SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Youth $occer is an eliti$t $port

What's the total annual costs (uniforms, training fees, league fees, tournament fees, mandatory club camps, hotels, gas, airfare, ground transportation, meals, misc expenses) of a CESA Premier player in the girls u16, u17, u18 age groups?

Sandman,

I am sorry that some club has wronged you in some way.

SCYSA used to not have a requirement to take the youth license. This requirement came into being about 6 years ago because of a lot issues in the Rec program. Parents where wanting to coach their kids but had no clue how to do it. So USYSA came up with the youth module and asked all states to require licenses for their coaches. I have done the course and it is well worth the $25 and 3 hours of time. I think it is a good requirement for parents that want to coach. And the module you are complaining about, is taken by parents that do not receive a DIME from coaching. And coaches that are paid usually have some type of higher license anyways and never spend a day in the youth module...

If you are mad because you have to take it then get over it and do it. You may accidentally learn something from it...

nope. i haven't been wronged & i just have an E license which i'm sure is laughable to some here.
& i wasn't making a statement of all the fine soccer coaches/programs around the state. i am wondering when & how did money take over this sport? we've all heard the many complaints from other parents regarding the continued escalation of costs.
there also seems to be alot of hispanics/blacks missing from the sport which i guess is related to the many cost requirements.
volleyball is quickly headed that way also.

Coach Chass you are exactly right... the costs are driven by demand. Demand for the extra training, the better coach, the name of the club, etc. IMHO the cost of soccer is not much different than travel baseball, softball, competitive cheering, dance etc. For example, we have a local pitching hitting group, called coach Dave's I am sure they do it for free, or for very little. I wonder how much D1 training cost? I know because we checked, it is not cheap, by any stretch of the imagination.

Soccer is not the only upside down sport in the great old USA.

Speaking of upside down, parents holding boys out of 8th grade so they can get a year older before they go to high school... happens all the time in American Football... now that is upside down, and all screwed up to me. Really, IMHO it is cheating. But hey, do what floats your boat. Sorry for changing the subject...

Sorry Zen, My kids have played travel Premier soccer, SCJGA golf, travel volleyball,travel baseball, and high school football and wrestling. And have paid fees in all of those sports, and soccer by far,(REAL FAR) is the most expensive out of all of them. I had 2 kids playing high school football, scjga golf and travel volleyball and those combined did not cost me what soccer cost us in the same time period. You're correct though in saying soccer clubs are going to charge what the market bears. That's why I said soccer clubs base their business plan on "THERE'S A SUCKER BORN EVERY MINUTE". I was one of them. Youth soccer clubs truly has to be one of the biggest scams in all american youth sports.

i don't agree with the demand driven argument, i think most parents would be more than happy if everyone scaled it back a bit, time & money.

That's just it...it's not about what everyone is HAPPY investing...it's about what people are WILLING to invest if they believe that's the package deal their kids need. Almost every retailer could cut back on prices and still make a profit...but as long as people line up to buy at current prices, why would they? Restaurants could serve smaller portions at lower prices and still have people leaving full, without the doggie bags...but if people believe the huge portions are the way to go and keep buying them...why would they?

i think its a peer pressure driven model & parents (these days) are an easy sell. overindulgement is the key to the soccer sell.
this model would be laughed out of the park by parents of the 70's. who is right or wrong?..thats up to you.
i do wonder if the current model would change if the program/coaches could hear what the other side of the pitch is muttering about...probably not is my guess....again just my observations over 10yrs & humble opinion for what its worth. btw, my soccer star & i are very happy with our chosen course....but what do i know?

you said "need" was the funniest part

Parents could hold all of the power in Club Soccer if they wanted to. I wish we would of organized a team parent group when we started all of this Premier Soccer years ago. Power is in numbers and a big Soccer Club hates that. We had situations on our premier team over the years if a parent spoke out about excessive travel, expenses, lack of confidence in a coach they were summoned to the Club office for a one on one with a director because it was detrimental to the team. I can't remember any of the concerns the parents brought up being detrimental, just opinions and looking out for their child and hard earned money. The Club just wanted us to cut the check and stay out of the way. If I was to give any good advice to parents just starting out in travel soccer it would be organizing a parent group. Don't tell the club, or you'll be getting a phone call.