Zlatan says it’s too expensive to play youth soccer

[aong cangkol]

AYSO rec cost 160 in my area for 10 games/2.5 months (AYSO extra cost more for uniform etc.).
club is still more expensive but ayso is not in 45-90 range like someone said.
100% sure this is the only country in the world that soccer is an expensive sport.

 

[Dargle]

Isn't one of Zlatan's kids though a teenager? Curious then if/why he wasn't in the LA Galaxy Academy program. Presumably one possible reason is he didn't want the commitment in case he moved teams again?

His older kid was in a local westside club, but he moved to Galaxy DA midway through the fall season.

 

[RuffRef]

The ART or exclusion and monetization of athletics. i cant understand why pick up basketball is free, but the pick up futsal cost $20-$40 bucks on the same court in the same gym>.
Everybody knows the issue, but they want to keep it in the closet. The game is for everyone,,but all the benefits of the game are for the ones that can afford the inflated Co$ts.

 

[SDMama]

Zlatan's comments are limited purely to club soccer. There are many opportunities for non-club players/parents to play soccer:
1) City Recreational Leagues
2) AYSO
3) the Mexican Leagues
4) Middle School and HS Soccer programs

All of the above generally cost between $45 to $95 per season.

Our middle school soccer (run by Boys and Girls Club) costs over $200. HS costs $750 if you pay all the recommended/requested costs/donations. Our local club’s fall recreational program is $300-$400.

 

[messy]

If you have grades, you don't need help getting in the door

If you don’t have grades soccer gets you in the door. I have a kid with a 3.0 asked to play for Ivy League teams and D3 schools that he never would have gotten into but for soccer.

 

[messy]

The ART or exclusion and monetization of athletics. i cant understand why pick up basketball is free, but the pick up futsal cost $20-$40 bucks on the same court in the same gym>.
Everybody knows the issue, but they want to keep it in the closet. The game is for everyone,,but all the benefits of the game are for the ones that can afford the inflated Co$ts.

Sounds right to me. Maybe add that to the reasons US soccer sucks?

 

[MWN]

Our middle school soccer (run by Boys and Girls Club) costs over $200. HS costs $750 if you pay all the recommended/requested costs/donations. Our local club’s fall recreational program is $300-$400.

Those are higher than I typically see, you must live on the coast or a high impact area from a field stand point. This year I got real lucky, my kid went to play for an inland club team (Coast Gold) in an economically depressed area. My total club dues were something like $200, plus referee fees and tournament fees (probably paid $400 total for the season). Our recommended HS contribution was $175 or $275 to help offset the busing costs.

 

[SoccerFan4Life]

Here’s

Is there a sport left that doesn't cost a fortune if you want "good" coaches and play at a high level... which means tournaments and travel? Volleyball isn't it... softball isn't it... basketball isn't it. I can see some exceptions finding a route playing AYSO or a lower level comp program, but what venues are they even being seen by coaches? Maybe a fluke "ID camp" at a school?

Soccer is a global sport and a good portion of the elite players come from underprivileged areas. The point here is that it shouldn’t cost so much to play a sport where it’s basically free in the rest of the world. You have amazing players in cities like Santa Ana or Anaheim that get zero visibility because parents cannnot afford $3k a year. Imagine a single Orange County league where you only travel within the County and it’s only $500 a year to play. The best players make it to to an all star team and they play an all star tournament against LA County and other counties for just a few weekends a year. From this point you get the USA national team to find the best of the best and take them to academies with all expenses paid (room, school, food).

Today, It’s madness to see u littles teams traveling all over SoCal at flight 3/bronze level or even silver paying close to $3k in some cases.
Eliminate these scdsl/csl leagues and make it one league.

Make it affordable and easy for parents to commit to the sport and kids to have fun and flexibility to play another sport. Don’t make it a year round commitment unless you get to academy and even there give them some flexibility to do other high school sports for a few months.

 

[timbuck]

Here’s



Soccer is a global sport and a good portion of the elite players come from underprivileged areas. The point here is that it shouldn’t cost so much to play a sport where it’s basically free in the rest of the world. You have amazing players in cities like Santa Ana or Anaheim that get zero visibility because parents cannnot afford $3k a year. Imagine a single Orange County league where you only travel within the County and it’s only $500 a year to play. The best players make it to to an all star team and they play an all star tournament against LA County and other counties for just a few weekends a year. From this point you get the USA national team to find the best of the best and take them to academies with all expenses paid (room, school, food).

Today, It’s madness to see u littles teams traveling all over SoCal at flight 3/bronze level or even silver paying close to $3k in some cases.
Eliminate these scdsl/csl leagues and make it one league.

Make it affordable and easy for parents to commit to the sport and kids to have fun and flexibility to play another sport. Don’t make it a year round commitment unless you get to academy and even there give them some flexibility to do other high school sports for a few months.

Totally agree.
But it will take a parent revolt to make it happen. No way the current league and club structure will give up the money.

 

[The Outlaw *BANNED*]

Here’s



Soccer is a global sport and a good portion of the elite players come from underprivileged areas. The point here is that it shouldn’t cost so much to play a sport where it’s basically free in the rest of the world. You have amazing players in cities like Santa Ana or Anaheim that get zero visibility because parents cannnot afford $3k a year. Imagine a single Orange County league where you only travel within the County and it’s only $500 a year to play. The best players make it to to an all star team and they play an all star tournament against LA County and other counties for just a few weekends a year. From this point you get the USA national team to find the best of the best and take them to academies with all expenses paid (room, school, food).

Today, It’s madness to see u littles teams traveling all over SoCal at flight 3/bronze level or even silver paying close to $3k in some cases.
Eliminate these scdsl/csl leagues and make it one league.

Make it affordable and easy for parents to commit to the sport and kids to have fun and flexibility to play another sport. Don’t make it a year round commitment unless you get to academy and even there give them some flexibility to do other high school sports for a few months.

You can't hire coaches with an accent, that "played at a high level in Great Britain", for $500 per year.