Youth soccer declining because its to expensive

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Poster said cut the useless nonsense travel not the coaches.

Easy to do if there were local teams that could compete.

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Easy to do if there were local teams that could compete.

Lol. I can guess how u earn ur living.

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Easy to do if there were local teams that could compete.

Which was easy to do not that long ago, less than a decade. Faced with increased competition for players local teams started not wanting to play local competitors (god forbid they lost) and at the same time everyone wanted a piece of pie - viola a league for everyone! When my now college frosh started playing premier at U11 it wasn't hard at all to get great games with the state's top teams. The only real travel was for two out of state tourneys. Within a few years it was totally different.

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Which was easy to do not that long ago, less than a decade. Faced with increased competition for players local teams started not wanting to play local competitors (god forbid they lost) and at the same time everyone wanted a piece of pie - viola a league for everyone! When my now college frosh started playing premier at U11 it wasn't hard at all to get great games with the state's top teams. The only real travel was for two out of state tourneys. Within a few years it was totally different.

And the jig is very much up. One advantage of the launch of yet another super deluxe soccer league is that the situation is totally exposed for all to see.

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And the jig is very much up. One advantage of the launch of yet another super deluxe soccer league is that the situation is totally exposed for all to see.

Yes unfortunately the horse is out of the barn. The only to coral it back in is if the declines in numbers force some consolidation of clubs and leagues. But for now there's enough cash in the system to keep owners happy

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Back to the original subject.

All sports are declining. And non-sports too (such as Boy Scouts). Personally I blame this primarily on the professionalization of youth sports, though there are number of other factors.

Simply put, by convincing parents that they had to spend thousands of dollars a year for their U-Little's to play a game, you drive away players. It isn't just a straight cost issue as much as it in effects drives away the late bloomer from the game.

Once-strong intramural programs get decimated as the early developers go straight to travel. So parents of late bloomers or the parents who are taking a more casual interest in the game have a choice of putting their kids in a high level program that they aren't ready for or a weakened low level program that offers little opportunity for development. There is no middle ground so more people are walking away at a young age rather than dealing with those two bad choices.

[Unregistered]

Back to the original subject.

All sports are declining. And non-sports too (such as Boy Scouts). Personally I blame this primarily on the professionalization of youth sports, though there are number of other factors.

Simply put, by convincing parents that they had to spend thousands of dollars a year for their U-Little's to play a game, you drive away players. It isn't just a straight cost issue as much as it in effects drives away the late bloomer from the game.

Once-strong intramural programs get decimated as the early developers go straight to travel. So parents of late bloomers or the parents who are taking a more casual interest in the game have a choice of putting their kids in a high level program that they aren't ready for or a weakened low level program that offers little opportunity for development. There is no middle ground so more people are walking away at a young age rather than dealing with those two bad choices.

There's also a strong mentality that "you must be playing at a top level or why bother." Not enough kids are doing sports or other things for FUN. It costs too much, they get teased for playing "rec" as well as their "main" activity requiring a 4-5 day commitment, leaving them little time to do anything else.

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Ahhh remember those days. Playing sports for fun. You are right. Shame that is a thing of days bygone. Wiffle ball, dodge ball and frisbee were for fun not as a pro (which they are now).

[Unregistered]

Back to the original subject.

All sports are declining. And non-sports too (such as Boy Scouts). Personally I blame this primarily on the professionalization of youth sports, though there are number of other factors.

Simply put, by convincing parents that they had to spend thousands of dollars a year for their U-Little's to play a game, you drive away players. It isn't just a straight cost issue as much as it in effects drives away the late bloomer from the game.

Once-strong intramural programs get decimated as the early developers go straight to travel. So parents of late bloomers or the parents who are taking a more casual interest in the game have a choice of putting their kids in a high level program that they aren't ready for or a weakened low level program that offers little opportunity for development. There is no middle ground so more people are walking away at a young age rather than dealing with those two bad choices.

I wish we walked away at a young age.

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I wish we walked away at a young age.

US Soccer should step in and fix the youth model

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US Soccer should step in and fix the youth model

The real simple fix is for USSF to refuse to sanction any league, tournaments or club that has travel divisions younger than U10.

A much harder fix, but one that would have great benefit, would be to force the merger of US Club and USYSA and have a unified top to bottom league structure with the following provisions.

1) No national league. If you are really playing at that level join a DA program.

2) One regional league per region. Having a half dozen "premier" leagues available in the same geographic area only results in further travel distances, not better competition. Limit this to team vs team (club vs club is counter-productive) with multiple divisions per age group with promotion/relegation.

3) One local league per local area. Again, having multiple local leagues, especially with them using different passes, results in massive instability.

4) Force clubs to commit to a single local league and a single regional league.

[Unregistered]

The real simple fix is for USSF to refuse to sanction any league, tournaments or club that has travel divisions younger than U10.

A much harder fix, but one that would have great benefit, would be to force the merger of US Club and USYSA and have a unified top to bottom league structure with the following provisions.

1) No national league. If you are really playing at that level join a DA program.

2) One regional league per region. Having a half dozen "premier" leagues available in the same geographic area only results in further travel distances, not better competition. Limit this to team vs team (club vs club is counter-productive) with multiple divisions per age group with promotion/relegation.

3) One local league per local area. Again, having multiple local leagues, especially with them using different passes, results in massive instability.

4) Force clubs to commit to a single local league and a single regional league.

If only we could have this but we can't. Our soccer is driven by market forces and if someone wants to hang out a shingle for their elite league, club, and team, and they can get the customers, they are in business. Youth sports is a BILLION dollar a year industry.

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What we need is an actual pyramid, one system, promotion and relegation. Right now we have a trapezoid with parallel and perpendicular dividing lines. In other words, a cluster fuk that few can even decipher let alone get to work.

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The statistics show that the kids dropping out of soccer are playing baseball, basketball and bicycling. Maybe they prefer to do other sports.

It's not like the MLS or NWSL has big draws these days. In the 80's, everyone was playing basketball because of guys like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, spanning from the east to west coast. The MLS certainly does not have that effect today. It's a weak league compared to the rest of the world. As far as the NWSL, while the NT may still be on top it's a step down from the Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers years.

Stats can be misinterpreted.

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The statistics show that the kids dropping out of soccer are playing baseball, basketball and bicycling. Maybe they prefer to do other sports.

It's not like the MLS or NWSL has big draws these days. In the 80's, everyone was playing basketball because of guys like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, spanning from the east to west coast. The MLS certainly does not have that effect today. It's a weak league compared to the rest of the world. As far as the NWSL, while the NT may still be on top it's a step down from the Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers years.

Stats can be misinterpreted.

Maybe that's because bicycling didn't impose a ridiculous & mandate that kids can only bicycle with & against kids born in the same birth year, rather than their classmates. Baseball tried the birth year thing a few years ago & saw a similar drop in participation. They quickly reversed course & the USSF should do the same.