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If participation is down why do clubs seem to be growing?

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    #16
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    The club should be facilitating the trapped 8th graders and trapped seniors. Can't be the only group of 8th graders in the club unless it is a very small club (in which case, you get what you pay for and probably should look to a bigger club). My kid's club has multiple teams in most ages and so trapped players will combine for the Fall and play club while 9th graders play HS, then go back to their respective teams when HS is done.

    Having said all that, it sucks. Grade-based worked better and I absolutely believe soccer participating is down because of the BY change. The disruption to teams initially was fairly significant and now the trapped players get screwed more often than not.

    FWIW, US Soccer doesn't care as they only care about DA and National team prospects. Grassroots soccer in this country is a joke in part because US Soccer is incompetent.
    What club goes your kid play for? The heavy hitters in this state do not form teams for the 8th graders. Perhaps some mid tiers do. Problem is, if a high level player, you cannot be playing for another club.

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      #17
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      What club goes your kid play for? The heavy hitters in this state do not form teams for the 8th graders. Perhaps some mid tiers do. Problem is, if a high level player, you cannot be playing for another club.
      My kid plays ECNL now, but back when she was an 8th grader, she was with GPS and played on a combined team with other trapped 8th graders for the Fall in NEP. Not sure how DA/ECNL handled it, but with rosters of 20+ and multiple levels of teams, I'm sure they have enough players to make it work and ensure players who are stuck have a team for the Fall.

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        #18
        US Soccer's strategy was if we make the haystack smaller it'll be easier to find the needles

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          #19
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          US Soccer's strategy was if we make the haystack smaller it'll be easier to find the needles
          Completely ass-backwards approach to growing the sport and improving the culture around the sport. So yes, completely on-brand for US Soccer.

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            #20
            It I hard to understand. They would seem to have thousands of ready made fans with all the high school players alone. But instead of making these girls feel admired, or accomplished or supported in their pursuit of the sport, us soccer snubs them big time and describes then as lesser and unworthy and poor examples of soccer players. Not exactly a great recipe for attracting admiring fans. It comes across as so snobby and obnoxious.

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              #21
              I dont understand why they don't search high and low to find a great high school player to promote as well as others from other affordable options. That would give young girls a real person to emulate instead to only seeing those that can afford super expensive gda type soccer with all that travel succeed in the sport. How is this growing the sport and making it feel inclusive and attractive? The opposite is happening

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                #22
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                It I hard to understand. They would seem to have thousands of ready made fans with all the high school players alone. But instead of making these girls feel admired, or accomplished or supported in their pursuit of the sport, us soccer snubs them big time and describes then as lesser and unworthy and poor examples of soccer players. Not exactly a great recipe for attracting admiring fans. It comes across as so snobby and obnoxious.
                Do they ever go out and talk to players and families about any of this?

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                  #23
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  Do they ever go out and talk to players and families about any of this?
                  Maybe they only want the wealthy kids who can afford to pay to play soccer 24/7... The GDA is looking for unicorns and it takes a lot of time and money to develop unicorns.

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                    #24
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    Do they ever go out and talk to players and families about any of this?
                    Their version of market research is their bank balance.

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                      #25
                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      Maybe they only want the wealthy kids who can afford to pay to play soccer 24/7... The GDA is looking for unicorns and it takes a lot of time and money to develop unicorns.
                      Ok. You hear lots of whining and crying about women's soccer league not having enough ticket sales. Try not insulting the majority of players in the country that access soccer though school sports if you want fans for your sport.

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                        #26
                        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                        Ok. You hear lots of whining and crying about women's soccer league not having enough ticket sales. Try not insulting the majority of players in the country that access soccer though school sports if you want fans for your sport.
                        They're doing a great job disenfranchising players and families. Costs keep going up, travel gets worse, the age change mess, a lot of shady clubs operating. No wonder participation is down. Not every 11 year old will keep playing through HS let alone into adulthood. But when they/their families leave discouraged they're much less likely to remain fans of the sport.

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                          #27
                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          They're doing a great job disenfranchising players and families. Costs keep going up, travel gets worse, the age change mess, a lot of shady clubs operating. No wonder participation is down. Not every 11 year old will keep playing through HS let alone into adulthood. But when they/their families leave discouraged they're much less likely to remain fans of the sport.
                          I think they are fans of the sport but are not fans of us soccer. The majority of players are not flying around on planes to soccer tournaments. Most can afford it through school sports and they love it. But they don't love it when us soccer tells them they suck.

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                            #28
                            Is there any other sport quite like soccer where the participation is as high as it is, but the kids playing the sport couldn't care less about it in terms of being a typical fan, watching it on TV or go to watch it in person (college or pro)? This has always struck me as a major problem and US Soccer is so out to lunch on dealing with it.

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                              #29
                              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                              Is there any other sport quite like soccer where the participation is as high as it is, but the kids playing the sport couldn't care less about it in terms of being a typical fan, watching it on TV or go to watch it in person (college or pro)? This has always struck me as a major problem and US Soccer is so out to lunch on dealing with it.
                              Agreed. I watch a lot on tv, however the MLS is so bad and the USM team the other day vs Costa Rica was not even watchable. No passion, no drive, no fervor - they are so lazy.

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                                #30
                                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                                Is there any other sport quite like soccer where the participation is as high as it is, but the kids playing the sport couldn't care less about it in terms of being a typical fan, watching it on TV or go to watch it in person (college or pro)? This has always struck me as a major problem and US Soccer is so out to lunch on dealing with it.
                                Yeah, hockey, track and field, lacrosse, volleyball, softball...

                                When you talk about participation, those millions of players include really young kids who are more into Disney than watching adult sports. Even older kids are too busy with activities, including soccer, and homework to spend time watching games on TV or live. And there is the programming itself; very little soccer is televised at all and when it is, it’s not at a convenient time for kids to watch (late on a school night or on Saturdays when they are having their own games, etc.) A huge % of youth soccer players are girls who really want to see women play, but NWSL and USWNT games are rarely televised. Frankly, adults watch soccer and other sports for entertainment, but to ask kids to watch it as education is nonsense. Most kids, even if they are really into soccer, do not have the attention span or interest to learn much from it.

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