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gbdawgs, I have to disagree; I believe spending various amounts of money can certainly make a person a "better" soccer player, but not necessarily a "good" one. I've seen plenty of players who were fantastic, “natural” athletes, and who appeared to have lots of potential on the soccer field, but even with lots of extra time and effort spent with them, in the end, they just weren't meant to be soccer players.

Chass, how 'bout this: what if a club is "all about winning championships," but "the potential for profit that winning championships can generate" just comes as a side benefit of winning those championships?

I'd say if the revenue is a "side benefit" of a commitment to developing the best players at the best level of competition, then it's probably well-deserved. A business model centered around developing the best possible players and teams with less regard to profit would look a bit different from one centered around meeting championship expectations while maintaining a high profit margin. Just depends on which is regarded as the icing and which the cake, I suppose.

In my experience, pessimistic as this may sound, elite club soccer is a business first. As with all businesses, you attract customers with an image -- in this case, winning. Parents "understand" it; children prefer it. To win, you recruit. To maximize profit, you attract PAYING customers.

Not saying this is right or wrong. Just saying this as a parent who has been approached by various club coaches, and as an observer, who has seen clubs in this Region aggressively recruit during supposedly "dead" times (as in, during the season).

One more thing we fail to account for: Coaches are inherently competitive. In the absence of any other metric, they measure themselves by wins and losses. My point to all parents is simple. Give me the best "made" players, and I'll win games IN ANY SPORT. I just won't confuse winning for making kids better at what they do. Winning and development are not mutually exclusive. They just shouldn't be confused for each other.

excellent posts..