Youth soccer declining because its to expensive

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And the moves by the USSF that you think killed soccer?

Not the poster. I don't think any one thing is the reason for declines but it's a combination of the age change, costs out of control (as well as travel) as well as continued frustration with poor quality coaching. Any one thing isn't fatal but it is a body blow in combination

[Unregistered]

My son is playing U8 rec. He is a young 7-year-old in second grade, so most of the kids on his team are in first grade. He doesn’t see his friends from his class, but so far that isn’t an issue. He enjoys playing and is making new friends. The bigger problem I hear while at soccer from parents (mostly moms) are their concerns about playing travel soccer. I have been coaching high-level travel level soccer for 20 plus years, and when they ask me why it’s necessary for 9U players to travel and hour or more to play a 60min game I really can’t give them an honest answer. I don't really think we need to travel far to get games when the kids are young, but it's what my club does. I am an older parent, but this younger generation of parents don’t seem to want to invest the time into travel sports. My guess is that this generation of younger parents are products of well-planned activities by their parents and didn’t have much free time as kids. Maybe they want that free time now..

This latest generation of parents are the dreaded millennials. They earn less then their parents did and are more in debt, and were handed most everything growing up, so they have an entitlement mentality... which extends to their time and convenience. They don't have the time or money to travel an hour to watch their 8yo kid play soccer, or they just don't want to.

As to why the kids need to travel, they don't. NEP, especially at the younger ages, have everything broken down into regions and competitive levels. There is no need to travel more than 30 minutes for a game, but more importantly, where and how often are practices? It is the training that is most important at those younger ages... getting touches, good technical instruction while still keeping it fun.

By travel, I assume you mean premier or club soccer. If you are talking "competitive" town travel, it isn't worth the time. Most travel coaches are clueless as to how to develop kids and think because someone said "competitive", it means winning at U9/10 is important...