Cal Berkeley Coach (women) abusive

[dk_b]

does the NWSL give health benefits? 401K, Dental, vision, etc. Factor that in and that's another 20k.
Unless you are Marta or another big name player that can secure endorsements it's NOT worth it financially.

IMO if you play pro, it's a 1-2 year career overseas so you can travel and come back to USA.

If my kids are in a position to play pro for a few years after college, I will encourage it. You only get that chance when young and what an experience. My first 4 years after college were (i) year 1: work to save money to travel for a few months, followed by work to save money followed by (ii) years 2, 3 and 4 as a public school teacher (emergency credential while taking night classes for my multi subject) followed by (iii) a summer as a volunteer for the 94 World Cup. Then grad school for 3 years and then my career. My guess is that many of you have similar stories of doing a lot of interesting things that did not pay well but helped frame the person you are today.

Sub those 4 years with a chance to be a pro athlete while my body is young and my mind is open ... seems pretty great. Would I expect one of my kids - daughters (my son is past this phase) - to make a living/career doing this? No. But that’s not the point because those first years can be years for the purpose of trying something or somewhere interesting before setting in for a life path. Would I want them to do that at 15 or 16? No because I think they give up a lot of what the sport can provide (elite athletes already give up a lot of what other kids experience) - helping to get an education (whether because of the scholarship or merely the access to resources), be on a college campus for those critical wonderful heartbreaking in-love-falling intellectually curious years, travel the country and maybe the world while the tab is picked up, make friends from a collective of other young adults in that 18-22 age group (how much is a 15 year old hanging out with a 28 year old pro? Should she be?). Sure, some kids could be pros as teens and get their higher education. But how many minor league baseball players who signed out of HS (i) don’t make the majors (most) and (ii) never go to college (many if not most)?

I acknowledge that other parents and kids may feel differently (though it really is incumbent on us as parents to help kids see a broad view, something that even the smartest most mature 15yo can struggle with (how can they project 10 years out when 10 years back was when they were 5? I mean, I’m 53. 10 yrs out is not that hard because 10 years ago I was 43 and pretty damn grown. Kids don’t have perspective because they can’t)). And this generation of girls may have more financial rewards than the current women and certainly more than in the past (thanks to the hard work by those very women!). But other than for the elite, will the system approximate the men’s system? Where a nice living can be carved out playing 2d division? And what about the many, MANY men who went to elite academies (not talking US) as boys who experience a peak as a 16yo? How many Freddy Adu type players are there playing in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, England, etc? How many just a cut below whom we will never see? Do they have an education to fall back on? Unless the European education system has radically changed since I studied there a million years ago, the answer is “no”.

 

[Soccerfan2]

If my kids are in a position to play pro for a few years after college, I will encourage it. You only get that chance when young and what an experience. My first 4 years after college were (i) year 1: work to save money to travel for a few months, followed by work to save money followed by (ii) years 2, 3 and 4 as a public school teacher (emergency credential while taking night classes for my multi subject) followed by (iii) a summer as a volunteer for the 94 World Cup. Then grad school for 3 years and then my career. My guess is that many of you have similar stories of doing a lot of interesting things that did not pay well but helped frame the person you are today.

Sub those 4 years with a chance to be a pro athlete while my body is young and my mind is open ... seems pretty great. Would I expect one of my kids - daughters (my son is past this phase) - to make a living/career doing this? No. But that’s not the point because those first years can be years for the purpose of trying something or somewhere interesting before setting in for a life path. Would I want them to do that at 15 or 16? No because I think they give up a lot of what the sport can provide (elite athletes already give up a lot of what other kids experience) - helping to get an education (whether because of the scholarship or merely the access to resources), be on a college campus for those critical wonderful heartbreaking in-love-falling intellectually curious years, travel the country and maybe the world while the tab is picked up, make friends from a collective of other young adults in that 18-22 age group (how much is a 15 year old hanging out with a 28 year old pro? Should she be?). Sure, some kids could be pros as teens and get their higher education. But how many minor league baseball players who signed out of HS (i) don’t make the majors (most) and (ii) never go to college (many if not most)?

