That's one way to deal with the mafia. I like your advice on saving money for college. I don't know when and how soccer became a 529. I signed my kid up to play and have fun and then I saw the mafia at work when she was on top of the goal scoring list in socal. Don't you dare question the Boss at one of these soccer families either.
The SoCal Youth Soccer Mafia™ : A Deep Dive Into the Corrupt, Shadowy Cartel Clusterfuck That Is Ruining the Game In the Nation
- Thread starter FrankoRunner99
- Start date
There are a lot of clubs and coaches that are responsible for making the parents delusional. When the parents don’t know, they believe the coaches who say their kid could be a star. With the clubs moving younger and younger, these parents don’t get the time to learn the truth that they might have learned going through an ayso rec -> all star -> extra -> club pathway from 5-9 years old.
If you take 4 years at a club from flight 3 to flight 1 the parents also get caught up in the sunk cost fallacy. Most parents just don’t know enough to find the futsal and rec programs for the littles before their delusion is activated.
100% chipmonk. It starts when the kid is playing AYSO at 6 years old and a "scout" comes up to mommy and daddy after the hard fought AYSO game and says, "hey, I'm coach so and so and I see your kid has what it takes to be elite soccer player. Now, do you have what it takes (cash is King folks) to help your future star get the college scholarship?" Parent is all blushing with pride that someone beside the parent can see how good Sally is and will be. They sign up and see all the instagram posts of the clubs senior players getting scholarships. and the rest takes time and money. Tryouts are now happening for those born in 2020. No need to go to AYSO to get scouted. Take Sally to tryouts at 5 now. Good luck you guys.
Now you have become a wise father but it's too late
Hard work and talent can only get you so far in this sport. I agree it's not all doom and gloom and we have some solid coaches with impeccable characters. Good luck 100% to your amazing dd
This is a good side-note which is probably one of the more important points to emphasize. You can often tell the difference between a coach/team using you for money, and a kid who is actually talented/skilled, by whether or not you are offered the ability to play on a team without paying (or with a substantial discount). Every coach and club will tell you your kid is good, should be playing club, etc. It's substantially more rare to hear something like "we would like your kid to play for club X; we'll take care of the fees if you decide to join". Note that you're probably never going to hear the latter unless your kid is actually good (see also: scholarships at the college level).
That is exactly what happen to me bro. Club X(s) called my phone when the age change happened in 2016. I spoke to 5 Docs in SoCal and everyone offered full ride, all travel expenses covered (for my kid only), free uniforms, free training. I was told and sold this was mandated by the Girls Development Academy. You see, that was the bait used t get me to leave the current club. GDA told all the clubs the top team in each age group had to be free. Then all of sudden, the parents whose kid didn't make the GDA complained and offered to pay to play as long as their kid got 25% starts.
Justhereforthepopcorn
BRONZE
in reading the replies to this post and the people posting them I must be in a Mandela Effect right now and we must be in an alternate universe or time line!
If FREE was the case, some DA clubs need to give refunds......Even when DA disbanded, no refunds were made during the current year...
It was sold and billed as the same as the boys DA. The boys paid ZERO. I was told and sold by all the higher ups in Socal that all clubs in the DA had to be FULLY FUNDED. I was so excited and felt finally the girls can get free soccer, just like the boys. The club I was at told me if they gave full rides to everyone they would go out of business. I left for greener pasture and free soccer.
I asked the Google AI team the following question.
Q. Was the girls development academy supposed to be fully funded?
A. Yes, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy was fully funded with millions of dollars to ensure the clubs had resources to compete and train. The academy was created in the mid-2000s by U.S. Soccer officials to help develop top soccer players. However, the academy was shut down in 2020 due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The girls clubs transitioned to the Girls Academy (GA) or Elite Clubs National League (ECNL).
A soccer academy is a training program where professional soccer clubs help young players develop into footballers. However, being part of an academy doesn't guarantee that a player will become a professional, but they did get to start 25% of the games.
Q. Was the girls development academy supposed to be fully funded?
A. Yes, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy was fully funded with millions of dollars to ensure the clubs had resources to compete and train. The academy was created in the mid-2000s by U.S. Soccer officials to help develop top soccer players. However, the academy was shut down in 2020 due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The girls clubs transitioned to the Girls Academy (GA) or Elite Clubs National League (ECNL).
A soccer academy is a training program where professional soccer clubs help young players develop into footballers. However, being part of an academy doesn't guarantee that a player will become a professional, but they did get to start 25% of the games.
Attachments
Were you able to see the attachment? It was a receipt for payment for being on Beach DA back in the day, when it was supposed to be fully funded. One of many payments...lmk if you can see it and lmk your thoughts..
Beach FC was the only club that didn't contact me. Kicker said I was full of shit when I claimed I was offered full rides from 5 clubs and ech Doc told me, "We need to fully fund our top teams, just like the boys."
I see it and when I reply it goes away. Beach FC made their parents pay to play. LAFC, OC Surf, Surf, Legends and Pats all offered full rides and all of them told me that they had to fully fund their top teams in two years, or they can't have DA. Was it all true? Was it wishful thinking? I think Pats was the only club that followed orders. This is why Blues lost so many players for the first time ever.
Galaxy was 100% fully funded, but I was not contacted by them. I can't speak for Beach and why they made their parents pay to play the game. Don't feel bad. I found out a rich parent actually paid the dues for my child and travel and not the club or the DA. I was pissed off when I found out. I was tricked by a few dads in high positions. I was bought by a dad in exchange for her goals, SMFH!!!
Hope it all worked out for your child...Times are surely changing with with each passing day. Glad to have gotten mine into college before it all changes for the worst. Keep on "Crushin" it...
Always
Code
GOLD
^this