Cost of Mass Clubs

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So by that logic the people on Dance Moms are normal because they are only in it for their personal entertainment? Don't think so.

[Unregistered]

So by that logic the people on Dance Moms are normal because they are only in it for their personal entertainment? Don't think so.

A happy customer is not the same as a normal customer!

I just think most can find a situation that suits their needs. It is consumer driven and there are there are many choices. If the only way to make some happy is a complete system over haul, they are probably out of luck, but that is likely a minority of customers.

[Unregistered]

So by that logic the people on Dance Moms are normal because they are only in it for their personal entertainment? Don't think so.

Ha! Dance moms. They make soccer parents look comatose in comparison.

[Unregistered]

I agree as well, however the pay-to-play model prohibits many from participating. I'm on our town soccer board, which is very reasonable priced, yet we have requests for scholarship there as well. Some truly talented players will get discovered and given scholarships, etc. but many will not.

Go watch town soccer. There isn't much talent there. Any true talent is easily identified and clubs will gladly pay the way for those kids. There is no untapped wealth of diamonds in the rough somewhere. My kids have played for excellent teams with scholarship athletes. All but one disappeared because they didn't feel they needed to come to practice. Talent without commitment is wasted.

[Unregistered]

Go watch town soccer. There isn't much talent there. Any true talent is easily identified and clubs will gladly pay the way for those kids. There is no untapped wealth of diamonds in the rough somewhere. My kids have played for excellent teams with scholarship athletes. All but one disappeared because they didn't feel they needed to come to practice. Talent without commitment is wasted.

First comment is hyperbole and I'm not sure how it's even relevant the point. The vast majority of kids playing club are playing town through U12 and into U14. Otherwise I agree, clubs are plenty willing to grant aid to talent they're impressed with based on financial need. I think people would actually be surprised how many don't pay full price, but clubs certainly aren't active in making those IDs and extending those invitations to play for free or a steep discount.

[Unregistered]

I have heard that a large percentage of the kids that earn scholarships are children who would not even qualify for financial aid as their families are in solid financial shape? Anyone able to corroborate this?

If true, than pay-to-play is working for those families. However, since many scholarships are partial, may still be spending more BEFORE college than what you save with the scholarship.

Hopefully, if you are among the 99% who do not get a scholarship, you feel that what you are paying is worth it.

My daughter only plays town and enjoys it. My son enjoys town, but prefers the much better training and level-of-play of his club. He (and his parents) also enjoy the many different ethnic backgrounds represented by his club teammates and their parents, something he does not see in our homogeneous suburb. He likes playing in the regional league that takes him out of state and I really enjoy the roadtrips with him. For $1500 a year, plus some travel expenses we might spend anyway, it seems worth it.

He says he wants to play in college, but knows the odds. We are not going to do all of the ODP/ Summer camps/ personal trainers that have been mentioned. Academics will come first in high school. If in college he only plays club, or even intramurals, I hope it is somewhere that his parents can occasionally see a game since we have become big fans of the sport and will miss seeing the kids play.

[Unregistered]

Town soccer is where most people go to play for the heck of it. All people like you are doing is running up the cost because you never say no whenever these clubs put their hands out.

My kid is 10. Get a grip.

Noone knows at 10 if their kid will play HS or college. And if you say or think you know, you're an idiot living vicariously through your kid.

[Unregistered]

I have heard that a large percentage of the kids that earn scholarships are children who would not even qualify for financial aid as their families are in solid financial shape? Anyone able to corroborate this?

If true, than pay-to-play is working for those families. However, since many scholarships are partial, may still be spending more BEFORE college than what you save with the scholarship.

Hopefully, if you are among the 99% who do not get a scholarship, you feel that what you are paying is worth it.

My daughter only plays town and enjoys it. My son enjoys town, but prefers the much better training and level-of-play of his club. He (and his parents) also enjoy the many different ethnic backgrounds represented by his club teammates and their parents, something he does not see in our homogeneous suburb. He likes playing in the regional league that takes him out of state and I really enjoy the roadtrips with him. For $1500 a year, plus some travel expenses we might spend anyway, it seems worth it.