I acknowledge that other parents and kids may feel differently (though it really is incumbent on us as parents to help kids see a broad view, something that even the smartest most mature 15yo can struggle with (how can they project 10 years out when 10 years back was when they were 5? I mean, I’m 53. 10 yrs out is not that hard because 10 years ago I was 43 and pretty damn grown. Kids don’t have perspective because they can’t)). And this generation of girls may have more financial rewards than the current women and certainly more than in the past (thanks to the hard work by those very women!). But other than for the elite, will the system approximate the men’s system? Where a nice living can be carved out playing 2d division? And what about the many, MANY men who went to elite academies (not talking US) as boys who experience a peak as a 16yo? How many Freddy Adu type players are there playing in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, England, etc? How many just a cut below whom we will never see? Do they have an education to fall back on? Unless the European education system has radically changed since I studied there a million years ago, the answer is “no”.

Great perspective and “after college” are key words!

 

[gotothebushes]

If my kids are in a position to play pro for a few years after college, I will encourage it. You only get that chance when young and what an experience. My first 4 years after college were (i) year 1: work to save money to travel for a few months, followed by work to save money followed by (ii) years 2, 3 and 4 as a public school teacher (emergency credential while taking night classes for my multi subject) followed by (iii) a summer as a volunteer for the 94 World Cup. Then grad school for 3 years and then my career. My guess is that many of you have similar stories of doing a lot of interesting things that did not pay well but helped frame the person you are today.

Sub those 4 years with a chance to be a pro athlete while my body is young and my mind is open ... seems pretty great. Would I expect one of my kids - daughters (my son is past this phase) - to make a living/career doing this? No. But that’s not the point because those first years can be years for the purpose of trying something or somewhere interesting before setting in for a life path. Would I want them to do that at 15 or 16? No because I think they give up a lot of what the sport can provide (elite athletes already give up a lot of what other kids experience) - helping to get an education (whether because of the scholarship or merely the access to resources), be on a college campus for those critical wonderful heartbreaking in-love-falling intellectually curious years, travel the country and maybe the world while the tab is picked up, make friends from a collective of other young adults in that 18-22 age group (how much is a 15 year old hanging out with a 28 year old pro? Should she be?). Sure, some kids could be pros as teens and get their higher education. But how many minor league baseball players who signed out of HS (i) don’t make the majors (most) and (ii) never go to college (many if not most)?

I acknowledge that other parents and kids may feel differently (though it really is incumbent on us as parents to help kids see a broad view, something that even the smartest most mature 15yo can struggle with (how can they project 10 years out when 10 years back was when they were 5? I mean, I’m 53. 10 yrs out is not that hard because 10 years ago I was 43 and pretty damn grown. Kids don’t have perspective because they can’t)). And this generation of girls may have more financial rewards than the current women and certainly more than in the past (thanks to the hard work by those very women!). But other than for the elite, will the system approximate the men’s system? Where a nice living can be carved out playing 2d division? And what about the many, MANY men who went to elite academies (not talking US) as boys who experience a peak as a 16yo? How many Freddy Adu type players are there playing in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, England, etc? How many just a cut below whom we will never see? Do they have an education to fall back on? Unless the European education system has radically changed since I studied there a million years ago, the answer is “no”.

Well said!

 

[Kicker4Life]

If my kids are in a position to play pro for a few years after college, I will encourage it. You only get that chance when young and what an experience. My first 4 years after college were (i) year 1: work to save money to travel for a few months, followed by work to save money followed by (ii) years 2, 3 and 4 as a public school teacher (emergency credential while taking night classes for my multi subject) followed by (iii) a summer as a volunteer for the 94 World Cup. Then grad school for 3 years and then my career. My guess is that many of you have similar stories of doing a lot of interesting things that did not pay well but helped frame the person you are today.

Sub those 4 years with a chance to be a pro athlete while my body is young and my mind is open ... seems pretty great. Would I expect one of my kids - daughters (my son is past this phase) - to make a living/career doing this? No. But that’s not the point because those first years can be years for the purpose of trying something or somewhere interesting before setting in for a life path. Would I want them to do that at 15 or 16? No because I think they give up a lot of what the sport can provide (elite athletes already give up a lot of what other kids experience) - helping to get an education (whether because of the scholarship or merely the access to resources), be on a college campus for those critical wonderful heartbreaking in-love-falling intellectually curious years, travel the country and maybe the world while the tab is picked up, make friends from a collective of other young adults in that 18-22 age group (how much is a 15 year old hanging out with a 28 year old pro? Should she be?). Sure, some kids could be pros as teens and get their higher education. But how many minor league baseball players who signed out of HS (i) don’t make the majors (most) and (ii) never go to college (many if not most)?

