Why do you care how much I pay for youth soccer?

[Unregistered]

"Wow!! I really love my Kia!!" said: no one

Looks like we got us a sensitive one 02 or 03 mommy or daddy. I know....the truth hurts :) haha

Must be some Kia lovers out there. That's why some kids stopped playing ECNL at your club and went to "lesser" cars/teams there. Heck....some have even traded in their BMWs and bought Kias. lololol

[Unregistered]

Ummmm...actually a BMW is significantly better than a Kia, today and any other day of the week. You are definitely going to want to fine tune that analogy.

Sadly, your comment also suggests that you have never owned a BMW and so you will be in denial about it no matter what someone tells you.

Please note that I am not talking about soccer here, but honestly, your analogy sucks!

You DA and ECNL parents are so stupid. Let me tell you how it is:

a) I am secretly a millionaire but I chose to drive a Kia, cause I'm cool that way.

b) My child is secretly a really talented soccer player but chooses to hide her talents from the world, because you know...things will just take care of themselves.

[Unregistered]

Set your cash on fire for all I care. Just don't pretend you're thrilled Suzy is getting $8K to play at some crap school.

[Unregistered]

Set your cash on fire for all I care. Just don't pretend you're thrilled Suzy is getting $8K to play at some crap school.

Again with the money...people, this might be hard for some to understand, but it's not always about the money.

[Unregistered]

Again with the money...people, this might be hard for some to understand, but it's not always about the money.

Or to say it another way, it appears for some people they can have their kid play in a high level league OR they can pay for college and if that is the case you should have your kid play FYSA and pay for college.

But for some other people, they're able to swing having their kid play in a high level league AND they can pay for college.

And then for some other people, they're able to swing having their kid play in a high level league AND they can pay for college and if the kid is good enough, they get to play soccer at a high end college.

And if you are "the millionaire next door" and choose to have your kid play FYSA anyway and then not play the game in college that they love - that's your prerogative too!

[Unregistered]

The travel excludes talented players. This system is more like soccer tourism then soccer. No place for players with just talent. They better have money and talent or they won't be playing so called elite soccer with the rich kids

[Unregistered]

The travel excludes talented players. This system is more like soccer tourism then soccer. No place for players with just talent. They better have money and talent or they won't be playing so called elite soccer with the rich kids

Depends on the Club and the age. At our club, the club arranges "player rooms" for kids whose parents can't travel to away games but that only starts at U14 and above. However, the parents still have to pay their share of the room for their kid.

What is even harder some times is to have the talented players with less financial means get rides to practice 3-4 nights a week. That's where the major Metro areas with mass transit have a big advantage (Boston, Chicago, D.C., etc.). The kids from poorer families can ride mass transit to practice.

Florida needs mass transit!

[Unregistered]

The travel excludes talented players. This system is more like soccer tourism then soccer. No place for players with just talent. They better have money and talent or they won't be playing so called elite soccer with the rich kids

That is a good observation. It started a long time ago with ODP. The goal was to target talented players and have them travel a ways to have them play other talented players - to simulate college.

Then each league picked up on that and extended that. And college coaches realized that it was a very cost effective way to scout players (have them pool at a Regional Showcase). Nothing sinister, just a natural evolution.

[Unregistered]

Set your cash on fire for all I care. Just don't pretend you're thrilled Suzy is getting $8K to play at some crap school.

There are schools that award girls $8K to play soocer (some less) but we are familiar with several situations where girls received upwards of $25K per year, with 4 years of funding gaurenteed (not season to season). And yes, the families are thrilled. That said the kid has to be outstanding, athletically and academically.

[Unregistered]

The goal should be to group kids with similar skills and the associated determination together as much as possible. That's how they'll all grow together and improve as a group.

Introduce money into that equation and the whole thing breaks down and none of the kids benefit.

So that's why everyone cares about the ridiculous money grab that soccer has become.