Big Daddy,
I too have kids in HS Soccer, but I also have some playing club. I would agree HS is not free by any means. Recreational soccer is fairly inexpensive, but club soccer is a whole different level. So, if the local Y offered soccer at $70 or so and they usually have "Scholarships" for those in need, this would be a viable option for MS at the starter level of soccer. However, if those same kids moved up to Classic, those fees start to multiply. Throw in some challenge and premier paired with ODP, camps, etc and it really can be burdensome.
But on this level, an individual family can choose to participate or not.
The question is what about at the MS level? The next question will be what about the JV level? We know the big sports with lots of fans drive the athletics choices. As soccer supporters we are often on the short end of that stick. I see the culture slowly (sloth-like) changing as more and more families play soccer, but it is still a game dominated by the revenue sports.
I go to a soccer complex on the weekend and there are easily hundreds of people watching, cheering, and supporting soccer. I go to a high school game and there are less than 100- really 50 for girls soccer or JV soccer. We have to find a way to increase support for soccer.
Your point about cutting the peripherally relevant programs is interesting. For too long we have depended on schools to be the main vehicle to enact cultural change. It has become too much of a Walmart because that is what was mandated and expected. I think about the free lunch/breakfast programs, the nurses care, the social services attached to schools, the parenting programs, the language support programs, and on and on it goes. If we remove all of this to include sports from our schools, who will step in to provide these services in the local community?
In these dire financial times, we may have to really answer that question....
Last edited by dawgknows; 03/16/10 03:47 PM.
