Soccer--Washington Spirit DA $$$$$

[Anonymous]

http://washingtonspirit.com/da/development-academy-fees-and-faq/

$5000 per year.

[Anonymous]

That is an interesting read. So the "commitment fee" of $500 is not included in this $5000. And no travel to games is included. I recall a figure of $7k floated as the all-in cost at the beginning of this, and that's starting to sound pretty accurate.

[Anonymous]

Ouch!

[Anonymous]

I thought the lure of making DA was that the club paid for everything.

[PreMadonna]

I love the fact that Spirit is making their DA players subsidize the professional team. Why not lower the fee and let the player families decide whether they want season tickets? I can't count how many times I've heard that Spirit will subsidize the DA when it's actually the other way around. Next they'll require each DA player to board a professional player for at least 2 months and call it "special access to the professional team".

And given the cost for travel (DA national events, lots of local travel), I'd bet the costs will be closer to $8k

[Anonymous]

HOLY MUTHA....Are all the DA fees this high?

[Anonymous]

Down here, Houston Dash is charging $1800 (plus $500 registration). Granted we have to travel further ... it looks like th DC United Boys academy is around $2500. Now sure what other DAs are charging in that area, but ECNL fees look to be around $2500 as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Down here, Houston Dash is charging $1800 (plus $500 registration). Granted we have to travel further ... it looks like th DC United Boys academy is around $2500. Now sure what other DAs are charging in that area, but ECNL fees look to be around $2500 as well.

I think once other clubs start to nickel-and-dime with travel and other fees, futsal etc the fees between clubs start to get closer. That said, I think Spirit will come out about $1500 more in total costs than the other local DA's.

Also of note, Spirit has the potential in the near future to start reducing the fees as well and fall more in line with other Pro Club DA's

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Down here, Houston Dash is charging $1800 (plus $500 registration). Granted we have to travel further ... it looks like th DC United Boys academy is around $2500. Now sure what other DAs are charging in that area, but ECNL fees look to be around $2500 as well.

You're comparing apples and oranges. My kid plays on an ECNL team and while the club fees are in the $2k range, the total costs, which includes team travel (including to Phoenix and Sanford), uniforms, additional tournament fees, etc, will be over $6k easily. To compare, Spirit has put most, but not all of the items covered by the "team fees" for my daughter's team in the $5k total (which I commend them for). Now, Spirit does not include travel and extra tournaments, which I'd guess will increase costs by at least $2k.

So Spirit is still more expensive than other options for top tier players, both DA and ECNL, but not as excessive as this post suggests and none of the other options offer the same opportunity for your kid to have her picture taken with Mallory Pugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Down here, Houston Dash is charging $1800 (plus $500 registration). Granted we have to travel further ... it looks like th DC United Boys academy is around $2500. Now sure what other DAs are charging in that area, but ECNL fees look to be around $2500 as well.

You're comparing apples and oranges. My kid plays on an ECNL team and while the club fees are in the $2k range, the total costs, which includes team travel (including to Phoenix and Sanford), uniforms, additional tournament fees, etc, will be over $6k easily. To compare, Spirit has put most, but not all of the items covered by the "team fees" for my daughter's team in the $5k total (which I commend them for). Now, Spirit does not include travel and extra tournaments, which I'd guess will increase costs by at least $2k.

So Spirit is still more expensive than other options for top tier players, both DA and ECNL, but not as excessive as this post suggests and none of the other options offer the same opportunity for your kid to have her picture taken with Mallory Pugh.

To be fair, Spirit Academy players do indeed get to TRAIN with Spirit players on occasion. It's not just an autograph and a selfie.

Is that worth $6,000 a year or the sense that you're contributing to something that might be free and thriving down the road? Up to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Also of note, Spirit has the potential in the near future to start reducing the fees as well and fall more in line with other Pro Club DA's [/quote wrote:

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out ... I can't recall a time when my DCs' fees for sports ever decreased. It does present an interesting quandary for older players ... is it worth paying the higher cost upfront for the promise of potentially future lower costs if you are not going to be around to reap the benefit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Also of note, Spirit has the potential in the near future to start reducing the fees as well and fall more in line with other Pro Club DA's [/quote wrote:

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out ... I can't recall a time when my DCs' fees for sports ever decreased. It does present an interesting quandary for older players ... is it worth paying the higher cost upfront for the promise of potentially future lower costs if you are not going to be around to reap the benefit?

As a professional club it is the stated goal of Spirit to reduce DA fees over time. This would be in line with MLS DA's and some current NWSL DA's as well. Funding two separate DA's is unique and likely cause some difficulty however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Also of note, Spirit has the potential in the near future to start reducing the fees as well and fall more in line with other Pro Club DA's [/quote wrote:

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out ... I can't recall a time when my DCs' fees for sports ever decreased. It does present an interesting quandary for older players ... is it worth paying the higher cost upfront for the promise of potentially future lower costs if you are not going to be around to reap the benefit?

As a professional club it is the stated goal of Spirit to reduce DA fees over time. This would be in line with MLS DA's and some current NWSL DA's as well. Funding two separate DA's is unique and likely cause some difficulty however.

Wouldn't running two separate DAs allow for economies of scale and keep costs down?

[Anonymous]

^^^ Perhaps over time but probably not right out of the gate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^ Perhaps over time but probably not right out of the gate.

Totally agree. As just one point, they're doubling the coaching staff salaries by having 2 separate DAs -- the website shows no overlap at all between the MD DA and VA DA coaching staff.