He says he wants to play in college, but knows the odds. We are not going to do all of the ODP/ Summer camps/ personal trainers that have been mentioned. Academics will come first in high school. If in college he only plays club, or even intramurals, I hope it is somewhere that his parents can occasionally see a game since we have become big fans of the sport and will miss seeing the kids play.

A realistic parent actually exists on TS!!!

[Unregistered]

My kid is 10. Get a grip.

Noone knows at 10 if their kid will play HS or college. And if you say or think you know, you're an idiot living vicariously through your kid.

If they can tell whether a kid is going to be schizophrenic at 11 you certainly should be able to tell whether your kid is a potential high school player. Not that hard actually. At 10 you basically take the little phenoms who are obviously into playing soccer and there you go. They might not be superstars in high school or go on to play in college but you can be sure that 99% of them will be on a high school roster.

[Unregistered]

A realistic parent actually exists on TS!!!

What is realistic about their attitude? Does the fact that the set the bar so low somehow impress you? The sad thing is that type of attitude is actually polluting club soccer because those that hold it functionally dumb everything down just so their kids can get their little soccer fix in. The kids who want more from soccer keep trying to run away from those types but their parents keep tagging them along and writing bigger checks so the clubs will take them too. They are the reason why the clubs keep selling all of these new and different elite programs and all of the costs have sky rocketed.

[Unregistered]

My kid is 10. Get a grip.

Noone knows at 10 if their kid will play HS or college. And if you say or think you know, you're an idiot living vicariously through your kid.

Not true. When my kids were 10, they were playing up an age group and among the best players in their club. It was clear then that the only way they wouldn't be playing in HS would be if they either lost interest (possible) or encountered some kind of major injury (also possible). Now they're off to play in college, just like we figured they would. We weren't living vicariously through our kids - we just have enough experience in the game and youth sports to know what we were looking at.

[Unregistered]

I have heard that a large percentage of the kids that earn scholarships are children who would not even qualify for financial aid as their families are in solid financial shape? Anyone able to corroborate this?

If true, than pay-to-play is working for those families. However, since many scholarships are partial, may still be spending more BEFORE college than what you save with the scholarship.

Hopefully, if you are among the 99% who do not get a scholarship, you feel that what you are paying is worth it.

My daughter only plays town and enjoys it. My son enjoys town, but prefers the much better training and level-of-play of his club. He (and his parents) also enjoy the many different ethnic backgrounds represented by his club teammates and their parents, something he does not see in our homogeneous suburb. He likes playing in the regional league that takes him out of state and I really enjoy the roadtrips with him. For $1500 a year, plus some travel expenses we might spend anyway, it seems worth it.

He says he wants to play in college, but knows the odds. We are not going to do all of the ODP/ Summer camps/ personal trainers that have been mentioned. Academics will come first in high school. If in college he only plays club, or even intramurals, I hope it is somewhere that his parents can occasionally see a game since we have become big fans of the sport and will miss seeing the kids play.

If you are paying what it really costs for club soccer these days there is a very good chance you won't be qualifying for financial aid either. It doesn't take much to knock you out qualifying for it. An AGI above $150K will do it. A person that qualifies for a big chunk of financial aid probably isn't a club soccer person though. Figure they take a third out for taxes so what is left isn't all that big a number. Spending 5-10% on what some of you are saying is just a hobby has to pinch. Doubt many sane people in that situation are going to do that.

Most club soccer families can write those soccer checks, the number that has gotten seriously out of whack is the college tuition one. That is the number that you should be afraid of. I have a college senior and we get nothing for financial aid. I'm not complaining but when we first started looking at her college when she was a junior in high school the total cost was around $48K. This year it is just shy of $60K. Thankfully I only have 1 more check to write then I'm done. Tells me though that if you have child with a couple years left before they even get to high school that you'll all be paying close to $80K by the time your kids gets to where they are going and by the time they both finish your number will be closer to $95-100K. Ouch, that has gotta sting. You have two kids. By the time they are done you are talking about dropping close to $700-800K for college educations.

I dropped just about $200K and felt the pinch. I couldn't imagine looking at your number. If you can write your checks without flinching, what you drop on club soccer isn't going to even register. I doubt though that you represent the vast majority of club soccer parents however.

