I know your rich, but I don't read that your Elite snob and want all the prizes for your child. I could be wrong, but you seem fair from my perch.
GA & ECNL need to merge, or play nice.
- Thread starter Surf Zombie
- Start date
My job is to read between lines and determine what is really going on that is driving decision making amid market makers and my nose is always on fire when dealing with youth soccer for the past several years. In just a relatively short few years I've already seen it ALL "up to the elite levels" - my brother's wife recently asked us if they should get my nephew into Soccer and I said do Rec and leave it there, focus on going out and spending time as a family - go camping go to the beach do neighborhood cook-outs and throw a ball out for the kids. The Soccer system is a complete joke if you are old school at all - and it will disappoint good families, parents, and kids over and over again. List the 5 things you want from soccer and you will only find 2 or maybe 3 of them with a particular team or club - and you will always be dis-satisfied for the amount of money and time being spent.
On the girls/womens side the new NCAA Rev Sharing and NWSL CBA is a push in a direction that will continue to de-value the college pathway and make College Soccer as the target even more not worth it. Clubs will need to push for pathways to the Pros to give any line of sight on ROI for the parents looking for return on their great sacrifice of time and money.
whatithink
GOLD
The new NWSL CBA and the removal of the draft means that any girl wanting to go pro will now need to look at direct from HS or forget about it. The intent of removing the draft, as explicitly stated, is to attract the best players worldwide into the NWSL.
Why do you think this?
NWSL Getting rid of the draft allows clubs to shop for players curretly playing in college. If there's interest from both parties (player and club) they can sign onto a pro team that day vs waiting for the draft.
For the very best players, direct from HS has been an option for a while now.
Removing the draft makes it more tempting to go pro at 18, but I expect NWSL will see a mix of HS and college recruits for years to come. Players at that level are looking at not just a scholarship, but also admission to a school they normally might not get into.
whatithink
GOLD
Its not just the draft, but also free agency. The players get more power and can move easier. The stated intent is to attract the best talent from the US & abroad. That will create barriers to college players. You can jump from college before you finish, but you will be competing with players from everywhere. International players get brought into the pro environment much earlier as a matter of course, and will be tried and tested in, for example, the Euro leagues, so that's what college players will be competing against, i.e. a player (say 21 yo) who has played US college for 4 years vs a Euro player (also 21 yo) who has been in a pro environment for 5 and played pro soccer for 2-3 years. All things being equal, the pro will be a more reliable pick imho. Visa's could make it interesting mind.
‘It’s important we attract the best’: inside the NWSL’s groundbreaking deal that abolishes the draft
In an exclusive interview, commissioner Jessica Berman discusses the decision to become the first major US sports league to remove the draft, increasing revenue and expanding mental health support for players
www.theguardian.com
Just to clarify my own take: There is no way backroom deals on the eventual NCAA Rev Sharing policies don't pressure for more emphasis on Revenue Contribution as a strong factor of dispensing the wealth; despite Title IX pressure to subsidize Women's College sports. There are reports of using a point-in-time measurement of Men's American/Gridiron Football and Basketball = 90% of NIL money as the benchmark for proportions of revenue sharing. With little to no money in NCAA Women's Soccer and the growing success of the NWSL formerly acknowledged and accelerating with the new CBA means that the Women's College talent pool is going to get diluted and "easier to get into".
Why do you need to be at the elite of elite clubs to play college soccer? You won't and that's fine and great - so let's stop spending so much of our time and money if that is the target for a solid portion of the parents.
You will need to be at the elite of elite clubs to get to the NWSL as soon as possible though and that will become the prevailing emphasis/marketing ploy to continue extracting money from parents.
Excellent points. The top top players that don't want to be lawyers, doctors or teachers will go Pro out of High School or even during. I'm not for the female to go Pro at 14. I think 16 or even 18 is best but that's a different discussion. College soccer won't have the best and that's ok. Men's hoops see most of the best go right into Pros out of high school. You can also play Pro in other countries. NCAA is not #1 anymore like it used to be and that's ok.
Highlander
SILVER ELITE
You need to write a post with the top 10 worst/craziest things you have learned of - I would read that! Worst thing I heard of was a $20K club donation to ensure a spot for their DD on an ECNL girls team roster.
Let me give it some thought. I think I can come up with, "Crush's Top 10 Craziest Digs in SoCal Youth Soccer." I knew a rich papa that wanted a taste of glory of having his precious dd on a top tier club that he also donated thousands and bought hundreds of golf balls. His kid went from the bench and no play to first off, the bench. Starting was not going to happen. It would have been a dead giveaway. Parents were already STFH's in disbelief and the next thing I know, more parents paid "extra" at privates. Rick "The Ringer" Singer is from Newport Beach, let's not forget that and he was the star middleman for all these schools, parents and coaches.
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Kind right, kinda wrong here Crush.
What‘s the goal for a player?
