2013 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments

[Unregistered]

I had a very interesting conversation with my son recently which you all may or may not find interesting. He has had wonderful soccer experiences and is currently a college player who gets a lot of playtime and is at a phenomenal school. When I told him that I knew it was a tough decision for him to give up his spots at some big soccer schools for the chance to get the education of a life time,but it would all be worth it in the end as MLS players made so little he had an interesting response. What did this very intelligent, focused academic tell me? "You don't understand, Mom. I love this game and given the chance to play in the MLS would play for free." Well, there you have it. If they love the game, they still make the "right" realistic decisions, but don't lose the desire or love for soccer. Whenever he hears about players like Diego, Felix or Will, he always says "Good for them" - and he means it.

Confusing post. Loves the sport that much, but gave up his spots at "big soccer schools<" because his love of academics is even greater? But would still go play MLS for free? And given that your kid feels good for those kids named sounds like he knows they are better players and maybe he was not a fit for a "big soccer school."

[Unregistered]

How much did those 50-75 prepay by doing club soccer simply to get into a college that is over their head with little or no athletic aide to help defray the tuition bill? $50-60,000? At that rate they could have paid for a year of school.

More distortion. Many play club because they love playing soccer and want to be as good as they can be. They would have wanted to play club and enjoyed/benefited from the experience aside from the college issue. That said, given the demographic, there do tend to be a good number of strong, competitive students in the bunch. Some may (at the end of the day) use soccer to get a little bump into a little bit better school, or they may use soccer to help or ensure they get into what would their target schools with or without soccer. And for some, the chance to play soccer at the D3 level even without money to them feels like a perfect scenario, a dream come true.

[Unregistered]

More distortion. Many play club because they love playing soccer and want to be as good as they can be. They would have wanted to play club and enjoyed/benefited from the experience aside from the college issue. That said, given the demographic, there do tend to be a good number of strong, competitive students in the bunch. Some may (at the end of the day) use soccer to get a little bump into a little bit better school, or they may use soccer to help or ensure they get into what would their target schools with or without soccer. And for some, the chance to play soccer at the D3 level even without money to them feels like a perfect scenario, a dream come true.

Good point. If soccer was banned as a college sport, club soccer would continue basically uninterrupted because most participants do it because they like to play. The part about using soccer to get into college is practically a hassle. If it wasn't a necessary evil of how to continue playing after high school, many would be happy to choose their college, and show up at an open tryout and see if they could make the college team. Sure they can opt to do this, but many do not because walk-ons are considered to be at a disadvantage. If the system was that everyone walked on, many kids would happily choose that.

[Unregistered]

Good point. If soccer was banned as a college sport, club soccer would continue basically uninterrupted because most participants do it because they like to play. The part about using soccer to get into college is practically a hassle. If it wasn't a necessary evil of how to continue playing after high school, many would be happy to choose their college, and show up at an open tryout and see if they could make the college team. Sure they can opt to do this, but many do not because walk-ons are considered to be at a disadvantage. If the system was that everyone walked on, many kids would happily choose that.

Seriously?? You would drop $10-15k a year on a kids activity just for the heck of it? I am a big believer in needing passion to be involved with all of this but once we all started dropping serious coin on youth soccer everyone I know that stayed with it made a value judgement. If the passion was not there or the end result wasn't going to justify the effort, most sane people I know dropped out. The way I look at it 99% of the craziness is from the people who have unrealistic expectations from all of this. I would throw having no expectations into that pot as well. That is insane in my book. Not only is all of this expensive, it is an incredible grind as well. As they say, different strokes for different folks. If that is how you want to spend you money that is your prerogative but don't paint yourself as a representative of the majority of parents involved in club soccer. No way.

[Unregistered]

Good point. If soccer was banned as a college sport, club soccer would continue basically uninterrupted because most participants do it because they like to play. The part about using soccer to get into college is practically a hassle. If it wasn't a necessary evil of how to continue playing after high school, many would be happy to choose their college, and show up at an open tryout and see if they could make the college team. Sure they can opt to do this, but many do not because walk-ons are considered to be at a disadvantage. If the system was that everyone walked on, many kids would happily choose that.