I acknowledge that other parents and kids may feel differently (though it really is incumbent on us as parents to help kids see a broad view, something that even the smartest most mature 15yo can struggle with (how can they project 10 years out when 10 years back was when they were 5? I mean, I’m 53. 10 yrs out is not that hard because 10 years ago I was 43 and pretty damn grown. Kids don’t have perspective because they can’t)). And this generation of girls may have more financial rewards than the current women and certainly more than in the past (thanks to the hard work by those very women!). But other than for the elite, will the system approximate the men’s system? Where a nice living can be carved out playing 2d division? And what about the many, MANY men who went to elite academies (not talking US) as boys who experience a peak as a 16yo? How many Freddy Adu type players are there playing in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, England, etc? How many just a cut below whom we will never see? Do they have an education to fall back on? Unless the European education system has radically changed since I studied there a million years ago, the answer is “no”.

100%.....

 

[eastbaysoccer]

Reuters) - Spain's top-flight women footballers have signed their first collective agreement on pay and conditions, breaking an impasse with sporting authorities which led to a strike last November.


The agreement, which was signed on Tuesday but only made public on Wednesday, guarantees Primera Division players a minimum salary of 16,000 euros ($17,264.00) per year as well as paid holiday and maternity leave among other benefits.

 

[eastbaysoccer]

1-2 years overseas and would be an experience.

 

[MMMM]

At what age do you think a special soccer talent can be identified? What qualities should this special player have?

Skills plus Drive can be identified pretty early. I saw it in a small way with my kids — older had the athletic skills, loved to play, but wasn’t obsessed with it the way the younger was. That obsession where the kid chooses to spend free time taking 500 free throws in the driveway or hitting 1000 one-touch ricochets off a wall instead of anything else is essential, in addition to raw talent. Raw talent falls by the wayside *all the time* if that drive isn’t also there. So I’d say by age 10 or 11 you know if a kid has that combo to put him/her in the top 10% of players. Who from the top 10% then goes on to college scholarships/pros/national teams is more of a crapshoot depending on training, injury, money, opportunity, etc.

 

[crush]

If my kids are in a position to play pro for a few years after college, I will encourage it.

If my kid is in a position to play pro before college or in lieu of going to school, I will encourage it. If my dd quits soccer altogether because men are selfish, then I will understand. Share the soccer loot with the woman that you need in order to survive.

And the sad thing is the teams still lose money. At what point do you just say without some sort of subsidy this league folds like a cheap suit. I understand equal opportunity and all but eventually the league has to stand or fall on its own merits.

Womens soccer far from equal

Without Awoman, we have no man, Amen men? Now, mommy raised all these stud boys who are now pro soccer men making all the money. Some men say woman need to stay in da house. Some men say they need to go college. Some men say they need to do this and that. This man says pay the woman who helped all the boys make millions and billions a living wage in soccer. Find the money, trust me someone has way too much and their not sharing with the girls, who we all need to make this planet awesome and growing with more boys & girls

 

[crush]

The women I know that are 1st/2nd year in NWSL need part time jobs. Sometimes living with roommates or host families.

So sad!!!

 

[Soccer43]

But what if your kid was really good and loved playing and agents were contacting her or she was getting invites to the U19 national team - would you say to her "no". Or would you support her dreams and let her gain invaluable life experience. I think the difference is that this very rarely happens in the US, but it happens all over the world because players can start playing professionally at 15 or 16.

I don't care if my daughter starts her 9-5 career at 30 instead of 22.

