MLS NEXT IS A FUCKING PYRAMID SCHEME FOR SOCCER PARENTS - The American Dream if the Dream Was a Pay-to-Lose Scam

Oh gosh I wish it were only $3000...

Whenever I feel bad about paying MLS Next fees... I just go talk to my club volleyball friends... $5000 for a season that runs half a year... $10k per year... I feel MUCH better every time I talk to them... every soccer parent should have a youth sports thread with vball parents...
Correct. $4,500 just for dues. That did include tournament and play day entry fees but another $150 or so for uniforms and like $50-$75 to try out. So you're easily at $5k before you even play a game. Same stay-and-play bullshit as soccer. You pay $250 for a room anyone else gets for $190, parking, etc. My favorite was the, "hey... we didn't qualify for nationals in Chicago so does everyone want to go to Florida instead? They call it the same thing but you qualify just by paying the entry fee."

Fuck you.
 
Call it “don’t hate the player, hate the game,” or maybe we’re all just sipping the same Kool-Aid. Either way, the structure of youth soccer in the U.S. isn’t changing anytime soon. As long as parents keep paying and kids keep playing, the system keeps churning with the same playbook, same status quo.

I’ve hated it so much I seriously considered pulling my DD out, despite being a standout player. It’s maddening. I genuinely despise what the youth system represents and how far it’s strayed from the spirit of the game.

It’s like being trapped at a rundown taco joint (aka youth soccer) staffed by has-been chefs charging top dollar for mediocre meal. And just to rub it in, they serve it up with that smug, “Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?” stare. No alternatives. No escape. Just overpriced disappointment on a plate.
 
Call it “don’t hate the player, hate the game,” or maybe we’re all just sipping the same Kool-Aid. Either way, the structure of youth soccer in the U.S. isn’t changing anytime soon. As long as parents keep paying and kids keep playing, the system keeps churning with the same playbook, same status quo.

I’ve hated it so much I seriously considered pulling my DD out, despite being a standout player. It’s maddening. I genuinely despise what the youth system represents and how far it’s strayed from the spirit of the game.

It’s like being trapped at a rundown taco joint (aka youth soccer) staffed by has-been chefs charging top dollar for mediocre meal. And just to rub it in, they serve it up with that smug, “Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?” stare. No alternatives. No escape. Just overpriced disappointment on a plate.
I think this is my favorite analogy ever on this board. Both the creativity and accuracy! 🤣
 
Call it “don’t hate the player, hate the game,” or maybe we’re all just sipping the same Kool-Aid. Either way, the structure of youth soccer in the U.S. isn’t changing anytime soon. As long as parents keep paying and kids keep playing, the system keeps churning with the same playbook, same status quo.

I’ve hated it so much I seriously considered pulling my DD out, despite being a standout player. It’s maddening. I genuinely despise what the youth system represents and how far it’s strayed from the spirit of the game.

It’s like being trapped at a rundown taco joint (aka youth soccer) staffed by has-been chefs charging top dollar for mediocre meal. And just to rub it in, they serve it up with that smug, “Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?” stare. No alternatives. No escape. Just overpriced disappointment on a plate.
Preach. And there are no better taco stands within days of travel, and you don't even have a (non-e) bike.
 
Call it “don’t hate the player, hate the game,” or maybe we’re all just sipping the same Kool-Aid. Either way, the structure of youth soccer in the U.S. isn’t changing anytime soon. As long as parents keep paying and kids keep playing, the system keeps churning with the same playbook, same status quo.

I’ve hated it so much I seriously considered pulling my DD out, despite being a standout player. It’s maddening. I genuinely despise what the youth system represents and how far it’s strayed from the spirit of the game.

It’s like being trapped at a rundown taco joint (aka youth soccer) staffed by has-been chefs charging top dollar for mediocre meal. And just to rub it in, they serve it up with that smug, “Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?” stare. No alternatives. No escape. Just overpriced disappointment on a plate.
Being on a mls next team is like a tourist visiting Los Angeles for the first time, you have to go visit the Hollywood walk of fame just so you can say you have done it. By the time your kid is 13, you would have already know that there is very little college scholarship money to be had . I don’t understand why would anyone feel they are trapped.
 
