Elite Clubs National League [My $0.02]

[Guest]

I'll take merit over entitlement for $600

[Guest]

What if we as a family just simply enjoy the experience? My daughter loves every second of competing with and against some of the best in the country in the sport that she has come to love. Throw in the added benefit of being able to travel to places she wouldn't normally and compete in some really exciting games and showcases, lined with college coaches that might want her to play for them and that makes me a fan of the program. Of course a similar experience can be had outside of ECNL but we have decided that the cost is the same for other premier teams in our area and we prefer the professionalism of the league and events they put on and do consider it to be the top level. It's where she wants to compete and where we like to watch her compete. I also like that it promotes young female athletes and provides them, in my opinion, the best experience for girls in American youth sports typically focused on boys/men. Am I doing it as an investment for a future college scholarship? Absolutely not. Money would be better spent in a college savings account if that is the goal. We do it for the enjoyment, life experience, family bonding, spending time with friends (adults and kids)...etc. College scholarship, if it happened, would just be icing ...and am I worried about whether ECNL is raising the level of soccer in America or not? Not really. I'm living in the moment with my daughter and my family and enjoying every minute of it. The point is there are many who never even get the chance to show their level of qualifications in games and practices, because they didn't have the advantages to get them to the door in the first place. Do you really think ECNL is open to just everyone?

America has spoken. Woke bitches get out.

[Guest]

America has spoken. Woke bitches get out.

Yay Putin!

[Guest]

Yay Putin!

Yay Iran too?

[Guest]

“Did you know the youth sports economy in the US alone is larger than all revenues flowing through the NFL or any other professional league in the world? Parents alone spend north of $30B minimum annually, by our count.

Now private equity is entering the space. Excellent piece this week by Ira Boudway of Bloomberg News on how an industry famous for squeezing out value claims it will make the youth sports experience better — and maybe more accessible. We’ll see.

My quote in the piece: “Private equity could be the best thing that happened to youth sports. It could also be the worst thing. It’s going to come down to their imagination, intelligence and patience.”

What I mean: youth sports today is largely a Wild West, mom-and-pop run space in which the average age at which kids quit is 11. Youth 6-17 playing organized sports has fallen from 58% in 2016 to 54% in 2022, according to federal data. It’s why Aspen Institute Sports & Society #ProjectPlay recently challenged our network to lift that rate to 63% by 2030, starting with the leading organizations at our national roundtable (63X30).

Will private equity firms bring professional management, program standards, and safety risk mitigation practices that improve the experience and reduce attrition? Could PE develop more high-quality, locally delivered models to engage more kids at a lower price point? Could PE help replace the PE (phys ed) lost in schools?

Or will PE do the easy thing and just try to wring more $$ out of an increasingly smaller pool of families with the income to stay in the youth sports arms race?

My sense is greater returns can be achieved via the former option. But it will take leadership and something of a B Corp mentality — a recognition that when business plays with kids, the interests of the kids need to come first. A youth-centered sport ecosystem for all should be the animating vision, and the goal should be helping the supply of quality experiences meet the demand for them (from kids and parents, 85% of whom want their kid involved in sports). One key will be improving coach quality.

Again, we’ll see. Stay tuned.”