........What would you do if you could start soccer over????
To do a reset, first we need to identify the reason for all of current state of fair to exists.
A) Club soccer caters to parents that wanted higher competition for their players than AYSO
B) DA/ECNL exists for identifying national team player pool
C) Rec leagues provides community based constructive youth sportsmanship development for those participate
So, lets agree on the fact that over 90% of club players are just okay. Some better than others but not truly national team or professional caliber, including those on DA roster for the most part. Also, the same population of players/parents are seeking college student athlete opportunity. Unfortunately, only handful of kids from top tier teams make it to the college level. All the others stop playing at that point or play college club or intermural soccer.
When a kid is 10 yrs old, there are many, many options of outcome possible. As the kid ages, options narrow, based on his/her playing abilities, skills and genetic lottery. By the time the kid is on the other side of puberty, options have narrowed to a few. Many kids have stopped playing by this time and found other interests or simply that life happens to them. Parents adjust to each situation and make best of it.
Now think about what club soccer has done through the years? Has facilitated keeping the options open and engaged the kids through adult supervised, organized team sports that cost thousands. Many parents put the kids in club soccer/sports just to keep them busy and out of trouble. Along the way, they hope that the kid picks up teamwork ethics and sportsmanship to be a successful adult.
All the clubs know this and they use soccer as a mean to generate revenue for their own organizations. Its a service you are buying. It may feel like its sports that you are participating and paying fees for but in reality, you are paying for the use of the field, lights, coaches salary, administrative costs of the club and their management. The difference is that at AYSO, most of the administrative and management positions are volunteers and the cities provide heavily discounted fee structure of field and lights use for their own citizens.
All the "passion" generated around kids sports by parents/adults are because we like to believe our own kids are the top 10% or better, and that somehow its all going to workout so that the kid becomes a national team or professional player. Or at a minimum, scholarship earning college student. Because of this belief, the parents pay and pay and pay to clubs, trainers, and alike.
If we could reinvent youth soccer, my view would look something like:
1) Take away all of "not for profit" designation from all clubs. Its business with lots of retained earnings.
2) Make USSF not operate their own league (DA) which enables clubs to be the gate keepers that ultimately is a conflict of interest
3) Have regional national team pool tryouts for USSF throughout the country for ID purposes (they used to have this until DA started at younger ages). Players can come from anywhere and not have to be on a DA club.
4) Expand and foster rec league (AYSO) to have a larger presence in youth soccer and let clubs charge as private services (sort of like public schools and private school). The 90% of the players will have great experiences and probably love the game more.
5) Let college scouting happen like all other sports - through high schools and showcases, and not just at DA playoffs/showcase
One of my buddy's kid is on Team USA for baseball and is being recruited by multiple MLB teams. He has committed to D1 college and has a choice to make if he is drafted this year. The whisper is that the kid is 2nd~3rd rounder today. The parents did not do anything extraordinary for the kid. Just a talented kid. He played travel ball and competed in AAU tournaments throughout his youth. The baseball scouting network must be more effective at the grassroots level than soccer so:
6) Establish network of scouts that do not coach for any club but are affiliated to USSF and/or MLS organizations throughout the country and have them attend both AYSO and high school games. Obviously, they would be there for the regional national team pool ID events.
Some of you know this from my other posts. I'll be done with club soccer in couple of months as our youngest graduates from HS and will be off to college. After 15 years in club soccer (and several years in travel ball clubs), between two kids, I have seen many crazy things that club soccer scene goes through. My older kid played DA, CSL Premier, Gold, SE, SCDSL Flight 1, NPL and currently plays in college. My younger played SCDSL Flight 3, 2, 1, NPL. Both kids played AYSO initially and so I have a pretty good sense of what each level is like and how parents behaves at those levels. My sense of reboot is based on my experience....was lot longer than I intended, sorry about that!