Being on a mls next team is like a tourist visiting Los Angeles for the first time, you have to go visit the Hollywood walk of fame just so you can say you have done it. By the time your kid is 13, you would have already know that there is very little college scholarship money to be had . I don’t understand why would anyone feel they are trapped.
d1 offers are 20-50%
 
Correct. $4,500 just for dues. That did include tournament and play day entry fees but another $150 or so for uniforms and like $50-$75 to try out. So you're easily at $5k before you even play a game. Same stay-and-play bullshit as soccer. You pay $250 for a room anyone else gets for $190, parking, etc. My favorite was the, "hey... we didn't qualify for nationals in Chicago so does everyone want to go to Florida instead? They call it the same thing but you qualify just by paying the entry fee."

Fuck you.
Nationals in Orlando! No need to qualify. What is the spectator fee? Socal tournament was like $90/person. Choose which parent gets to go to watch their kid. Paying for both parents and sibling to go support? No way. Tryout fee. Then before you tryout, you are "encouraged" to go to open gym dates. Each open gym involves a fee. Slunks! Expensive volleyball shorts for boys are a must have.
 
“Overdribbling”.

Little game theory here. Assuming both players are equally matched, there is no universe where an attacking player should be able to get around by dribbling and score on two similarly skilled defending players (one of them being a goalkeeper). If that’s happening, there’s a mismatch with one of the two defending players. And at the mlsn level, especially once the puberty advantage is wiped away, so are those easy advantages since everyone has gotten to the highest level. You can’t shoot over the gk anymore. You can’t trick the defender with something like a step over. That’s why so few goals at the mlsn levels are just shots from the top of the 18. It’s going to be rare for an attacking player to get free and have the time and place it in a corner where the gk can’t get it. It’s why most of the goals come from things like corners, cutbacks, creative 1v1s, creative dfks, pks and mistakes building out of the back. So the best you can hope on the dribble is to gain some micro space to pass it creatively. If you dribble it you will eventually lose it. And the more times you do it the more turnovers you will be responsible for. Creativity at that level is mostly seeing the creative passing that breaks lines and off ball movement. So in making your case you have inadvertently undermined your position by pointing to the one factor coaches usually should bench you for. And unlike size, it’s one the player actually has total control. Youth soccer is littered with attackers who break into the first years at the higher letter leagues and then don’t perform to expectations because they find they can’t dribble the ball and shoot over the gks head and be the superstar they were on their f1 team. The u13 and u14 ages are where every position (eg the big gk who used to be a truck but now is too out of shape to learn to dive, the striker who could outrun everyone over the top, the cdm who used to hide as a redundant player) fafo. Adapt or die.
Coaches rarely if ever pull girls for blatant mistakes, they usually condone it if it's their favorite players...I've already posted how Silverlakes is a pigeon shooting gallery on most days...
 
Nationals in Orlando! No need to qualify. What is the spectator fee? Socal tournament was like $90/person. Choose which parent gets to go to watch their kid. Paying for both parents and sibling to go support? No way. Tryout fee. Then before you tryout, you are "encouraged" to go to open gym dates. Each open gym involves a fee. Slunks! Expensive volleyball shorts for boys are a must have.
Right? And you HAVE to attend the "pre-tryout" gym dates because, as you learn after the first year, that's where they decide what 3-4 outsiders are going to get offers before the actual tryout.
 
Right? And you HAVE to attend the "pre-tryout" gym dates because, as you learn after the first year, that's where they decide what 3-4 outsiders are going to get offers before the actual tryout.
The worst part? Players have to work games. At least when my kid refs a soccer game, he gets paid.
 
The worst part? Players have to work games. At least when my kid refs a soccer game, he gets paid.
Yep. Forgot about that. And the only thing worse than your exhausted kid having to ref someone else's game after playing all day is watching 3 girls, from another team, look at their phones and grab-ass rather than actually do the job of keeping score, noting rotations, etc.
 
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