Economics of Girls Development Academy

Carpediem said:
Perhaps they are going for a long term goal of one day having a female soccer team in the NWSL and this is their vision to increased ticket sales, brand recognition or home growing some females of their own. Or maybe they just follow the belief that what goes around comes around so they are giving back to the sport they make money in, ideally in hopes of a return as it is a benefit. SoCal does have a huge youth female soccer base. Sometimes it's not always about the initial return on investment but rather a long term one.
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I think this is a very optimistic but naive perspective.
 
So what do you think about that? Could it be Beach is the last merit based club in SoCal?
Honestly if you say that you do not see that at all then I think it is.
 
bababooey said:
I doubt that LAG has spent several million dollars on the GDA, but it sure sounds altruistic. If true that they have spent several million dollars, there is a long-term plan in place (AEG won't spend that money unless they are very confident it will be recouped and then some).
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I stand corrected. I found the interview on line and I had misremembered what LAG President Chris Klein said. He only mentioned that it was "fully funded" and that they had spent "over a million dollars" on the training field. He didn't say what the total budget is.

The interview is an interesting listen for anyone following girls DA. It was the 8/16/17 broadcast of Soccer Weekly on ESPN 710. The discussion starts at 19:35 and ends at 20:55. You can find it here: http://www.espn.com/espnradio/podcast/archive/_/id/17221959
 
Kicker4Life said:
Nope
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Actually, the club fee for DA players at Beach is slightly higher than the fee for girls playing in other teams of the same age group. And as far as I know every 03 in my daughter's DA team pays the fee, except perhaps one or two girls from low income families. For example, I do know that the best 03 player in the team pays the fee, and she has been at Beach for a few years now. I also know for a fact that one of the very few players (4) that made the team from another club also pays, and she is one of our best players who could have played anywhere else if she wanted. I also have a younger daughter who is the best player of her age in the club, and I pay the full fee for her too.
There may be some girls at Beach FC that can pay and don't, but based on my experience they are very, very few.
 
El Clasico said:
With all the avenues of information distribution available to parents today (other parents, blogs, boards, observations, etc.), it amuses me that there are still parents out there (and not just the U littles with their blinders) that don't know that at any mega club, their child is either on the A team or they are paying for someone else's kid who is. I might add that there are exceptions such as the parent with the child who has no business being on the A team. He is either paying full boat to ride the bench or he is subsidizing the guy starting in his position.

Yes, this is a generalization but it is also the reality of club soccer. If you don't want to pay for your neighbor's kid, join a smaller club and only pay for your child. Otherwise, accept it for what it is. It is nothing new and the bottom line is the A teams (particularly olders) require large budgets and someone needs to cover that cost. You can't brag to your friends about that Surf, Slammers or Legends patch on your kid's jersey and expect not to have to pay for what makes it so special to yo
DAs is a different animal. One would have to be a real idiot (excuse my French) to be participating in Club that has DA status and not realize that the
There are new DA clubs that are not fully funding the program and the players pay as much as the rest of the club! Wish all the DA programs were "fully funded".
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SocalPapa said:
.......Given up how expensive it looks like these DA programs might be compared to anything that has come before, are club parents okay with picking up that expense? And would they still be okay with that if it turns out most of the girls who make their club's DA team in the coming years did not rise up through their own club?.........
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Based on what I've heard ECNL parents talk about what they really pay for the total season (including travel to showcases), DA should be about the same. The cost will go up with age because on the top of showcases, there will be away league games (e.g., SW teams playing vs NW, so up and down the coast).

As for another club players making your DA team, very few have loyalty towards their own players (by action, not words). Additionally, the structure of DA is purposely design to have fewer DA clubs as players get older. While phase 1 is to setup the initial DA clubs, if they follow the boys model, they will add U12 and U13 only DA clubs as well as give current DA clubs lower ages. USSF wants funneling effect as players get older so they compete for roster spots, and refine the player pool.

So its expected that players from other clubs make each DA team, every year.
 
jpeter said:
Galaxy has already invested around three $million$ on girls da according to somebody I talked with recently.
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Absolutely no way this is possible, unless they had the girls DA program pay AEG $2.75 million for the right to use the Galaxy name.

That anyone would believe a program that is roughly 4 months old (in the case of the Galaxy DA) has spent $3 million is troubling. If they spend $3 milliom over the course of the first 5 years of the program, that might be possible. Anyone who has ever done any budgeting for a club soccer program knows this preposterous. Allocating 100% of the cost of renovating a field, even if it is only being used by the girls (please let us know if that is the case), still would not come close to this number.

Unfortunately, not surprising the Galaxy would make this ridiculous claim.
 
mbeach said:
Actually, the club fee for DA players at Beach is slightly higher than the fee for girls playing in other teams of the same age group. And as far as I know every 03 in my daughter's DA team pays the fee, except perhaps one or two girls from low income families. For example, I do know that the best 03 player in the team pays the fee, and she has been at Beach for a few years now. I also know for a fact that one of the very few players (4) that made the team from another club also pays, and she is one of our best players who could have played anywhere else if she wanted. I also have a younger daughter who is the best player of her age in the club, and I pay the full fee for her too.
There may be some girls at Beach FC that can pay and don't, but based on my experience they are very, very few.
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All true!!
 
Dos Equis said:
Absolutely no way this is possible, unless they had the girls DA program pay AEG $2.75 million for the right to use the Galaxy name.

That anyone would believe a program that is roughly 4 months old (in the case of the Galaxy DA) has spent $3 million is troubling. If they spend $3 milliom over the course of the first 5 years of the program, that might be possible. Anyone who has ever done any budgeting for a club soccer program knows this preposterous. Allocating 100% of the cost of renovating a field, even if it is only being used by the girls (please let us know if that is the case), still would not come close to this number.

