College Scholarships

[Unregistered]

Yes that one is bad at the highest levels - and colleges are cutting gymnastics teams, so good luck. Hockey is the worst with all the pricey gear and ice time + travel. AAU isn't the bargain it used to be but they get tons of sponsors and have scholarship programs - like a lot of them, not tokens. A basketball phenom will probably hook a private school scholarship and get noticed that way. Football isn't really club driven and hasn't gone whole hog all year like other sports are now, and again a kid with great stats can get college looks. So can track and swimming because the stats are what they are. "Elite" soccer is definitely vying for a spot at the top. If you're a boy that can make an MLS squad? Fantastic. Girls and all the rest need to break out the checkbooks.

Football does has various "club" leagues like PopWarner, etc. Can be pricey too. Football like AAU gets sponsors (btw...aau is not exclusive for basketball..baseball, softball, volleyball, track, tennis). Amateur Athletic Union.
High level youth sports can be pricey.

[Unregistered]

Football does has various "club" leagues like PopWarner, etc. Can be pricey too. Football like AAU gets sponsors (btw...aau is not exclusive for basketball..baseball, softball, volleyball, track, tennis). Amateur Athletic Union.
High level youth sports can be pricey.

Yes but as you and the poster alluded to many clubs and teams get sponsors and fundraise to keep costs down. few soccer clubs seem to go that route. With football, basketball and baseball being so popular for decades you can find some good parent coaches, parents who played in college etc. Soccer imports so called professional coaches and the parents don't have a clue what's good and bad coaching.

Travel is the real budget buster. Club fees are one thing but travel can double your costs. Does all this travel for youth sports really improve our athletes?

[Unregistered]

Yes but as you and the poster alluded to many clubs and teams get sponsors and fundraise to keep costs down. few soccer clubs seem to go that route. With football, basketball and baseball being so popular for decades you can find some good parent coaches, parents who played in college etc. Soccer imports so called professional coaches and the parents don't have a clue what's good and bad coaching.

Travel is the real budget buster. Club fees are one thing but travel can double your costs. Does all this travel for youth sports really improve our athletes?

Kids only improve and get better on the field, not in the car or in the hotel.

[Unregistered]

Kids only improve and get better on the field, not in the car or in the hotel.

👍. Think about how many soccer families from the area are passing one another coming and going over state lines. It wasn't like this when my older one started club 10 years ago. Back then a state championship meant something too.

[Unregistered]

Yes but as you and the poster alluded to many clubs and teams get sponsors and fundraise to keep costs down. few soccer clubs seem to go that route. With football, basketball and baseball being so popular for decades you can find some good parent coaches, parents who played in college etc. Soccer imports so called professional coaches and the parents don't have a clue what's good and bad coaching.

Travel is the real budget buster. Club fees are one thing but travel can double your costs. Does all this travel for youth sports really improve our athletes?

Travel prior to the prime recruiting ages is mostly unnecessary in my opinion. But once kids need to be seen by college coaches, travel becomes pretty important, and in order to be prepared to perform well in these situations it's helpful to have done at least a little bit of travel. We found that the travel for recruiting for basketball and field hockey were just as onerous and expensive as it was for soccer, although the basketball travel was much more compressed.

[Unregistered]

👍. Think about how many soccer families from the area are passing one another coming and going over state lines. It wasn't like this when my older one started club 10 years ago. Back then a state championship meant something too.

And what's the end goal? HS soccer glory? A chance for a 10k soccer scholarship/part time job at a D2 school? 15k scholarship/full time job at D1 school. All the while those monies could be had with academic merit money or financial need money in many situations. But playing a college sport is a nice topic for the fire pit talk.

[Unregistered]

And what's the end goal? HS soccer glory? A chance for a 10k soccer scholarship/part time job at a D2 school? 15k scholarship/full time job at D1 school. All the while those monies could be had with academic merit money or financial need money in many situations. But playing a college sport is a nice topic for the fire pit talk.

All sports face this issue right now. Parents are desperate for ways to pay for unaffordable college, or have a hook to get into a more highly competitive university. Youth sports clubs leagues play into it. Now the elite leagues and clubs try to hook families even earlier with "pre-academy" bullsh**, make a you a long termer.

Many families will be very disappointed in the end. If more knew in 8th grade where it was all going, many would drop out or at least dial it back to more local and affordable options.

[Unregistered]

And what's the end goal? HS soccer glory? A chance for a 10k soccer scholarship/part time job at a D2 school? 15k scholarship/full time job at D1 school. All the while those monies could be had with academic merit money or financial need money in many situations. But playing a college sport is a nice topic for the fire pit talk.

It’s impossible to explain pure competitiveness to a person like you.

[Unregistered]

It’s impossible to explain pure competitiveness to a person like you.

Not the poster and absolutely that drives some players but not all, not even close.

[Unregistered]

This is why the college admissions scandal was such a big deal. They pretended to be high level athletes. They could afford the costs. Their kids could not get in without pretending to be a high level athlete and having someone either take or fix their SAT scores; not a dancer; not a musician; not a debater; etc. Athlete.

[Unregistered]

It’s impossible to explain pure competitiveness to a person like you.

Its funny for you to call it PURE competitiveness.

[Unregistered]

This is why the college admissions scandal was such a big deal. They pretended to be high level athletes. They could afford the costs. Their kids could not get in without pretending to be a high level athlete and having someone either take or fix their SAT scores; not a dancer; not a musician; not a debater; etc. Athlete.

Says a lot that you could "pretend"

[Unregistered]

Says a lot that you could "pretend"

Exactly. Says a lot about the pull athletic depts and some college coaches have in the admission process.

[Unregistered]

Says a lot that you could "pretend"

Because besides academics; nothing else opens doors for college like sports. This is why youth sports are so lucrative as a business.

[Unregistered]

Its funny for you to call it PURE competitiveness.

What? Competitiveness is an addiction. You have it or you don't. And the truly competitive are competitive in everything. They can't turn it off.