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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Wouldn't it be nice if fields were free, lights were free, coaches were free, referees were free, uniforms were free, leagues were free...

Someone should create a club that offers all these services at a low cost and try to compete! I'm sure it will work just like "the rest of the world" and people will just flock to them.[/quote]

Such defeatist thinking to actually think that because that's the way it's been it should continue to be.
Even though it obviously is a failed model.

The obviously only thing that's causing the richest country in the world to be the only one with unaffordable soccer is mentality. 
It can't be resources.

How ignorant is it to think the wrong way is the only way.
Solutions only happen when you remove intellectual dishonesty, acknowledge the root causes and commit to resolve. [/quote]
I’m not sure you can say it’s a failed model. It’s certainly failed in some aspects but many aspects are doing very well. It is the way it is because that’s what the majority of people want. Market forces (ie parents) drive this. [/quote]

Please list the aspects of pay-to-play that are positive assets to youth soccer development [/quote]

I'm not that poster, but I'll bite.

First, I will say that I doubt anyone would argue that the pay-to-play model doesn't restrict our player pool, which is probably its biggest issue. There is a laundry list of things that are not good with the model.

That being said, people already complain about the level of coaching in this country. Now imagine how many of those coaches disappear if they are not being paid. There are many young promising coaches that either do so exclusively or as a side gig to get by, that would be forced to do something else. This also applies to referees. There is a major shortage of refs - just ask any assigner. Most of the "better" referees will attempt to only do "travel" games because frankly they pay more. While many of them do have a love of the game (believe it or not), pay is a big factor that keeps them going through the BS. The costs for refs have gone up dramatically over the years, take away the pay-to-play model and I imagine you'll lose a portion of your refs as well. Ask your local assigner how that is going to play out across the spectrum.

Pay to play has also enabled SOME clubs to invest in their own fields/infrastructure, where there was clearly not enough support or willingness on local government to invest in soccer fields. As is field access is at a premium (just check some of the threads on this board...), now imagine if all the ones that were at least partially privately funded went away.

So, it may not be the model is great, but it has been the only one thus far that has enabled us to get to even where we are now. There is a reason why this has basically been adopted everywhere across the country, and it's primarily out of necessity. If it can be done better for less, there is a huge market for that, so far, with very, very few exceptions it has not been done and certainly not replicated.[/quote]

If the neighborhood and community teams became the pipeline and player pathway to the academies and semi-pro, professional teams, then resources would shift and many of these issues are gone.

Let the private cash-cows then do their own thing as the outsiders.

The real qualified coaches would want to coach the teams with the best players based on talent and skills going against their quality peers from rival areas.
Not the richie-rich team with 3, 4 strong players maybe, and entitled parents.

How many Referees out here are full time refs trying to pay the mortgage off what they earn from ref gigs?[/quote]

There is nothing stopping neighborhood and communities teams from attracting players, but there is a reason why most of them fail and it's not the pay to play model. If anything the pay to play model should be a reason why they would thrive in this environment.

"Qualified" coaches probably don't want to spend several thousands of dollars in license fees to coach youth teams and see nothing for it. Part of the unique challenge in the US is lack of quality coaches.

I know plenty of referees who work every weekend. It's not to pay off the mortgage, but it's not for free either. There is only one carrot we have to offer them, and that's money, and we still lose an alarming amount of refs each year.[/quote]

Why wouldn't referees get match fees in a system not designed around expensive pay-to-play clubs?

The neighborhood clubs would have to become the pipeline and primary player pathway to academies and professional clubs for it to work. 
Not just create a Kensington Soccer Club who has to now join the existing pay-to-play  leagues and tournaments structure. 
The community clubs would have to be layers in the US Soccer framework.

The lack of quality coaching is just sad.[/quote]

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