Unfortunately, not surprising the Galaxy would make this ridiculous claim.
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Were they planning a field renovation anyway? Easy to say "we spent $1 million on this field...". When they were already planning to spend $1.5 million anyway. (I'm just making this up. I have no idea if this was planned or if they had a budget).
 
timbuck said:
Were they planning a field renovation anyway? Easy to say "we spent $1 million on this field...". When they were already planning to spend $1.5 million anyway. (I'm just making this up. I have no idea if this was planned or if they had a budget).
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Yes, field 7 at Stub Hub was in poor condition. LAG often used it as a parking lot for games (why anyone would park on a turf field who knows) and it needed to be resurfaced. The girls DA more than likely prompted its renovation.
 
mbeach said:
Actually, the club fee for DA players at Beach is slightly higher than the fee for girls playing in other teams of the same age group. And as far as I know every 03 in my daughter's DA team pays the fee, except perhaps one or two girls from low income families. For example, I do know that the best 03 player in the team pays the fee, and she has been at Beach for a few years now. I also know for a fact that one of the very few players (4) that made the team from another club also pays, and she is one of our best players who could have played anywhere else if she wanted. I also have a younger daughter who is the best player of her age in the club, and I pay the full fee for her too.
There may be some girls at Beach FC that can pay and don't, but based on my experience they are very, very few.
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Every player pays...however Beach offers Player Scholarships (if a player qualifies) with a max of $500. For the DA teams, USSDA offers scholarships to any DA player that financially qualifies...look it up. Sometimes parents will take their DD to the best program (that works for the family) then the lower cost alternative.
 
So Beach does offer scholarships?
I didn't believe they wouldn't based on geography.

DA of course does that's obvious.

I believe what we were referring to was the number of girls playing DA either fully funded or at a club that isn't fully funded but getting a full ride due to skill.
 
Striker17 said:
So Beach does offer scholarships?
I didn't believe they wouldn't based on geography.

DA of course does that's obvious.

I believe what we were referring to was the number of girls playing DA either fully funded or at a club that isn't fully funded but getting a full ride due to skill.
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Beach does not give a full (or fractional) ride to players due to skill (unless her family cannot afford it). As I said before I know of several girls that are the best players in their "A" teams and they are paying the full fee. I also know of an A team, a Surf Cup winner, where absolutely everybody pays the fee. And I also know of at least two "stud" players that came from other clubs to Beach who are paying. There may be a couple of players in the club getting a full ride due to skill (I do not know them), but as far as I can tell giving a free ride is not a tool that the club uses to recruit players or to keep existing ones.
 
LASTMAN14 said:
Yes, field 7 at Stub Hub was in poor condition. LAG often used it as a parking lot for games (why anyone would park on a turf field who knows) and it needed to be resurfaced. The girls DA more than likely prompted its renovation.
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If I understand you correctly, field 7 has already been resurfaced? If that is the case, nobody put $1,000,000 into that field. It is the worst field at the facility. It isn't even turf, it is that green outdoor carpet material.
 
El Clasico said:
If I understand you correctly, field 7 has already been resurfaced? If that is the case, nobody put $1,000,000 into that field. It is the worst field at the facility. It isn't even turf, it is that green outdoor carpet material.
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Field 7 was resurfaced about 5 weeks ago. It was about a $1,000,000 to replace. It was the worst field, but now it is very nice and I believe the biggest in length and width. The quality is very good for turf and uses a new pellet to keep the turf from becoming brittle. No more carcinogenic black pellets.
 
LASTMAN14 said:
Field 7 was resurfaced about 5 weeks ago. It was about a $1,000,000 to replace. It was the worst field, but now it is very nice and I believe the biggest in length and width. The quality is very good for turf and uses a new pellet to keep the turf from becoming brittle. No more carcinogenic black pellets.
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I could be mistaken on the field number. Maybe the one I am referring to is not field 7. I was referring to the field directly opposite the Velodrome and actually shares the same parking lot as the Velodrome. I don't care what any press release says about what was spent to re-surface it, I have been there every week for the last month and I can't tell the difference between that 2 tone Pollack and the stuff that is glued down on my grandma's porch.
 
LASTMAN14 said:
Field 7 was resurfaced about 5 weeks ago. It was about a $1,000,000 to replace. It was the worst field, but now it is very nice and I believe the biggest in length and width. The quality is very good for turf and uses a new pellet to keep the turf from becoming brittle. No more carcinogenic black pellets.
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Carcinogenic? Reference?
 
El Clasico said:
I could be mistaken on the field number. Maybe the one I am referring to is not field 7. I was referring to the field directly opposite the Velodrome and actually shares the same parking lot as the Velodrome. I don't care what any press release says about what was spent to re-surface it, I have been there every week for the last month and I can't tell the difference between that 2 tone Pollack and the stuff that is glued down on my grandma's porch.
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I too have been there the last month 3x a week. I like the turf they put in. But I do prefer the turf at Toyota Center.
 
Striker17 said:
So what do you think about that? Could it be Beach is the last merit based club in SoCal?
Honestly if you say that you do not see that at all then I think it is.
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LAGSB doesn't offer scholarships either for their "A" teams with the occasional exception based on need. My dd is in her fourth year on LAGSB "A" teams and I have been fine paying full freight in exchange for quality player development and a high level training environment. My guess is the clubs with all the "A" team scholarships are the same ones that build teams primarily based on recruiting. ;)
 
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