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    #16
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    I think you miss the point. One of the things listed in the link was about parental participation in 1972. In regards to soccer, I actually played during that era. I have a picture of my team from that era, and the diversity of the team is very interesting to look at. I only remember one parent ever coming to watch us play. Among the team members, quite a few went on to play College sports, including soccer. Some became very good D-1 players.Including Ivy League. That team was made up of mostly lower to middle class familes. There wasn't any families in any higher strata in my town.

    Today, most likely none of those players and their families could afford to play Club soccer at the going rate.
    I don't want this to turn into the political forum but I think you could lay blame to that to the welfare state and financing bad beahvior more so than corporations.

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      #17
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      I think you miss the point. One of the things listed in the link was about parental participation in 1972. In regards to soccer, I actually played during that era. I have a picture of my team from that era, and the diversity of the team is very interesting to look at. I only remember one parent ever coming to watch us play. Among the team members, quite a few went on to play College sports, including soccer. Some became very good D-1 players.Including Ivy League. That team was made up of mostly lower to middle class familes. There wasn't any families in any higher strata in my town.

      Today, most likely none of those players and their families could afford to play Club soccer at the going rate.
      Bingo. Good post. I think my mother saw one of my HS games, my father saw a couple. There were a total of 5 fans at our last tournament game.

      My parents could never have afforded club soccer. They probably could not have even paid for the HS athletic fee. Our Little League, Pop Warner and CYO leagues were all free. As for paid coaches? Not a one. But my Little League pitching coach was in the SF Giants organization for 8 years. My basketball coach played for Baylor. They didn't wear $300 Nike sweats either.

      Comment


        #18
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        Bingo. Good post. I think my mother saw one of my HS games, my father saw a couple. There were a total of 5 fans at our last tournament game.

        My parents could never have afforded club soccer. They probably could not have even paid for the HS athletic fee. Our Little League, Pop Warner and CYO leagues were all free. As for paid coaches? Not a one. But my Little League pitching coach was in the SF Giants organization for 8 years. My basketball coach played for Baylor. They didn't wear $300 Nike sweats either.
        As I said, my town was far from affluent...very far. From that town I know of at least 1/2 a dozen College All Americans , Olympians, Pro athletes , etc., just from my class alone. I don't think any of their familes could afford the going rate for children to play in what Youth sports have become at the " higher level" . I wonder how many potentially great athletes are left out today.

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          #19
          they are viewed as competition by the privileged.>> quote

          Duh... EVERYONE is viewed as competition in club soccer, unless your kid is not really chasing a starting spot on a top team. The kids don't care who has $ or not; they only know who can play and who can't play.

          Are there families spending $ on club soccer simply because they can afford it (i.e., not necessarily "chasing the dream" of college/professional, whatever...)? Of course. It's their prerogative due to their disposable income. I'd love to hear a REAL WORLD, FAIR, non-SOCIALIST method for giving economically disadvantaged families access to club soccer. I haven't heard one yet.

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            #20
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            I don't want this to turn into the political forum but I think you could lay blame to that to the welfare state and financing bad beahvior more so than corporations.
            I agree some of the blame, yes. Many Government programs encourage and reward negative behaviour.

            Comment


              #21
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              they are viewed as competition by the privileged.>> quote

              Duh... EVERYONE is viewed as competition in club soccer, unless your kid is not really chasing a starting spot on a top team. The kids don't care who has $ or not; they only know who can play and who can't play.

              Are there families spending $ on club soccer simply because they can afford it (i.e., not necessarily "chasing the dream" of college/professional, whatever...)? Of course. It's their prerogative due to their disposable income. I'd love to hear a REAL WORLD, FAIR, non-SOCIALIST method for giving economically disadvantaged families access to club soccer. I haven't heard one yet.
              It existed before Club soccer, it was called scholastic sports. Then in the late 1970's parents started to hijack Youth sports , especially soccer. It was on simmer for quite some time, before a market was recognized and approached . In the early and mid 1990's , " Premier" started and the writing was on the wall. The rest is history.

              Comment


                #22
                It used to be 'keeping up with the joneses" and now it has become " buy your way past them"
                Kids used to just play soccer, now for a "nominal" fee you can enroll your child in a program with the "best soccer opportunities"
                If junior doesn't get picked for a clubs first team it is most likely due to terrible evaluators, bad coaching or a focus on the "wrong " attributes. Fear not, for a fee you can get junior on another (better) clubs first team that recognizes your childs "special" talents. And don't worry about working hard to make a team, there are over 100 clubs will to accept your check, I mean player.
                The whole system is so *** backwards. Meanwhile, as I prepare to drive well out of my way to bring junior to practice, the poor kids that are just knocking the ball around on a crappy field are better at soccer than my kid anyways.

                Comment


                  #23
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  Costco pays its employees $15 an hour on average compared to just under $10 for Walmart. Despite this higher payroll their profit as a % of sales beats Walmart, as does their profit per S.F. and sales per S.F. which are the key metrics for retail. Furthermore their annual turnover is under 6% compared to 25%. Anybody who has spent time as a business person and is halfway competent understands that turnover is a profit killer.

