Reply to Local kid in Holland Youth Academy

Forum Index » Soccer

Reply to "Local kid in Holland Youth Academy - parent's perspective"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is why we don't have US soccer stars.  The kids in the pay-to-play system don't NEED soccer for a better future. They have parents that can afford a nice lifestyle and sent them to a great college.  They have kids that it makes more sense to go into a STEM or IT field or a great MBA program.   There are kids all over the World where Futbol is their ticket and only way out of certain circumstances or social classes.  That's a hunger that 99.9999% of kids in the pay-to-play system do not have.[/quote]

???  There is so much wrong in the generalizations made above, including:

-- only kids of affluent parents can afford to play travel soccer -- this is a gross generalization and ignores the huge number of kids in the US from "non-affluent" families who play soccer, including for elite travel teams.  Don't get me wrong, the pay-to-play system has more than its fair share of problems, but your statement is absurd on its face;

-- only kids who don't NEED soccer for a better future have the hunger to become stars -- this gross generalization also ignores the countless stars whose parents were well off.  Off hand, I am near certain that Andrea Pirlo (arguably one of the best defensive midfielders ever), Frank Lampard (England and Chelsea legend), Robin Van Persie (Netherlands and Arsenal legend), Gerard Pique (centerback for Spain and Barcelona) and Hugo Lloris (goalkeeper for France and Tottenham) all came from "affluent" families;

-- soccer (or other sports) is the "only way out" of poverty for kids from non-affluent families -- give me a break.  I will grant you that it is incredibly (and increasingly more) difficult for kids to rise above their parents' socioeconomic "status," but it is ignorant to think that becoming a professional athlete is the "only way out."

[/quote]

But what about Jordan and Kobe?  Doesn't that prove that you can only really develop that true hunger and drive to succeed if you grow up in the hood?   Suburban culture could never produce that.

And didn't Klinsman say the same thing comparing the German national team to the US, that all their players grew up poor while ours were all rich kids?  [/quote]

Ha.  Exactly.  Jordan and Kobe certainly don't fit the stereotype of poor kids from broken homes who turned to sports as their only way out of poverty.

The NY Times actually published a story (written by a Harvard PHD) that debunked the stereotype that poor kids are more likely to become professional athletes because they are more driven by an intense desire to escape poverty.  The takeaway from the article:

"Growing up in a wealthier neighborhood is a major, positive predictor of reaching the N.B.A. for both black and white men. Is this driven by sons of N.B.A. players like the Warriors’ brilliant Stephen Curry? Nope. Take them out and the result is similar."

Read it for yourself: 
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/opinion/sunday/in-the-nba-zip-code-matters.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=2&

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics