# Poor kids are being no priced out of youth sports- A solution ?



## Vin (Oct 30, 2016)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/an-incredible-impact-poor-kids-are-being-priced-out-of-youth-sports-heres-one-solution/2016/10/27/027fb7a0-97ce-11e6-bb29-bf2701dbe0a3_story.html?postshare=201477877007579&tid=ss_tw


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## soccerobserver (Oct 31, 2016)

Very interesting research. Thanks for posting!


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## younothat (Oct 31, 2016)

"Waiving fees at the city level addresses only one of the barriers that keep poor children from signing up to play soccer or baseball"

Transportation is a crucial issue, with many single parents juggling multiple jobs and multiple children who need to be in multiple places. Also, Gaithersburg is somewhat atypical in organizing leagues. Many cities and counties have exited youth sports, an arena now largely controlled by independent leagues that charge hundreds of dollars in fees, either for recreational programs or more expensive travel teams"

"Last year, nearly 70 percent of children from families making more than $100,000 played team sports, according to Project Play, an initiative on youth sports from the nonprofit Aspen Institute. That figure is nearly cut in half for families making less than $25,000.

And the greatest irony, experts say, is this: A youth sports culture that places an immense emphasis on winning — mostly cultivated by parents — is leaving some of the best athletes and potential teammates behind.

They can’t afford to swing $300 bats or lace up $250 hockey skates, and fewer are able to compete for college scholarships. In 1993, 12.6 percent of scholarship athletes came from families making $100,000 or more, according to an analysis of NCAA statistics. By 2008, that number doubled.

“It’s extremely frustrating, and it’s also extremely unfair,” said Diego Uriburu, executive director of Identity Inc., a Gaithersburg nonprofit group that helps Latino youth and their families in high-poverty areas. “These young people have natural athletic talent, and they are not getting to work on it. They don’t have the best coaches. They are excluded because they can’t afford it.”

Corporate sponsors are good at some niche funding or getting  fields built, equipment  donated but they have to have a profit motivation to do more.  The illusion of running young sports clubs as non-profit's gives a false sense that fees are being used to better the community when they only serve a small fraction of people who can afford to pay anyway. 

Some will say the cost of the infrastructure (fields, transportation, parking, etc) is so great that we just can't  have affordable youth sports for the masses.   But the truth is we have a lot of  infrastructure that is owned and locked up by the (govt, schools, parks, etc) and they don't share, cooperate or even make the facilities accessible or affordable to anything but a local league if at all if you have connections,


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## Mystery Train (Oct 31, 2016)

This quote right here: "But city officials say they are weighing those downsides against a growing body of research that says participation in youth sports improves physical and mental health, lowers crime and teen pregnancy rates, and increases college enrollment. "

Same thing with arts and music education.  As a society, we love to bitch and moan about how bad things are, but as a whole, we rarely have the fortitude to invest in things that have already proven to make conditions better.


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## socalkdg (Oct 31, 2016)

That is why organizations like NJB or AYSO are needed.   For about $110 you can get practice, games, a uniform and a place to play for a 3 month season.  At the beginning of when I started coaching AYSO I was a bit short sighted on expecting the kids to have a ball, be at every practice, etc.   It clicked that some of these kids came from difficult situations and that providing extra balls, extra shin guards, having multiple practice times that gave the kids a chance to show up at least once a week were needed.   Combine that with the ease to practice by yourself make basketball and soccer two great sports for everyone.


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## charlie murphy (Nov 1, 2016)

I know that the kids who got the most funding to play ( read did not pay) on my kids' teams were also the kids that showed up with the 200$ shoes. Those were also the families that could not pay 5 $ in ref fees. The value on winning was not that of the paying parents but the coach who every year had each paying parent "pay just a little more " so we could have a full rooster.


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## Sheriff Joe (Nov 1, 2016)

charlie murphy said:


> I know that the kids who got the most funding to play ( read did not pay) on my kids' teams were also the kids that showed up with the 200$ shoes. Those were also the families that could not pay 5 $ in ref fees. The value on winning was not that of the paying parents but the coach who every year had each paying parent "pay just a little more " so we could have a full rooster.


I don't want to pay for anyone to play soccer but my kid.
The poor kids that are referred to and their families almost always all have cell phones and Mercurial superflies.
They could scrape up $100.00  for REC if they wanted to.


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## Desert619 (Nov 6, 2016)

charlie murphy said:


> I know that the kids who got the most funding to play ( read did not pay) on my kids' teams were also the kids that showed up with the 200$ shoes. Those were also the families that could not pay 5 $ in ref fees. The value on winning was not that of the paying parents but the coach who every year had each paying parent "pay just a little more " so we could have a full rooster.



I remember there was a mother who jumped from team to team with her son because her demands were simple, "He plays for free". So she was always looking for whoever would give him a scholarship.  Her reason was she has 5 kids and can't afford it. However they all traveled to all the games and showed up with Starbucks and always ate out in-between games. Not to mention they never participated in any team fundraising. I never paid attention and didn't even know any of this until The manager told me. That was when I made the decision to never accept financial assistance from a soccer club because people notice everything.


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## wildcat66 (Nov 7, 2016)

Poor kids? How about middle class kids?  Why does my kid need 3 kits, all with different shorts, socks, jerseys ? $80+ each...don't know how I managed to play in a regular shirt with my team logo on front and and a # on the back...total about $30 for my entire wardrobe.  Pay  to play tournaments where the hotel rooms cost 250 a night with a 3 night minimum....2 grand for team fees plus fundraisers mandatory...matching backpack, hoodie, etc etc....will be poor soon


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## LASTMAN14 (Nov 7, 2016)

Thought this was a good read.

http://www.latimes.com/local/great-reads/la-me-c1-soccer-girl-20141015-story.html


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