                  Now go into a Costco and compare the prices to Sam's club. Pretty much the same.

                  I am assuming that you are a small business owner. I have several friends who are. One complains continously about taxes and the cost of employees. This guy owns a half dozen rolexs, a boat, a condo in Florida and driver a Mercedes (top o the line), he's also an NRA gun nut who burns about $500 a week in ammo - in other words a typical Republican A-hole..... Pays his employees minimum wage and a small commission and whines constantly about the commission.

                  What you are failing to understand is the high cost of the hidden tax that business impose on governments in terms of uncompensated medical care, food stamps, WIC, and other costs that taxpayers fund because corporations pay low wages and offer meager benefits. Fewer than 50% of Walmart employees have health insurance compared to over 90% for Costco. In many states Walmart employees represent the #1 beneficiaries of free medical care (most of which is paid back by the state to the FOR PROFT hospitals.

                  Is any of this sinking in. All your Repuclican friends in Congress have consistently voted against raising the minimum wage while voting themselves pay increases. If the Republicans had their way the minimum wage would still be $3.60 an hour.
                  And of course, the Democrats voted against those same raises, right?

                  Comment


                    #24
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    It existed before Club soccer, it was called scholastic sports. Then in the late 1970's parents started to hijack Youth sports , especially soccer. It was on simmer for quite some time, before a market was recognized and approached . In the early and mid 1990's , " Premier" started and the writing was on the wall. The rest is history.
                    It's not just soccer. It's all youth sports.

                    Comment


                      #25
                      And some moron had to go and inject partisan politics...

                      Government is NOT the answer.

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                        And some moron had to go and inject partisan politics...

                        Government is NOT the answer.
                        So you'd rather have Walmart running our highway system? Please. Government exists because the alternative is anarchy. Imagine if the Teaparty had it's way? Bunch of doddering old fools who clog supermarket aisles and drive Buicks with their directionals on for 50 miles.

                        Comment


                          #27
                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          So you'd rather have Walmart running our highway system? Please. Government exists because the alternative is anarchy. Imagine if the Teaparty had it's way? Bunch of doddering old fools who clog supermarket aisles and drive Buicks with their directionals on for 50 miles.
                          yes - the great society has been such a great thing for poor people of all colors. from the NYT no less - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/op...1&ref=opinion&

                          Moms and dads fear that if kids learn to read, they are less likely to qualify for a monthly check for having an intellectual disability.
                          ntipoverty programs also discourage marriage: In a means-tested program like S.S.I., a woman raising a child may receive a bigger check if she refrains from marrying that hard-working guy she likes. Yet marriage is one of the best forces to blunt poverty. In married couple households only one child in 10 grows up in poverty, while almost half do in single-mother households.

                          Most wrenching of all are the parents who think it’s best if a child stays illiterate, because then the family may be able to claim a disability check each month.

                          You liberals live in bizaro world. Too bad you are bringing down the country for the rest of us.

                          Comment


                            #28
                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            So you'd rather have Walmart running our highway system? Please. Government exists because the alternative is anarchy. Imagine if the Teaparty had it's way? Bunch of doddering old fools who clog supermarket aisles and drive Buicks with their directionals on for 50 miles.
                            What an idiotic inference on your part - to take a discussion about social matters, which was the context in which my comment was made, and turn it in the direction of infrastructure. And even then, being so dismissive with the reference that "Walmart" be the poster child of the private sector.

                            But your example is particularly funny since as much as the state run their share of the interstates, who's drives the speed limit these days and just how much is government taking exception to any of it? That'd be no one and none.

                            Comment


                              #29
                              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                              And of course, the Democrats voted against those same raises, right?
                              You mean the semi Socilaist party that occupis the White House? By the time they are done, this country will be so broke that club soccer will be the last thing anyone is talking about.

                              Comment


                                #30
                                It is incredibly disheartening to come on here and see the rampant stupidity and thinly veiled hatred of so many posters.

                                Are their people scamming disability? Sure.

                                Are there kids who are screwed by age 2 or 3 or earlier because they already are in foster homes, and/or were born addicted to some drug, and/or were severely neglected and/or physically/sexually abused? Yes, in thousands and thousands.

                                To suggest that these problems are caused by being liberal is to present a gross carcicature of what it means to be liberal.

                                Do you really think you have a more sophisticated and fine-grained understanding of social problems than folks like Obama? Do you truly, truly believe that someone like McConnell from Kentucky, wedded to tobacco and 1950s social beliefs, has a more sophisticated understanding than Obama?

                                If our social problems were simple we wouldn't have them.

                                The thinking expressed here is no different than what I saw in the all of the comments posted with an online article about a monkey at an IKEA in Canada....joke after joke about Obama and Obama's kids being the monkey or the monkey's cousin or whatever.

                                It is really easy to think you know something when you are sitting in your barcolounger watching you 65 inch 1080 HD TV feeling like a bigshot who is being aggrieved by that black dude in the President's office. Puffed up masculinity and puffed up pseudo-intelligence that have the density of cotton candy.

                                Comment

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