I fully support any player that wants to play pro. My objection is to the excitement and fervor of discussing the idea of your 12 year old, 13 year old, or 15 year old getting a professional contract and that being the big dream. OM signed a promotional contract a couple years ago and beside that initial influx of cash what is she doing? Before the DA closed up shop she was just playing on a DA team like the rest of players that had more options to choose from for their futures. Does OM have a pro contract overseas? Did she even play on any WPSL teams the past year or two? She is doing the same things she could have done without signing that contract and closing off her options for a more open future. When parents get on this forum and get all serious about going pro at a young age I always go back to the fact that the payout is not even a fraction of professional men's sports. So it is a nice paid hobby to have for a few years. It is not a path that should close out other opportunities.

College is an important experience for a lot of people. It isn't for everyone but if you are interested in learning and growing in that way it creates so many opportunities to experience. It also provides opportunities way down the road that you didn't anticipate when you were 18 years old. The only big money in professional soccer is if you also are on the USWNT roster and have endorsements. There are only a handful of players across the country that meet this criterion. I suspect that even many of those that are on the USWNT roster don't have substantive endorsement deals. I think it is very cool to be able to travel and play soccer while you are paid to do that - that is an amazing experience for a young adult. But think it through all the way till your player is mid-life. What are her goals long term? Where does she see herself when she is 40, 50? That is an impossible question to ask an 18 year old so that is why parents have to be a mature voice or reason to bounce those ideas around. If that is your dream and your player's dream then I am all in support of it - just don't fool yourself or your player about the realities as a female professional athlete. It isn't the same as it is for male athletes and don't try to convince yourself about some fantasy. As a previous poster said above, players in the NWSL "need" part time jobs to make it work financially. Also, about the Youth national team invites - do your research on how many hundreds of players have gotten those invites and how many actually end up on the full team or playing professionally. I know players that have even quit soccer all together that have had those invites and/or gotten full scholarships only to quit the sport because they just lost the interest or drive at a certain point.

 

[crush]

I fully support any player that wants to play pro. My objection is to the excitement and fervor of discussing the idea of your 12 year old, 13 year old, or 15 year old getting a professional contract and that being the big dream. OM signed a promotional contract a couple years ago and beside that initial influx of cash what is she doing? Before the DA closed up shop she was just playing on a DA team like the rest of players that had more options to choose from for their futures. Does OM have a pro contract overseas? Did she even play on any WPSL teams the past year or two? She is doing the same things she could have done without signing that contract and closing off her options for a more open future. When parents get on this forum and get all serious about going pro at a young age I always go back to the fact that the payout is not even a fraction of professional men's sports. So it is a nice paid hobby to have for a few years. It is not a path that should close out other opportunities.

College is an important experience for a lot of people.

Big pipe dream, right 43 lol. Dream the dreams bro and let the dreamers dream whatever dreams they want for their life. OM has worked harder then anyone I know that my dd played against and saw her hard work first hand. She has a dream and Nike is helping her with that dream. She has all the skills one needs to go to the next level. Can she hang athletically and mentally is going to be the question? I wish her nothing but the best and I applaud her for going all in for soccer. I can tell you the little that I do know about her is she is 100% committed to be the best she can be. Her parents have the means to support that dream and she even earned a pro contract at 13 years old and walked away from college game.

 

[MacDre]

If my kids are in a position to play pro for a few years after college, I will encourage it. You only get that chance when young and what an experience. My first 4 years after college were (i) year 1: work to save money to travel for a few months, followed by work to save money followed by (ii) years 2, 3 and 4 as a public school teacher (emergency credential while taking night classes for my multi subject) followed by (iii) a summer as a volunteer for the 94 World Cup. Then grad school for 3 years and then my career. My guess is that many of you have similar stories of doing a lot of interesting things that did not pay well but helped frame the person you are today.

Sub those 4 years with a chance to be a pro athlete while my body is young and my mind is open ... seems pretty great. Would I expect one of my kids - daughters (my son is past this phase) - to make a living/career doing this? No. But that’s not the point because those first years can be years for the purpose of trying something or somewhere interesting before setting in for a life path. Would I want them to do that at 15 or 16? No because I think they give up a lot of what the sport can provide (elite athletes already give up a lot of what other kids experience) - helping to get an education (whether because of the scholarship or merely the access to resources), be on a college campus for those critical wonderful heartbreaking in-love-falling intellectually curious years, travel the country and maybe the world while the tab is picked up, make friends from a collective of other young adults in that 18-22 age group (how much is a 15 year old hanging out with a 28 year old pro? Should she be?). Sure, some kids could be pros as teens and get their higher education. But how many minor league baseball players who signed out of HS (i) don’t make the majors (most) and (ii) never go to college (many if not most)?

