Alex Morgan says youth soccer has gotten worse
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Anonymous
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaellore/2019/07/23/alex-morgan-says-us-youth-soccer-model-has-gotten-worse/#707641c46621 (fuil article)
From Alex: “I’m not sure how to fix it but I think it needs to go back to looking at grassroots and seeing around the world soccer is not an expensive sport,” Morgan said. “It’s actually played barefoot in many countries and all you need is a ball and goal posts, and the goal posts can be trash cans or whatever is nearby.” “Unfortunately the pay-to-play model, I believe, is getting worse in soccer than when I played competitive soccer (growing up),” said Morgan, a two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup winner with the USWNT. “It’s a very inexpensive sport and the fact that we’ve made youth soccer in the U.S. more of a business than a grassroots sport is, I think, detrimental to the growth of the sport in the U.S.” I agree with her. I was reading in another thread on this forum where parents were having a disagreement with one saying essentially that the sport has gotten out of hand and parents perpetuate this trend while the other pp (or coach) comes back with something along the lines of 'that's just because your kid sucks or 'you do you' or some other cr*p. One poster summed up what I was thinking quite nicely with this: "Normally I totally respect the decisions of others and truly make no judgments about what they are doing with their kids. But in this case, their decisions affect the quality of our decisions. So if fewer people were not caught up in these hamster wheels, we could have better and more competitive soccer without hours of commuting to practice in Loudoun or flights to South Carolina. But I do totally respect their freedom to be as dumb as they want to be. The decision itself I cannot respect or recommend." US Youth Soccer gets away with it precisely because elitist parents with $ will do whatever it is they come up with without questioning it as along as it is packaged in a manner that says 'your kid is one of the elite'. They prey on the vast majority of soccer parents that are unfamiliar with the system and with zero grasp on the odds for their child. They truly believe their kid is the next breakout National (or even International) name. So, yes, it does take a collective body of sane people to start rebelling against this system. But, the parents are pitted against one another and it is better in their eyes if talented little Jimmy's dad says "f*ck this, I am not going to S.Carolina for league games" because now Logan can step into the vacated 'star' spot all the while trashing Jimmy and his family for not being committed. Even better, that the kid on the playground is better than all of the A team/DA/ECNL players does not have the $ to even play, much less get rides to all of these practices/games because his parents are working 2 jobs. Less competition. We have Clubs 5 miles from each other that won't play against each other or be in one another's tournaments due to some type of pissing match. We have enough competitive players in the DMV that kids do need to be getting on planes and charter buses for regular season games---or have their parents commute 45 minutes-1 hour for practices. And, the other poster was spot on about DA just being the current fad. It is on its way out, just like all the other equivalent hair-brained concoctions before it. But, no fear, something else with a different name will replace it as the next bigger and better thing....with probably more travel and more $ on the backs of truly committed parents whose kids are truly the best we've yet to see. |
Anonymous
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While I agree, other sports are no better, with a caveat. Let’s take one example. AAU b-ball is just as bad, but many poorer kids are able to play. Why? Because there is lucrative pro money and apparel sponsorships to be had and that money flows down to help the poor kids afford those programs. Soccer in the US does not have that luxury. All uber-competitive sports in the USA are pay to play today, but with the more popular sports someone else is there to pay more often.
And no, parents will never be less competitive with their kids. If there is a way to get ahead, it will be taken. Our kids are not here to serve the USNT’s or to make the US a soccer super power. Our kids are here to compete, have fun, go to school, and get a job outside of soccer. If you want to help a poor kid, then pay for them to play on one of these teams or start a community program to help underserved kids, but don’t force your agenda onto others. Let the free market do its job. |
Anonymous
Alex’s agenda? Watch HBO’s Real Sports segment on travel sports and kid leagues. It is sickening. Delusional parents. It used to not be like this. More drop out in all sports before HS for many of these reasons. Kids play not parents. But now elitist parents wield checkbooks and influence instead of leaving the competing to the kids. Kids will always compete, parents used to let that happen and not have their nose in everything. Other sports allow for kids without those advantages to genetically and athletically dominate and compete, unlike soccer. The vicarious living is at an all time high in this snowplow generation. |
Anonymous
| Go away Alex, go away! |
Anonymous
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Just watched the segment. Very interesting and very disturbing. Might I add that some kids are not as coordinated early on and get a late start in sports. Well, around here that is unheard of. If you haven't started your kid at age 4, then they don't have a prayer of catching up.
Sad. |
Anonymous
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“Looking specifically at youth soccer, American households with more than $100,000 in annual income represent 35% of soccer players, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, while just 11% of players come from households earning $25,000 or less.”
35%? last time i looked thats not dominating the pool. If you dont want to participate, dont. Create a platform and dont ask for anyone to be reimbursed for space, time, effort, materials, etc. i look forward to this. |
Anonymous
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If you don't like how it is, just sign up for house/rec/SFL for $70 a season.
Teach yourself the skills through YouTube. If you don't like that, just head to the local turf field with a ball and find some other kids to kick around with. |
Anonymous
| And what if you do have one of those kids who is looking to compete at a high level, like my DD who wants to play at a top soccer college, because going direct to pro isn’t as much of an option for girls. You honestly have almost no choice but to be on a DA/ECNL team if you want DD’s odds to be as good as they can be. For the HS-aged kid, opting out is far less of an option. And for the younger kids, it’s very hard to opt out if you have the $$ and your kid has the ability to be on a team that increases the odds of getting to that goal significantly. Always hard to try to change the system with your kid. |
Anonymous
Touched a nerve? Don't you have to go check to see if your kid is practicing? |
Anonymous
| I judge parents who put their 7 and 8 yo kids into travel sports. Hard. |
Anonymous
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My cousin played soccer in the 1980s and played at a top DI program. He lived and breathed soccer and their family traveling to tournaments but I don't think it was as expensive and the travel was not as insane. Something happened in the early 2000s that made it more expensive and with ECNL and then DA, things caused costs and travel to increase substantially.
Now it is an industry. There is nothing wrong with that but it is not producing the best players. If you look at the rosters of top DI programs,more and more players are coming from abroad. |
Anonymous
Too many ECNL/DA parents think their kid will be The One. |
Anonymous
When it’s a younger kid, you don’t indulge their every desire, you as a parent need to think about what’s in their best interest in the long-run. Travel sport program are not developmentally appropriate at the ages we start them. |
Anonymous
| ^^^NCAA DI Champion, FSU, has six international players on its roster |
Anonymous
Should be illegal. |