Most of you have no idea the REAL goal of travel soccer

[Anonymous]

No real goal. Travel is a joke. You sports parents try to live thru your kids. So sad.

[Anonymous]

Troll

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No real goal. Travel is a joke. You sports parents try to live thru your kids. So sad.

Parent spending money on travel sports for their kids = sad

Vs.

Parent posting anonymous messages late at night on a travel soccer blog, making fun of parents whose kids play travel soccer = somehow not sad?

That is some interesting logic by PP.

[Anonymous]

Non-sports parents don't love their children. Most of these parents can't be bothered to get off the couch on the weekend to take their kids outside for some exercise and let them feed on a diet of donuts and coke...And then these parents piss and moan when junior can't fit his 48 inch waist into the sweatpants he got for his last birthday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am from an African country where kids actually know how to play soccer and they do everywhere, without shoes, with a ball made of socks etc. I am sorry to say, but this game your kids play here is not soccer. The injuries are unbelievable. It is not your fault, you are trying hard. But those coaches suck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this is not a place for serious soccer discussion. It's a place for dumping on anything american related to soccer. or anything american, for that matter. i suspect most are self loathing americans, not foreign nationals. if you haven't figured that out by now, you aren't paying attention.

The OP is spot on about travel soccer not being a good value for the money, and the #1 reason is because the system isn't set up to do what needs to be done. It's not "self-loathing" to say the US soccer establishment works against success in the game for Americans. It's the truth.

They pretty much have a captive audience, because even if it seems like $3,000 a year is a lot of money, try doing what Christian Pulisic's father did for him. Not only would it cost a lot more to send him overseas, you've also got to remember that: 1. His dad is a soccer coach, and Dortmund hired him, so he had a source of income in-country. 2. He had dual citizenship with Croatia, making him an EU national. Huge difference in access to training.

If you're lucky enough to do that, great. But for the rest of us, there needs to be an option for a pro pathway for young players. (And please don't tell me about MLS -- they haven't been serious about that for years, and are only now -- maybe -- starting on it.) We need solidarity payments so clubs have an incentive to develop pro players. We need more foreign pro academies that have real pipelines to their teams to push MLS out of its passive approach to player acquisition. In short, you need a system where the kids who have pro potential start getting financial, coaching AND competitive support to reach that goal.

[Anonymous]

go move to another country where your kid has even less of a chance to be a pro because of the sheer amount of competition.

[Anonymous]

Option C - because DD really wanted to and it wasn’t a financial hardship for our family. We know it’s pay to play around here. Her friends were also trying out so we carpool to practices and most of us do not believe our children will play long term or even in high school. It’s simply an activity they are choosing the participate in for now. She is not on a top team.

[Anonymous]

After 6 years in with my DS playing "elite travel" . We have put together the ultimate success plan. DS will play out his last few years of travel soccer U16 this year. Attend college while remaining involved with the sport. Finally we will start our own Travel soccer academy . Not to scam parents on selling them the dream. But we think this is the business plan the makes the most sense to assure my DS can make a comfortable living thru the game he loves. There is an entire country of untouched talent and more import underserved areas where families would love to spend $$$ for the travel experience without having to drive far for practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No real goal. Travel is a joke. You sports parents try to live thru your kids. So sad.

I didn't play soccer or lacrosse as a kid, was not a high school or college athlete. Put my kids in travel sports because they like it. Try again, idiot.

[Anonymous]

I'm just amazed that this thread was active all night long. Are you guys even local to be critiquing the landscape here?

[Anonymous]

My kid played travel soccer through high school. Not DA but decent level. He enjoyed soccer. He wanted to play on his high school team which was/is a very competitive one (wins the MD state championship frequently) and required playing at a high level (many of the kids were DA before or after playing HS). And he did play and was a varsity starter. Kids he played against DID go pro. Played club and intramural in college and had a great time. Soccer is a pretty cheap sport and unlike hockey or swimming there are tons of fields to play so it’s accessible. Limited equipment required. So there is an option in between your extremes.

