# What would it cost....



## timbuck (Jul 18, 2016)

to fully fund all youth soccer in the US?
Stats say there are 3-4 million kids playing soccer in the US.
Soccer is growing at a decent clip from a participant and fan standpoint.  As mentioned in another thread, advertisers are clamoring for anything on TV that doesn't get skipped by your DVR.  Live sports is about the only thing these days on TV that fits this description.
Why hasn't Bank of America, Nike, McDonalds, CocaCola, ESPN, American Airlines, Budweiser, ETC plunked down the big bucks to get involved at the grass roots level?
Think about it -  Grow a sport to between the NBA and NFL in popularity.  More fans to market your wares too.  For a broadcast company this seems like a no-brainer.  Fox is sponsoring AYSO, but that seems like a crappy deal for AYSO and decent deal for Fox..  AYSO fees haven't been cut because of it.  I'm not sure what value this brings to AYSO players.  I have watched lots of FS1 to catch soccer games lately.  Good for Fox for investing.

Here is what I mean by "fully funded"-
1.  Pay Coaches- $40k per year for U12 and up.  To earn this $40k, you must also coach 1 or 2 teams below U12 for no additional costs.  Coaches are free to offer privates, clinics and camps and get paid market rates.  Thanks Bank of America, CocaCola and McDonalds for the $$
2.  Cover field costs for 2 -3 practices per week and 1 game per week.  Thanks TruGreen or Scots for the field sponsorship.
3.  Cover uniform costs.  2 jerseys, 1 pair of socks,  1 pair of shorts.  Practice uniforms, backpacks, etc are up to the individual club or player to handle on their own.  Thanks Nike or Adidas for the sponsorship.  
4.  Cover entry for 2 local tournaments.  MLS clubs will pay theses costs.
5. Cover travel for players only and 1 coach only for 1 travel tournament (Thanks American Airlines and Marriott).  Parents pay for themselves.

Broadcast several events per year on television (think LL World Series).


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## coachsamy (Jul 18, 2016)

Tim,

Great points, and they are great in theory but here is the sad reality of youth soccer and that's just a business wrap inside the non-profit status. I have spoken with a few marketing directors and they are very skeptical about dishing out large amount of cash to youth soccer as they don't see the value in it. (I have gotten a few thousands in scholarship money from sponsors) An example which it might not have a lot of value to a lot of people here is Chevrolet. They pay an unholy amount of money to put their logo in the ManU jersey with the bailout money and they are skeptical on putting money into MLS which is the local economy.

Then you look at these clubs that have an sponsor on their jerseys and their registration fees keeps going up and AYSO as you mention is one of those. Where is that money going? Why is like that? Easy club directors know parents are chasing the pot at the end of the rainbow and will continue to pay top dollar to accomplish that, hence there is no need to stop another form of revenue.


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## Eusebio (Jul 18, 2016)

Obviously full-funded development won't happen on a large scale across the US. But you'd think there would be more fully-funded "Elite" teams. With the thousands of club soccer teams we have in Southern California from small to large clubs, there are only 3 clubs that provide fully funded elite level teams (LA Galaxy (Actual), TFA, and Golden State). The rest offer limited scholarships on a needs basis.

The sad fact that CoachSamy mentioned is that the vast majority of these clubs are non-profits in name-only. They basically have the same mentality as a for-profit business.  For example, the big clubs in San Diego have expanded their "C", "D", and "E" teams over the years and have various sponsorships/partnerships/affiliations with local businesses.  They have the resources to fully fund their elite teams as well as their grassroots "junior" programs if that was their goal. But there is no incentive to do this. 

All these clubs have their own metrics for performance success. Number of players committed to college, number of regional/national championships, and etc. And right now, those goals can be accomplished by catering to the "Best who can afford it". Most Pay-to-Play DA clubs struggle significantly against fully funded MLS academy teams but the Pay-to-Play clubs aren't trying to develop pro-caliber players, instead just amateur level that can get into college. So fielding DA teams still serves that purpose even if they're at the bottom of the standings with no standout talent.

Once Pay-to-Play clubs actually start competing with MLS academies to develop pro-prospects, then you might gradually see more fully funded teams. Also I think it might take a former professional player from the area who decides to give back to the community and create a fully funded club. It would have some star power and possibly attract even more sponsors. Zardes is from LA and while he has a pretty good contract at LA Galaxy, he's not exactly making the big bucks yet to fully fund a club.  But if Zardes were to ever make 5-10M a year, then he could be in a position to start his own club team. That's what happens all around the world, particularly in Africa, where there might not be enough fully funded professional club teams. And it's helped provide a pathway for talent to get developed regardless if they're rich or poor.


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## timbuck (Jul 18, 2016)

Dang.  Good timing. 
http://goalnation.com/nbc-sports-acquires-youth-sports-technology-company-sport-ngin/

However, I don't see this helping lower costs.  It will probably increase them


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## Sparky9 (Jul 19, 2016)

Digital player cards. Nice.


