Does cost of club soccer really matter?

[Unregistered]

If so what would be your breaking point. I will start $3k

[Unregistered]

And here we go again. Unreal.

[Unregistered]

If so what would be your breaking point. I will start $3k

I wouldn't call it breaking point. It is more like Idiot point.
Leagues don't cost that much . Most Coaches are not even licensed to a point that they should get paid.
Only a handful of coaches have developed anything worth mentioning . Maybe we have a higher incidence of stupidity in Massachusetts.

[Unregistered]

And here we go again. Unreal.

Op asked for a breaking point. I don't remember this topic thread running on TS. It's not what costs are and what they include etc...

[Unregistered]

If so what would be your breaking point. I will start $3k

I don't get why GPS is double the cost of most other soccer clubs

[Unregistered]

Really a poorly framed question.

What are you really trying to answer? There are only so many clubs and the cost ranges are not that wide - so is there a different question you're trying to answer?

[beentheredonethat]

I wouldn't call it breaking point. It is more like Idiot point.
Leagues don't cost that much . Most Coaches are not even licensed to a point that they should get paid.
Only a handful of coaches have developed anything worth mentioning . Maybe we have a higher incidence of stupidity in Massachusetts.

Every family has their own breaking point where they realize that the juice just aint worth the squeeze but that point is going to differ from family to family and my experience as told me that will be based largely upon what they see as their child's upside with soccer.

[Unregistered]

Every family has their own breaking point where they realize that the juice just aint worth the squeeze but that point is going to differ from family to family and my experience as told me that will be based largely upon what they see as their child's upside with soccer.

I agree with this view 100%. What would you say would have been your break point btdt when your daughter was 10-12 yrs old ?

[Unregistered]

Every family has their own breaking point where they realize that the juice just aint worth the squeeze but that point is going to differ from family to family and my experience as told me that will be based largely upon what they see as their child's upside with soccer.

Ever try to give anyone else a nudge that their juice wasn't worth their squeeze?

[Unregistered]

Every family has their own breaking point where they realize that the juice just aint worth the squeeze but that point is going to differ from family to family and my experience as told me that will be based largely upon what they see as their child's upside with soccer.

Is anyone else tired of this metaphor? Can we vote him off the island?

[Unregistered]

My viewpoint has changed my kid was a ulittle rockstar. We resisted the temptation to go "all in" and do the top club far away drive 2 or 3 times as much travel all over the country which could end up costing over 5k. Now he is a solid u13 and I view myself as what I use to chuckle at. I'm paying because my kid likes it, he plays with good buddies he's created over years without any expectations of soccer beyond next year let alone after high school.

4 years ago I couldn't understand why someone would pay so much and drive so much for the reasons I do it now. Now I can't understand why anyone would do it for any long term expectations especially going all in with travel expenses etc. even if money is no issue its tough for my kid to get all his stuff in even without travel,50 minute commute etc

[Unregistered]

If so what would be your breaking point. I will start $3k

Here are some rough numbers -- youngest kid-- D1 potential age U5 - U18 -- always played top teams, changed clubs a few times after so so coaching at older age ( like teachers, hard to find a good fit. ) fees + travel cost and every thing from a to z (balls, uniforms, cleats, memorabilia, food, fun, etc. = $36000.00 + stuff I didn't add the first 4 years. oldest kid age U5 - U18 always played 2nd team. only 2 clubs. $18,000.00 same items as youngest. Oldest played for Brandies, went their for the education - only D3 & a few D2 offers, School of choice was solicited....Youngest just signed with Williams - handful of D1 , unsolicited and few solicited. Both got merit or what ever scholarship monies school could come up with. Just go with priceless, and there will be no breaking point.

[Unregistered]

I agree with this view 100%. What would you say would have been your break point btdt when your daughter was 10-12 yrs old ?

Depends upon the kid. With the youngest, at 10-12 I was being told that she was the best young GK they had ever seen. She made the U13 regional pool at 12 which gave those opinions some weight so there was every reason to be optimistic with her. With my middle one, it was obvious from the beginning that sports were just a social outlet for her so it was easy to just do the recreational path with her. She was happy with that. My oldest was a real soccer rat and at 10-12 I was still figuring youth sports out. Probably was a bit overly optimistic with her but not as much as one might think because the environment was so different back then. We didn't leave the state for a game until she was a U13, and New England until she was a U14. During the bulk of her youth career we basically only did tournaments in Region 1 and pretty much all of the expense for her was accumulated during an 18 month period between her U15 and U16 years. Back then I estimated that I spent roughly $30K on soccer for her but with hindsight I could have easily cut that at least in half, if not more, and not changed the outcome one bit. Obviously costs have exploded since then but what I have since learned with the youngest is that the amount of optimism a parent should have is directly proportional to the amount of free opportunities you get offered. In today's environment, if your child has talent you start hearing it from other clubs pretty early on and the discussions invariably jumps to discounts and then once you get to certain levels you don't pay for anything so I would use that as a gauge establishing a guideline that the amount of optimism should be inversely related to the cost you are expected to pay.

--beentheredonethat

[Unregistered]

One correction. It was an 18 month period during the U16-17 years.
One addendum. Oldest was on scholarship for 1 yr at a very very low level D1. When she walked away we were already in the black in terms of paying for all her youth soccer.

--beentheredonethat

[Unregistered]

Here are some rough numbers -- youngest kid-- D1 potential age U5 - U18 -- always played top teams, changed clubs a few times after so so coaching at older age ( like teachers, hard to find a good fit. ) fees + travel cost and every thing from a to z (balls, uniforms, cleats, memorabilia, food, fun, etc. = $36000.00 + stuff I didn't add the first 4 years. oldest kid age U5 - U18 always played 2nd team. only 2 clubs. $18,000.00 same items as youngest. Oldest played for Brandies, went their for the education - only D3 & a few D2 offers, School of choice was solicited....Youngest just signed with Williams - handful of D1 , unsolicited and few solicited. Both got merit or what ever scholarship monies school could come up with. Just go with priceless, and there will be no breaking point.

Brandeis plays some of the best looking ball in any division