OK, first off, sorry 'dadthatcares' for once again hijacking this thread but I promise I will end with a point on topic. But before we get there, let me delve into at least two thoughts that I can't shake based on two comments
an earlier quote
"soccer will never get the financial backing like football by sponsors and TV because they don't have a commercial every 3 minutes"
I'm not so sure, soccer is certainly gaining traction in the US, does have sex appeal for younger demographics, and it didn't stop Chevy dropping 559 million (yes more than half billion) bucks on MUFC jerseys. Anyway this sponsorship point is one worth thinking about. Heavens knows anyone who has followed my pious, soapbox'd, rants on accessibility for soccer will know that I would do almost anything to reduce participation costs and sponsorship certainly seems the key. HOWEVER...
As a parent and consumer I think it is reasonable for clubs/teams to set fees that are reasonable, and budget scholarships for those that can't find the cash (as much as is needed). Consider I am fairly confident that with a mind, we could raise sponsorships close to, or even equal to our (lower than most) annual operating fees with a little work and suspect many others could as well. But should we ? I say no. We have a choice and a responsibility to both register our children for soccer AND accept that costs do exist and we have to pay our way when we can. I have no problem with that. I remind myself that every penny directed toward youth soccer from community minded organizations (whether it is for publicity, self serving interest, or a more noble, altruistic motive) is a penny not spent on other charitable missions. Or at least could limit the available funds in a negative fashion. So sponsorship is great and I'll be begging (scratching) again over the off season, but in my opinion should not be considered the Holy Grail. Fees should be set that reflect value and administrators should try and make decisions that do not alienate families (based on funds available) would be my plea to us all.
This gets to the second thought with the post before that
"It was then suggested that the costs associated with youth soccer was due in part to the high salaries of soccer coaches instead of the fact that costs across the board have gone up for all youth activities"
Interesting comment and I'd love to learn more on this one. I have administered youth soccer for at least 4 years and have not seen any significant increase in base costs beyond a reasonable increase from SCYS this last year on registration. With the economy the way it has been, our rents have remained largely flat and in our case I will say operating costs have actually scaled favorably as we have seen some economies of scale as we have grown our player base. Our league costs and ref fees are I believe very close to what they were 5 years ago and for a U9/10 team would equal about $22 a game (< $3 per player). Now coaching costs are certainly variable (and so they should be beyond volunteers) as you are dealing with peoples skills and abilities but I can't think of any other major ticket or budget item that has gone up significantly in our case. Our fees actually went down this year.
Now sorry for distraction, back to topic
For those of you, never having witnessed a coaches scheduling meeting in all its glory, the challenge with building ideal schedules (mainly Saturday mornings missing College and Pro ball) on the weeks available are primarily due to 2 reasons. And remember most parents would love one game Saturday morning, and done. Especially if like me, you have multiple kids in the game.
Anyway these 2 reasons are
Tournaments: Coaches/Clubs prioritizing these over league play (many reasons for this and I think you can guess the main ones)
League blocking prime weekends out in middle of season due to tournaments (primary reason offered lack of refs)
Coaches with multiple teams: 2 is bad but once you have someone trying to juggle 3 teams, watch out, pretty much guarantee Sundays or weekdays, and that has a trickle down effect on all the other teams/coaches in that division. Don't get me started on that.
