So this young girl built a practice field in the back yard and hired a coach? Hired an agent? Decided to sign earlier than anyone before, and then aggressively publicize it?
Interesting perspective.
Turning Pro at 13
- Thread starter sdb
- Start date
So this young girl built a practice field in the back yard and hired a coach? Hired an agent? Decided to sign earlier than anyone before, and then aggressively publicize it?
Interesting perspective.
I honestly don’t care what she and her parents decide for her life but how about we stop putting her on a pedestal like she is a brave, innovative, role model for all female players - there is nothing about her path that is interesting or brave to me and am definitely not looking for how this paves a pathway for women’s soccer going forward. I’m much more interested in what type of human being my player becomes as an adult and what she will contribute to society.
Supermodel56
SILVER ELITE
And yet, here you are in this thread...
Hello Supermodel- I was responding jokingly to Outside’s comment about HIM considering $$ over college for his own family- not criticizing the path of anyone.
I am completely in awe of this for this one girl as she is clearly special in the soccer world. I agree with you and don’t think it sounds like it’s about the money for her and family. It’s her dream. And I like seeing dreams come true for young people female and male alike!
Chalklines
GOLD
Why does everyone assume her parents are wealthy?
Valencia? Reminds me of Ontario with similar housing prices even if they live back in Stevensons Ranch.
Trainer on salary? Write off since they own their own business.
Soccer field? Another write off even if they dropped $100k. So the family didn't drop a pool in the back yard that sucks money out of their pockets everytime the filter turns on.
I'm thinking the drive and marketing push is because the family is middle class. People who have never had a taste at wealth are more willing to take chances like this then steer the course of a high school / college / grad school / career.
Valencia? Reminds me of Ontario with similar housing prices even if they live back in Stevensons Ranch.
Trainer on salary? Write off since they own their own business.
Soccer field? Another write off even if they dropped $100k. So the family didn't drop a pool in the back yard that sucks money out of their pockets everytime the filter turns on.
I'm thinking the drive and marketing push is because the family is middle class. People who have never had a taste at wealth are more willing to take chances like this then steer the course of a high school / college / grad school / career.
SoccerFan4Life
PREMIER
You are right there’s somewhat of a double standard. However, the upside has to make sense for anyone. Her upside doesn’t add up compared to a boy that could make millions or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Also I can’t think of any 13 year old boy going pro and succeeding. Other than Freddy Adu and we all know how bad that went. All others move up the academy ranks and the best will go pro at age 16-17. 13 is way too young.
Hopefully she continues the love and passion to play soccer if she fails to make the starting team in a few years.
Are you saying they are not wealthy, they are just tax cheats?
Yes, because I am curious about human nature and why many are holding her up as a role model or a path to follow. I am interested in the discussion. It isn’t logical to me as SoccerFan just stated “Her upside doesn’t add up”
Supermodel56
SILVER ELITE
If she’s already homeschooled, she’s really got nothing to lose except the opportunity to play college ball. So long as she keeps up her academic work, if come 17 and it starts to look like this is no longer an opportunity worth pursuing, she can always decide to go to college and play in a semi-pro league during college instead.
Your argument that there’s no money in women’s soccer today is fair. But this is the best time to challenge that - at a young age when you can still recover. I really see low risk here.
there are many other factors to a developing teenage girl than how well they play soccer and what they soccer path is. the environment, her social world, her intellectual growth and maturity, and her growing identity in this world are a few other important factors. It is different from boys, to not understand that and take that into consideration is not understanding an adolescent girl.
I am also a realist. I believe women's professional basketball has been around much longer than pro soccer and there is still a significant difference in money between men and women's pro basketball. I just don't see the pro women's salaries going up enough to make a difference in the disparity.
I am also a realist. I believe women's professional basketball has been around much longer than pro soccer and there is still a significant difference in money between men and women's pro basketball. I just don't see the pro women's salaries going up enough to make a difference in the disparity.
Women's soccer is more pleasant to watch for a soccer fan than women's basketball is for a basketball fan.
Home business, homeschooled - maybe they can start their own soccer league.
How do you know this? The women's game is growing quickly. Many of the top teams in Europe now have professional women's teams. You have no idea what the financial rewards might be in 10 years? You can guess but you literally have no idea. Someone always has to be the first to break the mold. There's plenty of players in the MLS making no more than a solid salary in any other business. Are they making a mistake too?
oh canada
GOLD
Accounting 101: In order to have a "writeoff" you need to have more income than it.
PR 101: Perception is more important than reality. I think what annoys most people about this is the premature crowning of a 13-year old as anything more than one of the best players in her age group. That's not her fault. It's Nike's and her publicity hungry parents. Did I miss a Nike commercial featuring Pulisic 7 years ago? Messi at 16yrs? This girl is getting more pub than 13-year old Lebron James Jr. Because of it, 50% of folks are going to root against her just to say, "Told you so, another Todd Marinovich." And that's a bummer for her.
Jennifer Capriati made the French Open semifinal at 14yrs. There's a 10yr old swimmer currently beating Michael Phelps' records (would you believe his name is Clark Kent
). These are examples of impressive and tangible achievements for kids. So is becoming the National Spelling Bee Champ. If you're worried you might not get the cards, early bluffing can still get you the win. Just need to convince others that you do.
SoccerFan4Life
PREMIER
The question at hand is does it make sense for a 13 year old to skip school and miss out on being a kid to go pro. Some on this post say “Yes because she is trailblazing and leading the path for a future growth of women’s soccer”.
That’s not trailblazing nor any type of leadership for any young girl.
Trailblazing was the US women team of the first World Cup. Trailblazing is women fighting for the right to get paid more or equal to the men’s soccer team. There’s a top notch women professional soccer player in Europe right now that is passing on the chance to player for her country due to political and personal beliefs. That’s impressive.
If you want your daughter or future girls to go pro at 13, then you need to check your beliefs. Even if it was a 13 year old boy, I would say the same thing.
16 or 17 years of age, ok maybe then. But at age 13, absolutely not.
Excellent post! Exactly. This is a personal choice for her and her family but I don’t see this as a way to change or improve women’s professional soccer.
On another note, How many child star actors turned out well? If you treat a child like an adult and emerge them in an adult environment when they are still kids it often isn’t good for them. There is some basic science involved where their frontal lobes are not developed yet which is the area of their brain that is needed for complex decision making and planning and analysis.
On another note, How many child star actors turned out well? If you treat a child like an adult and emerge them in an adult environment when they are still kids it often isn’t good for them. There is some basic science involved where their frontal lobes are not developed yet which is the area of their brain that is needed for complex decision making and planning and analysis.
MacDre
PREMIER
Let’s not fight over semantics, but I don’t see OM’s situation as much different than Pugh.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.espn...t-readyworld-here-comes-mal-pugh?platform=amp
Based on my limited experience with my 11 year old daughter, I think certain kids are gonna have to make a choice earlier. I don’t think money will be a problem for the few kids that are chosen.
I think OM is being used to put everyone on notice of the evolution of women’s soccer in the
USA.
Does the "evolution" include contracts for players who have yet to prove themselves in any meaningful competition?