When I read statements like this it conjurs up images of Xanadu from Citizen Kane. Most people are a little more in touch with their wallets than this poster.

[Unregistered]

Seriously?? You would drop $10-15k a year on a kids activity just for the heck of it? I am a big believer in needing passion to be involved with all of this but once we all started dropping serious coin on youth soccer everyone I know that stayed with it made a value judgement. If the passion was not there or the end result wasn't going to justify the effort, most sane people I know dropped out. The way I look at it 99% of the craziness is from the people who have unrealistic expectations from all of this. I would throw having no expectations into that pot as well. That is insane in my book. Not only is all of this expensive, it is an incredible grind as well. As they say, different strokes for different folks. If that is how you want to spend you money that is your prerogative but don't paint yourself as a representative of the majority of parents involved in club soccer. No way.

That actually is the majority, the vast majority, especially when you include B and C teams on the bigger clubs and the medium-sized to smaller clubs. Now a majority may start out with at least a hope for some level of D3 soccer, but some are very satisfied if playing club yields solid high school varsity participation. And no, I wouldn't drop $10-15K per year, but I was very comfortable with $1500-$2500 including tournaments/travel. Since 15 or fewer boys make D1 each year, and even less get any significant money athletically, I think your position is the one that makes no sense.

[Unregistered]

When I read statements like this it conjurs up images of Xanadu from Citizen Kane. Most people are a little more in touch with their wallets than this poster.

So what is the alternative position, given that fewer than 10 kids a year are going to get much money, and there are hundreds and probably well over 2000 kids playing club?

[Unregistered]

Seriously?? You would drop $10-15k a year on a kids activity just for the heck of it? I am a big believer in needing passion to be involved with all of this but once we all started dropping serious coin on youth soccer everyone I know that stayed with it made a value judgement. If the passion was not there or the end result wasn't going to justify the effort, most sane people I know dropped out. The way I look at it 99% of the craziness is from the people who have unrealistic expectations from all of this. I would throw having no expectations into that pot as well. That is insane in my book. Not only is all of this expensive, it is an incredible grind as well. As they say, different strokes for different folks. If that is how you want to spend you money that is your prerogative but don't paint yourself as a representative of the majority of parents involved in club soccer. No way.

Your entire argument is flawed by grossly inflating the cost of club soocer. My son plays for the Bolts DAP and I can assure you that we spend no where near $10-$15K per year. All in, including travel, probably around $4500.00. And worth every penny.

[Unregistered]

Your entire argument is flawed by grossly inflating the cost of club soocer. My son plays for the Bolts DAP and I can assure you that we spend no where near $10-$15K per year. All in, including travel, probably around $4500.00. And worth every penny.

The parents who are spending it know differently. I just sent my kid to CASL a couple of weeks ago. That trip alone coast me over $1,100. We have several more trips on the horizon. I grant you that your numbers may be different than mine but don't lose site of the the bigger point that none of this is cheap.

[Unregistered]

These little discussions usually can be boiled down to process vs end goals. Contrary to the poster tweaking those who would spend a significant amount of money with no clear end goal or a seriously distorted expectation regarding the end goal (and I think I know who is posting this although somewhat odd for him to be on a boys thread), many are very satisfied to participate for the process of participating. Some of us know that the whole idea of end goals is a myth. We all eventually end up in the exact same place, and if every activity is just a means to another end goal, then no activities actually have any value in and of themselves. In other words, you don't need to be in line for a D1 scholarship to justify participation in club soccer. And as just one example, there are many kids whose lives are substantially enhanced by playing D3 soccer "for free."

[Unregistered]

These little discussions usually can be boiled down to process vs end goals. Contrary to the poster tweaking those who would spend a significant amount of money with no clear end goal or a seriously distorted expectation regarding the end goal (and I think I know who is posting this although somewhat odd for him to be on a boys thread), many are very satisfied to participate for the process of participating. Some of us know that the whole idea of end goals is a myth. We all eventually end up in the exact same place, and if every activity is just a means to another end goal, then no activities actually have any value in and of themselves. In other words, you don't need to be in line for a D1 scholarship to justify participation in club soccer. And as just one example, there are many kids whose lives are substantially enhanced by playing D3 soccer "for free."

