Reply to What do you think of the kids on Scholarship?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A couple points, there are sponsors that earmark their contributions to scholarship kids, so no money out of your pocket, who would have an issue with that?  Also, no doubt scholarship parents tend to have more issues with punctuality and communication for sure, but mostly harmless.  But this thread asked about the scholarship kids themselves, and they in my experienced have been great, certainly better for the most part than some of the hyper never-disciplined yuppie kids.  [/quote]

"Scholarship kids" are not all built the same.  There are definitely some who are pretty much wards of the team - literally no transportation, food, or anything else associated with their existence when with the team happens without a parent, manager, or coach arranging it and someone paying for it.  I'm not saying that is every scholarship kid, but from my experience it's a good 1/3 of them.[/quote]

So, you don't see the social benefit of helping a kid out? [/quote]

Well I didn’t say that at all.  I wasn’t making any comment on social benefit. I think there are good arguments both ways on that.  Fundamentally, travel club sports are a luxury good, and I don’t think anyone is owed a subsidy to be able to afford a luxury.

To the behavior question, the scholarship kids that had parents engaged - they were fine on behavior.  The scholarship kids that had little or no parent involvement were a challenge as far as behavior was concerned - both on and off the field.  Red cards and fights on the field, problems at hotels and on trips off the field.  Pretty much uncontrollable.

Again, our experience at our club. [/quote]

Most soccer clubs are community organizations. They are non-profits. Their purpose is not to be a luxury or exclusive. There are real world costs associated with running a soccer club but a soccer club is not a Country Club. If you want exclusivity based solely on what your wallet can afford then I suggest you get out of sports. If a club is able to help out with families regarding expenses that might be prohibitive I really don't see how that should bother you. Again, they are a community organization first and foremost. And if a scholarship can keep some potential troubled teens engaged in something positive then that is a win/win.

I love how in many of the threads regarding our national teams and why our men's team is so bad always point to a couple of common arguments. 
1. We lack a true national soccer culture
2. We lack street soccer
3. We are pay to play.

Well this thread is full of why we suck not only as a soccer nation but also suck as empathetic human beings. [/quote]

Every time I'm about to give up on this board,  I read a post like this.

Very well said,  and thank you.

Youth soccer clubs are nonprofits.  Their purpose is supposed to be for the benefit of the community as a whole.   It is the clubs who don't offer scholarships that really have some explaining to do.

And for all of you who complain about "scholarship kids" taking your kid's spot,  because even though they are a better player their parents aren't as rich as you and so somehow that makes it unfair, there's always rec. [/quote]

Travel soccer at the higher levels cost easily 10K a year by the time you include the family travel that goes with it, meals, etc.  It is a luxury good.  There are always rec leagues and HS for anyone that does not want or cannot afford to pay for that.  The nonprofits do offer scholarships that from what I have seen are pretty generous.  But no non profit can afford to take on the entire costs of 10K/year per player to fund scholarship players.  [/quote]

They are all nonprofits.   The only exceptions are Barca, DCU, and FCV.  Every other youth soccer club around is a nonprofit.

[b]And no one funds family travel costs.  Families of scholarship players travel at their own expense,  or (often at the higher levels) not at all.  So saying it costs $10K per year to fund scholarship players is BS.  [/b]

Most of the parents buying into the "luxury good" of truly elite soccer for their kids, want it to be truly elite.  Part of what they are paying for,  is the idea that their kid is really among the best of the best,  not just the best of the rich.  Whether handing out a few scholarships here and there really makes it that way is another issue.   Even if the idea that our "elite" soccer is actually elite is just an illusion, it's an illusion people are willing to pay for.

There are always exceptions though.   For people like you, who would prefer that elite status for their kids can [i]only[/i] be paid for,  never earned purely on merit,  maybe sports like tennis or golf would be better options. 
[/quote]

This is just not true.  [/quote]

Yes it is.

The only level of soccer where costs approach $10,000 per year is DA/ECNL.  Anyone paying $10K a year for a kid who's not at the level is either stupid or filthy rich - or maybe both.    [b]An no family gets flown out to San Diego and put up in a hotel for a week at club expense[/b].   That just doesn't happen.  Even many non-scholarship players' families can't afford all of those trips, and stay home like me hoping at least some of the games will be streamed.  [/quote]

Uh, you keep saying this and I can tell you it is happening.  It's typically just a couple players being paid for, not the family, but for one event last year a family member was flown in as well.  This is an ENCL team.

The team's player travel budget (the amount parents were expected to need to pay for a player traveling with team) was about $4000 per year.  If a parent traveled, that number could nearly double.  [/quote]

Of course the [i]players[/i] travel costs are covered if they're on scholarship.  That's the whole point - to give kids opportunities that their talent deserves even if their parents can't afford the cost.

But you just went from - it costs $10K a year to fund scholarship players b/c family travel costs are included; to  - [i]one[/i] parent, [i]once[/i], was flown out to [i]one[/i] event, by [i]one[/i] team.

Got it.

Anything else?  [/quote]

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