Kinda have wanted to post this question for a while now? For the OGs how was the soccer scene out here before the financial crisis and afterwards? Did teams have to fold due to parents not able to afford club soccer etc? Did they no longer afford private training?I guess essentially was they any impact to the club scene during the financial crisis? Was not here during that timeframe and didn’t grow up here so just curious to know if there would be some similar impact if there were to be some other financial crisis as there was back in 2008.
Recession
- Thread starter Ljohnso8
- Start date
The 08 crisis wasn't evenly spaced. Places like NY (finance) and Florida (real estate bubble) were hit a lot harder than Socal. At least as soccer was concerned, 08 was well before the mega clubs really began to consolidate and there was a lot of local clubs so you could downshift to a cheaper club yet still play at a high level. Rec and Latino league were also still viable options for players and we were in a time where you could play AYSO and still get on to a high school soccer team.
What really changed the soccer scene was COVID and the resulting inflation, especially among Latino communities, because it also came at a time when mega clubs were controlling access to the higher levels and consolidating. Three changes happened. One, prior to 2020 there still were a lot of local clubs that could make a run of it in Coast and put together dominant teams. This was changing in the late teens but COVID and the Great Inflation pushed it a long. Now if you don't have letter league you can't make a go of it in the olders. Second was that teams in the downtown LA triangle and the two valleys, particularly in the Latino neighborhoods, were just devastated. Working class families could no longer afford club soccer unless the club offered a discount or scholarship, so they downshifted to Latino leagues (which didn't shut down as badly as club teams did during to COVID) leading to a small Latino league renaissance. Three is there used to be a bunch of dumb money floating round out there (Galaxy, Steele, Surf, Laufa, Albion)....that money is largely gone (some exceptions)....given that it's hard to break into letter league without extreme connections unless you have those connections sinking money into club soccer is going to be a money loser.
So long and short, the hit's already been taken. If there's a downturn, it hits the middle and upper middle class mostly, but power has been consolidated so much in the letter league clubs, it's just going to downsize the remainder of the small indies and branches and maybe eliminate a few C teams (I'd watch EA and EA2 to see what happens there).
Really a huge divergence. Went to Irvine spectrum mall a few weeks back after a tournament and mall was literally packed shoulder to shoulder and then there was the layoffs that happened at UCSD and Sharp hospitals a month ago. On one of my DD team there has been a few (1-2)teammates that have had one out of the 2 parents lose a job in all these rounds of layoffs so just had me just think especially with how expensive club soccer is these days….
In the older ages if college is not really a consideration I just cannot seem to justify paying the club fees. I would say coming out of COVID it does seem more folks have stepped up to try to compete and do the extra private trainings, camps, keep paying the ever ending sky rocketing club fees, and now I heard Albion has like some soccer school and just got me curious as to where do folks end up folding. I know there is some deep pockets out here in socal but not everyone plus with the economy looking a bit sketchy just got me curious….