[Unregistered]

If you are paying what it really costs for club soccer these days there is a very good chance you won't be qualifying for financial aid either. It doesn't take much to knock you out qualifying for it. An AGI above $150K will do it. A person that qualifies for a big chunk of financial aid probably isn't a club soccer person though. Figure they take a third out for taxes so what is left isn't all that big a number. Spending 5-10% on what some of you are saying is just a hobby has to pinch. Doubt many sane people in that situation are going to do that.

Most club soccer families can write those soccer checks, the number that has gotten seriously out of whack is the college tuition one. That is the number that you should be afraid of. I have a college senior and we get nothing for financial aid. I'm not complaining but when we first started looking at her college when she was a junior in high school the total cost was around $48K. This year it is just shy of $60K. Thankfully I only have 1 more check to write then I'm done. Tells me though that if you have child with a couple years left before they even get to high school that you'll all be paying close to $80K by the time your kids gets to where they are going and by the time they both finish your number will be closer to $95-100K. Ouch, that has gotta sting. You have two kids. By the time they are done you are talking about dropping close to $700-800K for college educations.

I dropped just about $200K and felt the pinch. I couldn't imagine looking at your number. If you can write your checks without flinching, what you drop on club soccer isn't going to even register. I doubt though that you represent the vast majority of club soccer parents however.

This is not the norm! You got taken

[Unregistered]

What is realistic about their attitude? Does the fact that the set the bar so low somehow impress you? The sad thing is that type of attitude is actually polluting club soccer because those that hold it functionally dumb everything down just so their kids can get their little soccer fix in. The kids who want more from soccer keep trying to run away from those types but their parents keep tagging them along and writing bigger checks so the clubs will take them too. They are the reason why the clubs keep selling all of these new and different elite programs and all of the costs have sky rocketed.

I think the post above doesn't consider the long term growth of the sport.

In response to the detailed excellent earlier post on the costs – thank you.

From that, cost to develop an elite player: USYS USCS, U14 and up -$600/game. This is a real number.

I’d be interested to know $ to develop an elite player in South America or Europe?

The parent who is paying that cost/game is at an elite compensation level themselves and they are grooming their child to follow some elite path. For most the path will be peripheral to playing the game itself and they have earned their ‘bye’ in don’t begrudge it.

These parents (and no disrespect so correct me if I’m wrong) did not play it in the landscape that has evolved in the last 10-15 years and this pay to play model will evolve to find those players who are gifted and carry them from obscurity to the top of the pyramid.

The $600 or even $50/game parents are paying for the club and independent sports complexes and often spearheading the construction of HS turf fields that did not exist before. These $600/game parents are developing excellence in coaching & training at the top and their money is building the infrastructure for which tomorrow’s elite will emerge. Praise their kid’s success for love the game and be patient, things will be very different for the next generation and those kids are our grandchildren.

[Unregistered]

I think the post above doesn't consider the long term growth of the sport.

In response to the detailed excellent earlier post on the costs – thank you.

From that, cost to develop an elite player: USYS USCS, U14 and up -$600/game. This is a real number.

I’d be interested to know $ to develop an elite player in South America or Europe?

The parent who is paying that cost/game is at an elite compensation level themselves and they are grooming their child to follow some elite path. For most the path will be peripheral to playing the game itself and they have earned their ‘bye’ in don’t begrudge it.

These parents (and no disrespect so correct me if I’m wrong) did not play it in the landscape that has evolved in the last 10-15 years and this pay to play model will evolve to find those players who are gifted and carry them from obscurity to the top of the pyramid.

The $600 or even $50/game parents are paying for the club and independent sports complexes and often spearheading the construction of HS turf fields that did not exist before. These $600/game parents are developing excellence in coaching & training at the top and their money is building the infrastructure for which tomorrow’s elite will emerge. Praise their kid’s success for love the game and be patient, things will be very different for the next generation and those kids are our grandchildren.

Tomorrows elite soccer players are going to need a job like everybody else. So much about this post bothers me. The same thing is going on in my district. Parents got a fund together to build a 3 million dollar turf field at the high school but a technology center that would have cost a fraction of the cost was shot down. What is of greater value to our kids..a solid tech education or a nice football field? It is no question the tech education but there is an inane focus on athletics in my district. In 10 years the kids will not remember or care if they played on turf or grass but they will out of luck in the job market without solid tech skills.