So I looked up that National Youth License and it has nothing to do with what is required to coach in South Carolina. The NYL is more of a psychological/developmental license (it appears) for training young kids age 6-12 and a sort of "conference" supplement to a license a coach already has. A lot of feedback says it's specifically great for DOCs and people looking to start clubs. And you already have to have a "D" license to even take the course. It is NOT required for coaching.
If you want to coach in SC, depending on the level, you have to have a Youth Module, "E" or "D" License.
Youth Module - coaching through U12
$25 for 3 hours of training
"E" License - all rec and classic through U13
$60 for 3 days of training
"D" License - all youth soccer at any level, though "C" is preferred for U14+ classic
$125 for 6 days of training
A lot of times, clubs will lower or pay for the cost to get their coaches licensed if they hold the actual course. I think I paid a low amount for my "D" License with MPSC years ago compared to the out of town coaches who came in for it.
At any rate, getting indignant over the YSL being $525 is a little unnecessary as it's not required or needed to coach...and it's not even directed at the part-time volunteer coach.
As for the cost argument...when I played, the major cost was travel expenses. The solution there is easy: don't let your kid play on a travel team. I loved traveling for soccer and I got a lot out of it, especially the trip we took to Oslo, Norway. Staying in South Carolina gave us MAYBE two competitive games a season, but traveling to tournaments gave us better competition and, when it was started, Premier League gave us consistent, good competition. I didn't travel to get noticed by Coach X at RandomWesternUniversity, I traveled to play good, hard soccer in cool places. Did I miss out on hanging out at home and getting into stupid teenager stuff? Probably. Do I ever, for one moment, regret the travel and the games? Heck no. Did it hurt me to travel and play Premier League instead of stay home and socialize? I'm about to turn 24, I'm in my last year of medical school, and I have a great group of friends and classmates that I spend plenty of time with and I still play soccer in adult leagues. Suffice it to say, I don't think it hurt me much.
There are a lot of reasons to not play travel league soccer, but saying it's because YOU think your kid will regret not being home shouldn't be one of them. Who's to say they won't regret NOT doing it? Let the player decide whether or not that's important to them.
SC is so small as a soccer community, you have to travel out of state to get consistently good competition without playing the same teams all the time. But if you don't want to pay to travel, then don't. Vote with your feet.