On target. One of the things I will never forget about all of the tournament trips is the opportunity to spend a lot of time with my son one-on-one on the drives. Good talking, amazing for a tennager. Many of my friends whose kids do not play such sports do not/will not have that opportunity. I am near the end of this journey with kid going to college soon (and still loves soccer), and I can agree that the "process" has been somehting we will remember well. We learned early from one of my other kid's coaches how crazy it is to focus the whole time on the endgame of college $. He asked us to look around the room at all of the kids on their very top notch U12 team, which we all of course thought was filled with superstars, and said it would be likely that only one kid here will end up even at D1, let alone with scholarship, and half the kids would not be playing by U16. We were SHOCKED, but he was right.

[Unregistered]

Well the endgame in prior years did not include giving up HS soccer so things have changed...

[Unregistered]

Well the endgame in prior years did not include giving up HS soccer so things have changed...

Oh, and here we go again...

[Unregistered]

There is clearly a subset of this discussion that trivalizes the amount of money being spent on youth soccer so it is quite logical that any discussion about expectations is apt to be seen as foolish by them. Either they have more money than most and the amount they spend on soccer is insignificant to them or they really are not at the level of soccer where they are called upon to spend the huge amounts others are spending. In either case they simply are not concerned about the cost/benefit analysis most families eventually have to confront. Let's be clear about the costs though. They are not trivial. Here are some ball park estimates

Club fee: $2,000
Team fund: $500
Uniforms: $85 ($250 every 3 years)
Cleats: $300 (3 pairs per year)
Misc training gear: $50 (shirts, shorts etc)

Gas & Tolls for practices: $2,500 (3 per week @ 60 miles rt for 26 weeks)
Gas & Tolls for local games: $1,500 (1 per week @ 100 miles rt for 26 weeks)

Out of state tournaments driveable (2) - Gas & Tolls: $600 (2 @ 600 miles rt)
Out of state tournaments airfare (2): $1,500 (2 @ $350 per seat rt)
Out of state tournaments car rental: $300 (2 @ $150 per weekend)
Out of state tournaments hotel: $1,200 (8 nights @ $150 per night)
Out of state tournaments meals: $1,200 (12 days @ $75 per day X 2)

This budget projects a rather modest amount of tournament travel and still comes out to almost $12,000.

If you have a player who has aspirations of playing at high in college you need to add in money for private coaching. Most of these players will have a private skill coach and a physical trainer. Generall you will pay $50 per session to each. Most players will train 3x per week with the physical trainer and 1 with the skill trainer. Figure that schedule for 6 months. That adds $7,200 to the total. So now we are up to $19,000.

If the player is involved with ODP the base fee is $1,500 and you need to figure in the Rider Cup trip which after all is said and done will add roughly about $900 in travel costs to the budget. So for just an average player with college aspirations you can easily be up over $21,000.

If the player is an above average player that makes it into the regional pool or above, the cost jumps up even more. The regional pool training sessions run about $350 per pop without travel. There is usually 5 of those along the way. Travel is variable with this. Some families go, some don't so the number is widely variable. At the very least you have the transportation cost of getting the player to the camp and that will run about $250 per. The Inter Regionals in Boca will cost another $350 with another $500 in flights (Thanksgiving travel costs). If the player gets invited on one of the international trips those coast around $2,000. After all is said and done, a top level player's family could easily be spending upwards of $30,000 for all of this. Not so trivial.

[Unregistered]

If you have a player who has aspirations of playing at high in college you need to add in money for private coaching. Most of these players will have a private skill coach and a physical trainer. Generall you will pay $50 per session to each. Most players will train 3x per week with the physical trainer and 1 with the skill trainer. Figure that schedule for 6 months. That adds $7,200 to the total. So now we are up to $19,000.
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This is ridiculous. My son plays at a competitive D1 school and I've never even heard of anybody doing this.