I acknowledge that other parents and kids may feel differently (though it really is incumbent on us as parents to help kids see a broad view, something that even the smartest most mature 15yo can struggle with (how can they project 10 years out when 10 years back was when they were 5? I mean, I’m 53. 10 yrs out is not that hard because 10 years ago I was 43 and pretty damn grown. Kids don’t have perspective because they can’t)). And this generation of girls may have more financial rewards than the current women and certainly more than in the past (thanks to the hard work by those very women!). But other than for the elite, will the system approximate the men’s system? Where a nice living can be carved out playing 2d division? And what about the many, MANY men who went to elite academies (not talking US) as boys who experience a peak as a 16yo? How many Freddy Adu type players are there playing in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, England, etc? How many just a cut below whom we will never see? Do they have an education to fall back on? Unless the European education system has radically changed since I studied there a million years ago, the answer is “no”.

I have attached pictures of Beastmode telling my kid precisely what you have stated; lol of course he used more colorful language. He actively discourages her participation in professional sports. When she was accepted to Fuerzas Basicas he didn’t call to congratulate her however, when he heard that she made straight A’s he called to congratulate her and remind her to enroll in Fam 1st Foundation architecture program this upcoming summer. He tells her that he’s dumb and needs her to manage his money.

I have one major concern with your timeline and I would love to hear everyone’s feedback. I think the timeline that you laid out is great for men but could be problematic for women. By time I finished military service, undergrad, & grad school I was almost 30 and life was great. My female friends were all of a sudden stressed out because their “clock was ticking” and they were starting a new career wanting to have kids and not get put on the “mommy track.”

For me, a major benefit for women going pro early is having more time to work around getting put on the mommy track.

Thoughts?

 

[crush]

My thoughts are, wow!!! This is so cool and thanks for sharing. Great advice. My advice to everyone is do what you love and have fun

 

[dk_b]

I have attached pictures of Beastmode telling my kid precisely what you have stated; lol of course he used more colorful language. He actively discourages her participation in professional sports. When she was accepted to Fuerzas Basicas he didn’t call to congratulate her however, when he heard that she made straight A’s he called to congratulate her and remind her to enroll in Fam 1st Foundation architecture program this upcoming summer. He tells her that he’s dumb and needs her to manage his money.

I have one major concern with your timeline and I would love to hear everyone’s feedback. I think the timeline that you laid out is great for men but could be problematic for women. By time I finished military service, undergrad, & grad school I was almost 30 and life was great. My female friends were all of a sudden stressed out because their “clock was ticking” and they were starting a new career wanting to have kids and not get put on the “mommy track.”

For me, a major benefit for women going pro early is having more time to work around getting put on the mommy track.

Thoughts?


View attachment 9857
View attachment 9858

I love Marshawn. My older kid (and my younger ones when there is a HS season) played Tech in non-league games and the ones at their house always made me think of that guy (and Rickey, of course).

Motherhood for college-educated women is starting later on average. I am not too worried about that w/r/t my own daughters. They are surrounded by professional women - attorneys, Drs, scientists - and they know that it can be done as a parent but the challenge is real.

I did make a passing reference to the social situation of a young player among adult pros but I want to return to it. My kids are 4 years apart - my oldest (22), next (18) and next (14, 14). My younger daughters idolize their older sister and I love it when they are together (but for Covid, I'd have let them head to campus to hang with big sis as I did as a HS freshman when my next closest sibling was a frosh at UCSB). But there are conversations of my 18yo that I have overheard and I can remember being 18 myself and it is clear that my 14yos are NOT their sister's peers (my 18yo can hang w/her older brother b/c the gap has closed). A 15yo hanging w/25yos? 25yos talking about social things that 25yos talk about? Or do they temper their conversation around "the kid"? Should they have to at that stage in life? Does that isolate the younger player or make her grow up faster in areas that are not "on the pitch"? I raised this way back when during a lengthy discussion on OM.