Some of the unicorns want to go straight to NWSL at 13-15 years old, and that’s happening more and more now. They will draw the minimum salary in NWSL, maybe spend 8-10 years in the league if they are lucky, and end up coaching club soccer the rest of their life—with no college degree unless they can afford to attend college in their mid to late 20’s with that huge NWSL nest egg in earnings. A few, the Alex Morgan’s of the world, will make far more in endorsements from Nike, Gatorade, Pepsi and Sports Illustrated but that is just not realistic for the average NWSL player. But dream away…
Others parents will spend $$$ at that elite ECNL club to get exposure to play college soccer. Most of these girls are using soccer to get into a school they might not otherwise be competitive for entrance academically. These types are not gonna leave that school 2 years later in lieu of graduation to enter the NWSL on a whim. They are there for the college degree, and the lifetime job coming from that degree. I guess they could always just coach club soccer, but these doctors, lawyers, etc…aren’t going to do that unless they do it for fun in the evening or on weekends. Here, soccer is the ”big picture” gateway to a career path that will lead to a comfortable retirement.
I’ve been around the game since 1976, and of the hundreds of male soccer players I stay in touch with who went the “pro” route overseas and domestic— not a single one of them is living in La Jolla or spending weekends in Vail. They coach club soccer, do privates, and sometimes announce soccer matches. Not a bad life, but just be realistic. I compare this narrative to the HS baseball player in his senior year who is offered $100k to sign and play A ball. Sounds like a lot of money as a HS senior, but it’s chump change compared to the scholarship and degree he is passing up.
Many of you will disagree, but the degree is worth far more than going pro as a 13-15 year old.
If girls had an Academy system top players will have the option though proven on field success to go pro or play in college. Just because Acadamies exist doesn't mean players can't choose to play in college.
For girls this is the problem with the youth system as it exists today. Really good players are stuck on age bound teams so clubs can rack up wins and market to the new crop of young players. These players get forced into playing in college wasting their youth in classes they don't want to attend.
There's nothing wrong with playing in college if that's what players choose to do. However there should be an option to go pro if you have the ability and desire.
Many say that if you have the talent players can go pro whenever they want. The problem with this statement is that soccer is highly subjective and without is defined youth to pro pathway where players can physically prove their value it becomes difficult to get noticed.
I've been around the great game since 1973. In SoCal Youth soccer, it's, "What's the goal of the parents." I would agree some kids have goals but must of the time the girls do what mommy & daddy want and most girls want to please papa big time. I few Unicorns I watched grow up in Socal, all went Pro for some reason. Rodman is not a Unicorn based on GPA. I would agree with the males. The top coaches/docs are making over $200K and they might be the one's living in La Jallo
Sorry, 200k a year might get you 30 miles Inland from La Jolla.I've been around the great game since 1973. In SoCal Youth soccer, it's, "What's the goal of the parents." I would agree some kids have goals but must of the time the girls do what mommy & daddy want and most girls want to please papa big time. I few Unicorns I watched grow up in Socal, all went Pro for some reason. Rodman is not a Unicorn based on GPA. I would agree with the males. The top coaches/docs are making over $200K and they might be the one's living in La Jallo
Not back in the day. $200K today I agree, you need to live in Poway.
Then clearly, the problem is the parents. Daddy (and mommy) need to set realistic expectations of the ability of their player. If the kid is not playing up 2 age groups at the top ECNL level in girls, she’s not going pro. Parents watching soccer tell me there daughter wants to go pro and they can’t even start for a mid-level or below SW ECNL team…so they go to GA. The parents are wildly unrealistic. Many other parents want their daughter to go play Power 4 D1 soccer and they can’t break into the starting lineup of their SW ECNL club team. It’s laughable.
I don't think it's the parents fault. Clubs sell the "go professional" dream to both players and parents from a very young age. They do this because it makes at lot more $$$ than separating out the unicorns early and often.
The problem is for girls there's no organized way for top talent to only play other top talent + use the results to justify playing at the pro level. (Cough Acadamies Cough)
One thing people don't give Acadamies enough credit for is allowing players to experience what it would take to play at the highest levels. If your kid is dead set on playing professionally wouldn't it be nice to let them train for a session with players that are already on that track? How much $$$ in club fees could parents save if understand at a young age that their kid playing professionally probably isn't in the cards? 20k? 60k over several years?
RandomSoccerFan
PREMIER
I'm not sure. Yes - it's in the Club's best interest to sell the world to parents, and that includes calling everything a Pathway and trying to draw a straight line from a 5-yr-old picking dandelions on the field to being a world wide star like Messi. But does that fault lay more with the fooler or the fooled. My thought is that parents of young potential athletes are very often clueless and allow themselves the fantasy.
Respectfully disagreeing with this comment. What age group are you referring to? There are many girls that develop much later. There are those unicorns but to say that playing 2 years up is a sign someone could go pro is not true.
In the Academy world the ability to play up 2 age groups is fairly standard + encouraged. It seems odd if you're used to age bound teams but there's a lot of girls that can do this. They've just never been pressured to perform in this format. Also the ability to play up 2 age groups can mean many things. Is it against other just as talented players that are 2 years older or players just learning how to play.