, did our sports ecosystem play in producing these seemingly opposite outcomes? And, has any nation figured out a more effective model?

France. Germany. Australia. Canada. Spain. Cuba. China. I studied them all.

A few weeks ago, finally, I found what I think is my answer.

Imagine a society in which 93 percent of children grow up playing organized sports. Where costs are low, the economic barriers to entry few, travel teams aren’t formed until the teenage years — and where adults don’t start sorting the weak from the strong until children have grown into their bodies and interests. Then, the most promising talents become the most competitive athletes in the world, on a per-capita basis.

I am talking about Norway.

The country found its way onto my radar in a meaningful way last year at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where Norway, a nation of just 5.3 million, won more medals, 39, than any other country in the history of the Winter Games.

The United States finished fourth, with 23 medals. I was helping host a podcast for NBC Sports and interviewed the head of Norway’s Olympic delegation, who explained that the country’s system prioritizes participation through age 13 and, after that, surrounds top prospects with great coaching.

...

The country’s Children’s Rights in Sport is a document unlike any other in the world, a declaration that underpins its whole sports ecosystem. Introduced in 1987 and updated in 2007 by the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports, the eight-page statement describes the type of experience that every child in the country must be provided, from safe training environments to activities that facilitate friendships.

The statement places a high value on the voices of youth. Children “must be granted opportunities to participate in planning and execution of their own sport activities,” according to the document. They may “decide for themselves how much they would like to train,” and can even opt out of games if they just want to practice.

Want to transfer clubs in midseason? Go ahead, no penalty. Suit up with a rival club next week, if you wish.

“We believe the motivation of children in sport is much more important than that of the parent or coach,” said Inge Andersen, former secretary general of the Norwegian confederation. “We’re a small country and can’t afford to lose them because sport is not fun.”

All 54 national sport federations voted to adopt and abide by Children’s Rights in Sport, which also describes the type of activities not allowed by member clubs. No national championships before age 13. No regional championships before age 11, or even publication of game scores or rankings. Competition is promoted but not at the expense of development and the Norwegian vision: “Joy of Sport for All.”

Violate the rules, and a federation or club risks losing access to government grants, generated from proceeds of sports betting and other gambling to help build facilities and fund programming.

...

Norway is not the United States. One advantage sport leaders in Norway acknowledge is their country’s relatively small size, which helps get key stakeholders on the same page about sports policy. Also, families don’t need to chase athletic scholarships because college, like health care for youth, is free. Sports is not seen as a way out of a tough neighborhood. Norway is a wealthy nation with oil, gambling and other revenue streams that can be mobilized.

But so is the United States. We have just given the marketplace full rein to work its magic, untethered from the needs of public health. So money chases money. Children from low-income homes now are half as likely to play sports (34 percent) as those at the upper end, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.

I left Norway wondering if a simple declaration of children’s rights could re-center priorities, close gaps and produce more elite athletes. Just as Title IX did more than four decades ago, for women.

Define "maximum amount". What about AAU baseball / basketball?
Why stop here. Let's put a "maximum amount" on rents, groceries, phones, etc...
What about professional sports salaries? Lets cap those too. Most people cannot afford to go to a game these days.

Where does it end? It's a free country (or it used to be).

No one is forcing you to play club soccer. It's a business like any other.

And there are all kinds of options out there for all budgets. Cheaper options come with tradeoffs

Thats where you are wrong - it should not be a business when dealing with our youth. Only in America is it like this - people from Europe came here and took advantage of the people here and it stuck - much different than groceries - these are our kids and soccer i am talking about. not a place for people to get rich by ripping people off

What about club lacrosse ? Club hockey? Club basketball?

The problem with club soccer is too many coaches working with a club and then starting their own thing, only for them to do it again & again & again thus diluting the talent pool in their areas. And screwing over families and clubs. MA is famous for it. NC is laughing at this state.



What parents are going to start their own town club and make the effort to recruit and search for good players. None! So this is a stupid post.

Far too many start up clubs that fizzle out after a year.