Look . . . if the path was so unique that turning pro provided an opportunity that might not otherwise be there (as in the case w/some of the teenage boys who stand to make million$$$), I'd counsel a different way. But I don't think that's the case as yet. It may change some day and there are even exceptions today (Horan's success v Pugh's path or Tierna going pro and thus availing herself of a World Cup bonus that she may not get in the future (since our senior team is so difficult to make and b/c injury and life can also get in the way).

I'm feel fortunate - and I think my daughter IS fortunate - that when she has to make that decision (if one is to be made), she will have plenty of people to consult with b/c of her youth, collegiate and YNT/WNT experience. There will be high end players, middle of the road players and those who clearly don't aspire for WC glory but are planning on playing for a year or two before grad school (in addition to coaches she has had and others w/whom she's developed relationships who can offer unbiased advice). And if my younger 2 get there, their sister will be their best advisor. Selfishly, I do hope she loves the game, has great success and is able to play at the next level. Why selfish? B/c how many people get to watch their children perform in their profession? I can say that in all the years that my parents were alive when I was in my profession (well, my mom died not long after I started practicing, my dad in the last couple of years), they never ONCE sat in my office and watched my draft or review a contract.

Sorry for the very long-winded replies. This is the stuff that I miss discussing w/folks in person over coffee or a beer, around a fire at a hotel during a tournament or a poke bowl at some strip all.

 

[El Clasico]

I love Marshawn. My older kid (and my younger ones when there is a HS season) played Tech in non-league games and the ones at their house always made me think of that guy (and Rickey, of course).

Motherhood for college-educated women is starting later on average. I am not too worried about that w/r/t my own daughters. They are surrounded by professional women - attorneys, Drs, scientists - and they know that it can be done as a parent but the challenge is real.

I did make a passing reference to the social situation of a young player among adult pros but I want to return to it. My kids are 4 years apart - my oldest (22), next (18) and next (14, 14). My younger daughters idolize their older sister and I love it when they are together (but for Covid, I'd have let them head to campus to hang with big sis as I did as a HS freshman when my next closest sibling was a frosh at UCSB). But there are conversations of my 18yo that I have overheard and I can remember being 18 myself and it is clear that my 14yos are NOT their sister's peers (my 18yo can hang w/her older brother b/c the gap has closed). A 15yo hanging w/25yos? 25yos talking about social things that 25yos talk about? Or do they temper their conversation around "the kid"? Should they have to at that stage in life? Does that isolate the younger player or make her grow up faster in areas that are not "on the pitch"? I raised this way back when during a lengthy discussion on OM.

Look . . . if the path was so unique that turning pro provided an opportunity that might not otherwise be there (as in the case w/some of the teenage boys who stand to make million$$$), I'd counsel a different way. But I don't think that's the case as yet. It may change some day and there are even exceptions today (Horan's success v Pugh's path or Tierna going pro and thus availing herself of a World Cup bonus that she may not get in the future (since our senior team is so difficult to make and b/c injury and life can also get in the way).

I'm feel fortunate - and I think my daughter IS fortunate - that when she has to make that decision (if one is to be made), she will have plenty of people to consult with b/c of her youth, collegiate and YNT/WNT experience. There will be high end players, middle of the road players and those who clearly don't aspire for WC glory but are planning on playing for a year or two before grad school (in addition to coaches she has had and others w/whom she's developed relationships who can offer unbiased advice). And if my younger 2 get there, their sister will be their best advisor. Selfishly, I do hope she loves the game, has great success and is able to play at the next level. Why selfish? B/c how many people get to watch their children perform in their profession? I can say that in all the years that my parents were alive when I was in my profession (well, my mom died not long after I started practicing, my dad in the last couple of years), they never ONCE sat in my office and watched my draft or review a contract.

Sorry for the very long-winded replies. This is the stuff that I miss discussing w/folks in person over coffee or a beer, around a fire at a hotel during a tournament or a poke bowl at some strip all.

You lost me at "poke bowl".

 

[Dubs]

If my kids are in a position to play pro for a few years after college, I will encourage it. You only get that chance when young and what an experience. My first 4 years after college were (i) year 1: work to save money to travel for a few months, followed by work to save money followed by (ii) years 2, 3 and 4 as a public school teacher (emergency credential while taking night classes for my multi subject) followed by (iii) a summer as a volunteer for the 94 World Cup. Then grad school for 3 years and then my career. My guess is that many of you have similar stories of doing a lot of interesting things that did not pay well but helped frame the person you are today.