Soccer isn’t any different than most sports. Few will end up playing professionally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Short version:

95% of travel soccer programs are ONLY about getting your money and playing off your egos to do so. They're full of coaches who lie to themselves more than they do to you about the quality of their teams and their real player development skills. And they do it mostly without truly realizing their full of BS and are simply protecting their way of life out of pure human nature.

5% of travel soccer programs are staffed with coaches and leaders who have actually been in the pro game and are truly plugged in to the global game and network of teams and agents, and who know the skill sets required of players to succeed. They work every day hoping they can get just one player ever couple of years to turn pro, but knowing that while they may be able to teach the skills necessary to all of their players, they can't teach the grit it really takes to succeed as a pro. And they know there's is a HUGE element of luck that leads to that one makes it.

Please ask yourself why you bother to spend money and time on travel soccer for your kids?

A) Is it the same reason you mow your lawn nicely, buy a new car, or post pictures of european vacations? In other words - is it because it's human nature to show off your success? And no matter how good your DD/DS really is or what they really want out of life, it's better that they are on a travel team (drive a nice car)?

OR

B) Is it because your son or daughter is truly gifted, works very hard to improve, spends more time on their own working on skills and soccer IQ than they actually do at organized practices, and tells you every day their dream is to play in a World Cup? Are they competitive at everything they do well beyond soccer?

If your answer is A, then you should really really really think about some self reflection..... and saving your money. You are being preyed upon by adult men who have determined their most valuable life skill is convincing parents of slightly above average skill that they should spend the equivalent of an Ivy League education chasing an unnecessary and impossible dream.

Myth 1 - Your kid plays travel soccer in order to get a college scholarship. But does your kid really want to play soccer in college? Most don't when it gets right down to it. They won't get the scholarship or won't actually play 4 years if they weren't the kid in scenario B above in the first place.

Myth 2 - Your kid plays soccer so they can get called in to play with the National Team and hopefully play in a World Cup? You are literally talking about 1% of 1% of 1% of all the kids who play travel soccer. News flash, if your kid is not playing with 18 year olds by the time they are 14, this isn't happening.

Fact 1 - If your kid is scenario B above, and wants any shot at Myth 2, the experience of professional soccer is what should be their goal. Most college scholarship players never get drafted, and most of the ones that do, don't get a contract. Boys and Girls. Pro soccer's peak age is 24, and most American kids who go the college route are 22 or 23 by the time they even get a chance on a pro field. The goal needs to be to go pro at 18 or 19 to have any real shot.

Fact 2 - 98% of youth soccer travel coaches have NO IDEA how to develop players to succeed at the pro level as a 19 or 20 year old. One very basic requirement is that the coach actually knows what it takes to be a pro. They must either have played at that level, or have worked many years with other coaches who have. Players can't spend their whole lives playing "on age", get to 18 and be thrown into a grown up world and expect to be near ready. Only programs that endeavor to push younger players up in age or find training opportunities with college age player or pros for their 16 and 17 year olds should even be able to say "we develop players". Everything else, everyone else, is just making a living off parents egos.

Say what you will about DC United or WS academies. Compare your U15 team results to their teams. Boast about he one time you played them in a tournament and won. It doesn't mean crapola to the truly professional coaches and clubs. What matters to them is nothing more than if they are producing 2-4 18 year olds every year that have a shot at succeeding as a pro within the next 3 years. And by definition, the other 6-8 high school seniors on those teams will get those college scholarships and still be equipped for a potential professional future.

Why do you do it?

Why do you care why we do it?

[Anonymous]

Is OP a Russian bot? This discussion is worthwhile. Youth soccer has been too much of a business where profit is prioritized over development. Parents are either too uninformed to know that they are not getting their money's worth or do not care and are willing to fork out $3,000+ a year and travel up and down the coast just so they can say that DC plays elite travel.

[Anonymous]

Travel fees = access to better competition in this area. If your child is great at soccer, he/she will run circles around rec players which is no fun at all for anyone.