Not enough tried out for Thorns to post U15/U17 selections???

[Unregistered]

Tell your neighborhood club to make it free so you don't have to worry about making the ECNL NWSL Portland Thorns Academy. Hustle, Hustle and use your little muscle, tiny.

How in the heck do you think you can tell someone to make it free. Coaches need to be paid, field space is not free.

[Unregistered]

For girls, the only time I would recommend the TA is if it were free like they have hinted at. It's a good enough program but I wouldn't probably spend any money on it. But if it is free, then I would consider it.

Yeah it’s not great but if the make thorns free I’ll pack my kids up and be right over. I want it in writing first. Not paying a dime.

[Unregistered]

I don't care about none of that. I just know that if it's free my kids are doing weather they like it or not.

Yessir. I vote for free too.

[Unregistered]

What’s all this free talk? That would save a lot of money if true.

[Unregistered]

What’s all this free talk? That would save a lot of money if true.

Timbers Academy is free for boys.

Thorns Academy is not free and not subsidized. It's a fully pay-to-play model (to the tune of $7200+ per year for ECNL), just like all the other clubs in town. Go where your kid enjoys her team and coach and ignore all the rest. It's irrelevant.

[Unregistered]

Timbers Academy is free for boys.

Thorns Academy is not free and not subsidized. It's a fully pay-to-play model (to the tune of $7200+ per year for ECNL), just like all the other clubs in town. Go where your kid enjoys her team and coach and ignore all the rest. It's irrelevant.

Wrong.

No fee to train at providence park (subsidized)
Over $200K annually injected into the program by the NWSL Thorns(subsidy)

These are real dollars being spent by the pro club not to mention the facetime with the pro players & pro coaches year round.

No local neighborhood club that is in a travel league has a $200,000 donor or sponsor to help the kids. They don't get 'free field usage' they pay through the nose for fields.

Like someone else said the Thorns Academy pretty much resembles women's college soccer aid, it's partial for all involved. Which is more than any local club will ever do for the girls.

[Unregistered]

Wrong.

No fee to train at providence park (subsidized)
Over $200K annually injected into the program by the NWSL Thorns(subsidy)

These are real dollars being spent by the pro club not to mention the facetime with the pro players & pro coaches year round.

No local neighborhood club that is in a travel league has a $200,000 donor or sponsor to help the kids. They don't get 'free field usage' they pay through the nose for fields.

Like someone else said the Thorns Academy pretty much resembles women's college soccer aid, it's partial for all involved. Which is more than any local club will ever do for the girls.

To put it another way... it is subsidized, but a) not enough to cover all the costs, and b) receiving a fraction of the subsidy that the boys do.

Some enterprising reporter should shove a mic in Merritt Paulsen's face and ask why he pays millions of dollars for his boys' academy, but a pittance for the girls? We know the answer (men's soccer makes more money), but this is wokelandia.

(He might be also asked why the TA stinks compared to other MLS academies, including those of smaller-market teams like RSL--the club which happens to have on its roster the best local player of recent vintage, by a long shot. The answer to is $$$; Daddy Paulsen didn't apparently loot enough from the US Treasury to fund the TA to an adequate level, and the drunks in the 107 don't buy enough beer).

Now that I've offended just about everyone...

[Unregistered]

Wrong.

No fee to train at providence park (subsidized)
Over $200K annually injected into the program by the NWSL Thorns(subsidy)

These are real dollars being spent by the pro club not to mention the facetime with the pro players & pro coaches year round.

No local neighborhood club that is in a travel league has a $200,000 donor or sponsor to help the kids. They don't get 'free field usage' they pay through the nose for fields.

Like someone else said the Thorns Academy pretty much resembles women's college soccer aid, it's partial for all involved. Which is more than any local club will ever do for the girls.

If you are getting $200k subsidized (and please do share the breakdown on where this magical $200k is being spent), then how come it costs MORE to participate in Thorns Academy than other local ECNL clubs??? You have a fancy name and uniforms. Beyond that Thorns is nothing more than EVERY OTHER CLUB IN TOWN. Pay to play.

[Unregistered]

If you are getting $200k subsidized (and please do share the breakdown on where this magical $200k is being spent), then how come it costs MORE to participate in Thorns Academy than other local ECNL clubs??? You have a fancy name and uniforms. Beyond that Thorns is nothing more than EVERY OTHER CLUB IN TOWN. Pay to play.

Is this $200k cash, being used to pay coaches or other tangible expenses, or is it the declared cost of allowing the team to train in Prov Park?

Sound like a Trumpian tax dodge to me... "donate" $200k worth of field time, branding, and other intangibles to a nonprofit youth club, and then deduct it from the old 1040. Bet MP learned that from the old man...

[Unregistered]

If they are subsidizing why is it more expensive than anywhere else? Are you trying to credit an implied cost of using providence park?

Seems like numbers being tossed around with no back up.

[Unregistered]

If you cost free cost for girls to zero, I’ll pack my kiddos up and be there right away! I got two girls. And they aren’t half bad.

But if it’s not free, no way I’m dodging traffic downtown.

[Unregistered]

What in the world are they spending money on? Why is it so expensive?

[Unregistered]

$200k from Thorns? Meanwhile, don’t the thorns pro players all need to work 2nd jobs because the pay is not good? This doesn’t make sense.

[Unregistered]

Over $200K annually injected into the program by the NWSL Thorns(subsidy)

I call 100% BS on this. They are claiming they are donating $200k in providence park playing time, when it would otherwise sit vacant. This is laughable and the parents that believe this is a subsidy are idiots. You are paying more than other local clubs. Admit it and move on.

If you like the team and coach and your kid enjoys it, great. But please don't make this out to be something that it's not.

Thorns have a handful of decent teams, just like all of the other decent clubs around. No one is dominating anything in this watered down landscape. Thorns have nothing special, unless you are swayed (i.e., blinded) by the fame and flashiness of the proximity to the Thorns and a few "free" $22 seats in the nosebleeds that would otherwise go unsold. Oh, and the luster of training at Providence Park wears off after the 3rd or 4th session. Kids are no longer impressed once they've done it a few times. Been there, done that.

[Unregistered]

Whatever happened to “all coaches are A or B licensed” boast on the website? It quietly changed to “C license or higher”. A couple of their teams have C license coaches now. Not that licensure is everything, but generally speaking, you can tell a difference between an A license and a C. C are a dime a dozen and, if you’re lucky, are okay.