Sub those 4 years with a chance to be a pro athlete while my body is young and my mind is open ... seems pretty great. Would I expect one of my kids - daughters (my son is past this phase) - to make a living/career doing this? No. But that’s not the point because those first years can be years for the purpose of trying something or somewhere interesting before setting in for a life path. Would I want them to do that at 15 or 16? No because I think they give up a lot of what the sport can provide (elite athletes already give up a lot of what other kids experience) - helping to get an education (whether because of the scholarship or merely the access to resources), be on a college campus for those critical wonderful heartbreaking in-love-falling intellectually curious years, travel the country and maybe the world while the tab is picked up, make friends from a collective of other young adults in that 18-22 age group (how much is a 15 year old hanging out with a 28 year old pro? Should she be?). Sure, some kids could be pros as teens and get their higher education. But how many minor league baseball players who signed out of HS (i) don’t make the majors (most) and (ii) never go to college (many if not most)?

I acknowledge that other parents and kids may feel differently (though it really is incumbent on us as parents to help kids see a broad view, something that even the smartest most mature 15yo can struggle with (how can they project 10 years out when 10 years back was when they were 5? I mean, I’m 53. 10 yrs out is not that hard because 10 years ago I was 43 and pretty damn grown. Kids don’t have perspective because they can’t)). And this generation of girls may have more financial rewards than the current women and certainly more than in the past (thanks to the hard work by those very women!). But other than for the elite, will the system approximate the men’s system? Where a nice living can be carved out playing 2d division? And what about the many, MANY men who went to elite academies (not talking US) as boys who experience a peak as a 16yo? How many Freddy Adu type players are there playing in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, England, etc? How many just a cut below whom we will never see? Do they have an education to fall back on? Unless the European education system has radically changed since I studied there a million years ago, the answer is “no”.

All kinds of Truth!

 

[crush]

Folly is in all of us and lot's of fun & joy to one who lacks judgment, but a man or a woman of understanding walks a straight path. Plans of a teenager fails when they only listen to thee advisor. With many advisors, victory is assured for dd

 

[crush]

I always had a hard time with spelling Bee contest when words sound the same but have different spellings. For example, As a verb, pair (or pair up or pair off) means to put two people or things together. ... The verb pare means to remove, trim, cut back, or make something smaller or shorter. The noun pear refers to the sweet, juicy fruit or to the tree that this fruit grows on. I used to spell parents as pairrents or a pair of rentals to watch over me. I was adopted so that would make sense to someone like me, right? A pair of two adults who helped baby crush with his diapers, a place to live, cloths, food and water and rent me for 18 years and then hand me off to the world. The greatest gift one can give a teenager is their freedom. I had dreams for my dd to be this and to do that and to marry this kind of guy and so on. That's my two cents

 

[EOTL]

If my kid is in a position to play pro before college or in lieu of going to school, I will encourage it. If my dd quits soccer altogether because men are selfish, then I will understand. Share the soccer loot with the woman that you need in order to survive.

Without Awoman, we have no man, Amen men? Now, mommy raised all these stud boys who are now pro soccer men making all the money. Some men say woman need to stay in da house. Some men say they need to go college. Some men say they need to do this and that. This man says pay the woman who helped all the boys make millions and billions a living wage in soccer. Find the money, trust me someone has way too much and their not sharing with the girls, who we all need to make this planet awesome and growing with more boys & girls

I am going to give you advice although I know you won’t take since you only make poor decisions. Stop fantasizing that there is money in women’s soccer other than where it is, which is college opportunity and potentially scholarship money. Stop encouraging your kid to make horrible life decisions by encouraging her to go pro instead of to college. You say you can’t afford cable, yet you would encourage your kid to squander her presumed ability to leverage soccer to obtain college opportunities so she can make $20,000 a year and end up like her daddy?

