Time Magazine- How kids sports became a $15 Billion industry

Calisoccer11 said:
.... I do draw the line on the amount I will pay though--I've noticed the last couple of years, the price for privates has gone way up. Use to be $40/hr and maybe $80/hr for a high end coach. Now $100 to $150/hr is not unheard of but I digress....
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What morons are paying over $100 for an hour of privates? That is insane. My DD does privates and charges per session $25 (one player of a military member or retired veteran) to $50 (2 non-military players) for an hour session. She normally ends up doing over 60 minutes. She currently has 9 players she is working with which nets her around $300 a week which is more than enough for a college student. The other trainers she knows charge between $30 and $60, but do not have the military discount.
 
Why do most kids need private lesson's for soccer anyway? Golf, Tennis, some others I can understand more since you can't just pickup a ball and play without others involved or acquire skills after a certain point.

I have meet very few kids who ask for privates lesson, most of the time its the parent's who has some image of what their kids should be or at a certain level driving this.

I have personally meet, talked to or know professional players in multiple sports who never had privates or a trainer before going pro.

Talk about wasting $ and kids childhoods. Don't over emphasis youth sports or there importance. Being a well rounded individual with educational, job, people, and other skills is more important IMO.

"Seventy percent of children leave organized sports by the age 13, according to research by the National Alliance for Sports. ... Walmart would figure out a different business model but in youth sports, we seem to be very satisfied with a 70% dropout rate."

How to make your kid hate sports without really trying
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/21/health/kids-youth-sports-parents/index.html

Why are kids walking away?

"One of the main reasons kids are walking away is because of injuries due to overuse, many of the people I interviewed for this story say. Every year, more than 3.5 million children under the age 14 need treatment for sports injuries, with nearly half of all sports injuries for middle and high school students caused by overuse, according to research".

Youth Sports are good but when its the school, coach, or parent driven rather than student driven then what's the point?
Cheerleaders Forced Into Painful Splits: Police Are Becoming Involved
https://www.yahoo.com/tv/cheerleaders-forced-painful-splits-police-043151647.html
 
ATRTDT said:
What about the parents who have ZERO knowledge in a sport their kids have picked up?

You cant get better at hitting a baseball until someone teaches you how to swing a bat right. I would rather start off with a solid foundation with professional coaching then having to reinvent the wheel 5-6 years in a sport.

Anything in moderation is beneficial.
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It's not just the 0 knowledge issue. First, from my own experience with the Calsouth licensing is that unlike say Coever licensing, they don't put a focus, and don't believe the coaches should put a focus, on individual player's skills. As I've written before, in my exam I put together an exercise to teach 9 year olds the fundamentals of crossing a ball...the instructor said the kids should be learning that outside the context of team training....team training is there primarily to get them to work their skill set together as a team and to learn through realistic situations under pressure. So, if your child has deficiencies, under their system it's basically up to the parent, child, club academy and/or trainer (not the coach) to fix those individual deficiencies...the coach's primary concern should be the team.

So second, your kid has to work on that stuff outside of team practice....where do they do it....hopefully you're the type of parent that has a lot of time to work with them after work and a lighted field because there aren't a whole lot of free range kids out there that they can play with now days in pickup scrimmages.

Third, I coached my son in the GK slot but he's kind of reached the limit of my knowledge. Fortunately, his GK coach at the club is really good and they have academy once a week, but I've noticed the coach picks up on a lot of little details that I don't (and I've gone through the basic Calsouth licensing, did a GK course in Italy, done the Coever goalkeeping course, watched the NCAA videos, and was a hs goalkeeper)....to correct those details at the level he's at now, DS needs someone who can pick up on those details. And even then I'm wondering how long it will be (a few years maybe?) before I have to send him at least a few times to a GK academy because I've noticed our club's coach does things a little bit old school.

Fourth, in my experience you get what you pay for. If you just need someone help your child practice but not look at those little details, they generally tend to charge less. The fact that people are obsessed with licensing requirements (which have NOTHING to do with individual training) also helps inflate those (why train with a C when you can get an A!). The goalkeeper licensing requirements in particular are stupid.....why do you need your B before you can get the GK license?
 
LilStriker said:
Well, you can also look at it that Melanie, probably one of the best players in the country in her age group chooses to play for Surf...
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One of the best 8 year olds? Let's give it a few years before calling her the next OM. Her parents putting the idea in her head that NEYMAR plays like HER isn't a good start.
 
Just watched a broadcast of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO. It was season 23 episode 8 that aired om 8/22/17. It addresses travel sports and the businesses that thrive upon it.
 
Calisoccer11 said:
This was a good article and also bit depressing to me. Instagram, Snap Chap, and these You Tube media stars have also seemingly increased the pressure to be the BEST at all times. So much for a 10 year old that still has so much growing to do. I wish we can see what happens to these budding super stars--do they maintain a level of success or do they burn out?

And I' am one of those parents who have been sucked in and pay ridiculous amounts of money for extra training. I figure as long as my DD loves doing these extra sessions, I will support it. I do draw the line on the amount I will pay though--I've noticed the last couple of years, the price for privates has gone way up. Use to be $40/hr and maybe $80/hr for a high end coach. Now $100 to $150/hr is not unheard of but I digress....
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If you got the money why not? I've got the money and don't mind spending the extra $300-500 a week for privates. We've also have paid for tutoring before and piano for my other children. Nothing wrong with flexing my success and using the income on my children. I see nothing wrong with spending money on my children.
 
chargerfan said:
One of the best 8 year olds? Let's give it a few years before calling her the next OM. Her parents putting the idea in her head that NEYMAR plays like HER isn't a good start.
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They must be some horrible parents for having their daughter on the cover. Shame on them, their daughter having self confidence is also horrible parenting. By the way I think you misread she's 9. We've had the pleasure of playing against this girl multiple times and like other posters have said, she is phenomenal. Quite honestly she does do all the little tricks like Neymar. If you talk to coaches around youth soccer in So Cal they will all tell you she's in the 1% tile. Nice humble kid, not a chest pounder.
 
chargerfan said:
One of the best 8 year olds? Let's give it a few years before calling her the next OM. Her parents putting the idea in her head that NEYMAR plays like HER isn't a good start.
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I know this kid and she's a real humble, quiet kid, most likely an honest mistake in how she responded. Her skills are off the hook. This was a video someone made of her when she was 7. Who knows where she ends up but helluva lot of fun to watch right now.

 
Isn't the crazy evolution of kid sports in line with many other things in society today? If you think of how things were 10 - 20 years ago, applying for colleges or jobs was not nearly as competitive as it is today. I didn't have friends hiring private consultants to help them with the college applications...but that sounds like the norm today.
 
LilStriker said:
I know this kid and she's a real humble, quiet kid, most likely an honest mistake in how she responded. Her skills are off the hook. This was a video someone made of her when she was 7. Who knows where she ends up but helluva lot of fun to watch right now.
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I just saw a kid score 6 goals in an AYSO game and she was only 4!
Hope those parents were taping.
 
Bluesclues said:
If you got the money why not? I've got the money and don't mind spending the extra $300-500 a week for privates. We've also have paid for tutoring before and piano for my other children. Nothing wrong with flexing my success and using the income on my children. I see nothing wrong with spending money on my children.
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Agreed. We all spend our disposable (adjective is so apropos) income in different ways.

$300-500/week x 50 weeks/yr (hopefully you give your kids Christmas/Thanksgiving week off!) = $15,000 - $25,000 per year for private soccer lessons

Is Messi giving your kid private lessons?!?
 
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