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## timbuck (Jul 26, 2016)

And Toyota is on board.  Looking forward to those free tournaments from US Youth Soccer sometime soon. Or fee uniforms. 

http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/us_youth_soccer_partners_with_toyota/


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## Technician72 (Jul 28, 2016)

timbuck said:


> to fully fund all youth soccer in the US?
> Stats say there are 3-4 million kids playing soccer in the US.
> Soccer is growing at a decent clip from a participant and fan standpoint.  As mentioned in another thread, advertisers are clamoring for anything on TV that doesn't get skipped by your DVR.  Live sports is about the only thing these days on TV that fits this description.
> Why hasn't Bank of America, Nike, McDonalds, CocaCola, ESPN, American Airlines, Budweiser, ETC plunked down the big bucks to get involved at the grass roots level?
> ...


Was talking about this with my wife yesterday when having a conversation about our nephews who play in local leagues but will never be able to afford to play in perceived "big leagues / clubs".

Turned into a conversation about "Pay to Play". I see kids who get opportunities and "scholarships" but we really don't tap into all the talent we have playing the game because no one is looking in that direction.

Hope to see more funding go towards a sport our kids love to play, now if we could just get a better system to manage this wacky world of youth soccer.


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## mirage (Jul 29, 2016)

timbuck said:


> And Toyota is on board.  Looking forward to those free tournaments from US Youth Soccer sometime soon. Or fee uniforms.
> 
> http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/us_youth_soccer_partners_with_toyota/


Not even close to being "on board".

The article states clearly that all they are doing is having “Let’s Go Play Zone” at National and Regional Championship events. No local engagement.

The only financial benefit is for USYS at the corporate level and its trickle down to regions.  Certainly not to any clubs, much less teams.

Its one of those things that allows Toyota to use it for advertisement and allows them to say they are engaged with youth sports but has not real impact.

Would not consider this action between the two as any step forward example of the subject of this thread.


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## timbuck (Jul 29, 2016)

I was being sarcastic


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## mirage (Jul 29, 2016)

timbuck said:


> I was being sarcastic


Oh good. Didn't get that from your post....


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## younothat (Jul 30, 2016)

Big $$,  half a billion.   Just look at what tiny Iceland has done to make the quarters in the Euros.

Infrastructure investment is the number  #1 need.  There are simply not enough places to train or play.   When fields rent for $60-120 per hour if you can get them you know we have as supply and demand problem and only the organizations with enough $ can afford them.

Adequate and available field space is normally the number #1 expense in club soccer.  Leagues struggle with just getting the schedules out because clubs have more teams than the available field space.   If we don't solve the field space problems and make them more affordable soccer can't gown after a certain point.

Iceland built hundreds of new pitches w/ mostly Govt funds;  the USA needs thousands more.

Education is lacking big time: just look at Iceland as a example;  there have UEFA-qualified coaches for every ~ 500 people and 600 with at least "B" licenses.  The USA pales in comparison.  We have to have incentives for coaches to keep advances their education.   Iceleand requires a "B" after U10 for example, USA not so much.

What's the other big expensive for "club" soccer; paying the coaches and "directors" .  The pay scale is not what it needs to be so many don't even consider coaching.  We need to find a way to better way to reward the coaches who do the right things, give them a path to promotion.   Not many make a career at soccer coaching and have to hold other jobs to live.  Until that changes I don't see the quality of coaching going up much.

Youth soccer business reform:  We all know that youth soccer is really a business disguised as non-profit.   There are a small number of people who do profit and if you look at the tax records of the organizations you will see what's up.  Giving back to the communities are  what non-profits should be doing, I don't see many clubs doing much of that;  outreaches or sponsorship  for less economically fortunate people need to increase.  I'm not talking about couple kids here and there;  how about sponsoring whole teams or programs based in the areas with those that cannot afford to travel so they can play locally.

The corporate sponsorship suggestions are  good taking points;  needs to be economic incentives so products or offering would have to be included in the partnership.  USSDA does this and drinks are available at the games for example.  How about the other leagues or Cal South what can they do to help?

My son has invited to a Gatorade jr. NBA Training Center next week,  the Jr NBA and Nike sponsor the 3 or 3 comp and some training.  He played in the NFL-sponsored football league yet MLS has nothing in comparison.  this needs to change also.

I dunno if they are any ways to completely get rid of pay to play but you could make it more affordable:
$5 each player each training session,  $5 per for the ref for any game, $50 per player for a tournament.  $50 per player league fee, $50 uniform.

Considering avg team practices 2x1.5 = 3 hrs per week  & trains ~ 44 out of the 52 weeks (3 week breaks: winter & summer, holdays, school, etc. ) that only amounts to 132 hours training allotted a year but you don't get that much real work time which is closer to ~ 100 actual hours.   Not counting game time that does not appear to be good enough or a afforable enough for many.


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