Anyone who encourages their under 18 child to go pro instead of going to college is doing it for their own vanity and to their child’s detriment. Realistically, you have decided while they are still a child - and before they’re remotely old enough to have any idea what they want to do in life - that they will never be a doctor, dentist, lawyer, get an MBA, or anything else that requires substantially more education than an undergrad degree. And although in theory they can go back and get an undergrad degree (or even a professional degree) after making $20k a year for years, you have significantly reduced the likelihood that will happen because women in their mid 20s are unlikely to start college for a lot of reasons. Worse, you have caused them to be in the worst possible financial position to spend four years (or more if they want to go to grad school) to get through college. And if they were good enough to go pro at 18, you have almost certainly deprived them of a Stanford or UCLA education and substantial scholarship money in exchange for College of Phoenix.

No 17 year old girl should give up so much opportunity to live their daddy’s fantasy. And although you might delude yourself into thinking your child knows they want to be a pro soccer player instead of going to college, a minor lacks the life experience and forethought to comprehend the consequences of the decision you’re making for them and are just too young to know what is best for them long term. You are the parent and, as such, have the obligation to direct them into making the right decision. I have a real hard time understanding why any parent would encourage their kid to get to the point that they are 23 years old and broke with no advanced education and no job skills, compared to having a Stanford or USC degree and sufficient life experience (and options) to decide then whether they’d rather be a pro soccer player, go to grad school, or get a job. But, then again, it’s you and we know you’re all about bad decisions and burning bridges on behalf of your kid.

I know you point to Moultrie as a model for your kid, but you fail to realize that she is not really a pro soccer player. She went pro as a Nike spokesperson who, in so doing, gave up her ability to play in college. But she also was apparently paid enough money to cover the scholarship she was giving up. That means she still has the option of going to college at 18, unlike the kid of the idiot dad who didn’t get that money from Nike but still convinced his kid to give up her future to play soccer for $20k a year.

 

[dk_b]

You lost me at "poke bowl".

My kids often hear me say, "I could eat poke (or sushi) every day." And I could and I would not complain.

 

[Soccer43]

I am going to give you advice although I know you won’t take since you only make poor decisions. Stop fantasizing that there is money in women’s soccer other than where it is, which is college opportunity and potentially scholarship money. Stop encouraging your kid to make horrible life decisions by encouraging her to go pro instead of to college. You say you can’t afford cable, yet you would encourage your kid to squander her presumed ability to leverage soccer to obtain college opportunities so she can make $20,000 a year and end up like her daddy?

Anyone who encourages their under 18 child to go pro instead of going to college is doing it for their own vanity and to their child’s detriment. Realistically, you have decided while they are still a child - and before they’re remotely old enough to have any idea what they want to do in life - that they will never be a doctor, dentist, lawyer, get an MBA, or anything else that requires substantially more education than an undergrad degree. And although in theory they can go back and get an undergrad degree (or even a professional degree) after making $20k a year for years, you have significantly reduced the likelihood that will happen because women in their mid 20s are unlikely to start college for a lot of reasons. Worse, you have caused them to be in the worst possible financial position to spend four years (or more if they want to go to grad school) to get through college. And if they were good enough to go pro at 18, you have almost certainly deprived them of a Stanford or UCLA education and substantial scholarship money in exchange for College of Phoenix.

No 17 year old girl should give up so much opportunity to live their daddy’s fantasy. And although you might delude yourself into thinking your child knows they want to be a pro soccer player instead of going to college, a minor lacks the life experience and forethought to comprehend the consequences of the decision you’re making for them and are just too young to know what is best for them long term. You are the parent and, as such, have the obligation to direct them into making the right decision. I have a real hard time understanding why any parent would encourage their kid to get to the point that they are 23 years old and broke with no advanced education and no job skills, compared to having a Stanford or USC degree and sufficient life experience (and options) to decide then whether they’d rather be a pro soccer player, go to grad school, or get a job. But, then again, it’s you and we know you’re all about bad decisions and burning bridges on behalf of your kid.

I know you point to Moultrie as a model for your kid, but you fail to realize that she is not really a pro soccer player. She went pro as a Nike spokesperson who, in so doing, gave up her ability to play in college. But she also was apparently paid enough money to cover the scholarship she was giving up. That means she still has the option of going to college at 18, unlike the kid of the idiot dad who didn’t get that money from Nike but still convinced his kid to give up her future to play soccer for $20k a year.

absolutely on target here!