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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]That sucks for those kids.

I agree with baseball scholarships, not soccer.  Soccer is a sport with no huge multi-million professional contracts in the US.  It is not filling stadiums and arenas like college football and basketball, there is no March Madness, huge Bowl games, etc.  There is ZERO talk of college soccer players getting paid while attending college, like basketball/football.  People don't even watch MLS, the male US professional soccer league.

It's worse for men than women.  Women soccer players are not competing with big sports like Football for college $.  A college gets only 9 total full ride scholarships in their male soccer program at any one time,[i] not [/i]each incoming year.  This means if you have a few players on a full-ride and the rest of the $ divvied up on the roster, there is little left to offer incoming players.  A roster is typically 22 players.  The $ does not become available until somebody holding the scholarship graduates and frees up the $.   You are also competing with Foreign International soccer players coming to the US for college soccer which are filling out a lot of college rosters.  More odds stacked against you as those players are often a much higher caliber then here in the States.

You might have the one or two kids in the area that get that big soccer pay out, but in reality---and look at the stats, it's not likely.  And, the parents are usually coming forth with how much $ that scholarship entailed.  It often isn't anywhere close to a full-ride.  As far as a hook, okay, the kid might get into a college he might not have without playing soccer if he comes in and pays his own way.  If your kids is not bright, not a great student, then that definitely may be worth it.  For really bright kids, a lesser deal.

If you add up what a parent pays for a kid's youth soccer career from 5-18, plane fare, hotels, team fees, uniforms, camps, private training, etc.  It's a lot more than they would ever expect to get back.  So--parents are not being given reality in the kids' young years.  Talk to new players starting out and the parents are gunning for that soccer scholarship not knowing how futile it is.  If the kid loves the sport and is an excellent player, he will excel. But, there needs to be reality from the clubs and trainers about what the future looks like.[/quote]

We’re getting off topic here, but I certainly agree no parent should be looking at youth sports as an investment that is likely to yield financial rewards when compared to the money spent on the sport.  I’ve only met a handful of sports parents who were delusional enough to think this way. I think most parents spend the time and money because their kid enjoys the sport and they want their kid to be doing something positive that they enjoy without any expectation of a financial return.

You clearly have a very cynical take on soccer in the US.  I think it’s a fantastic sport in and of itself, and in my experience an excellent one to pursue for talented girls and boys who are looking to get into top colleges, with or without an athletic scholarship. On the scholarship front, there are far more than 1 or 2 kids a year from this area (boys and girls both) getting meaningful athletic scholarship $$.  I also do not agree that most or even a large percentage of coaches are trying to take advantage of parents and operating in a way that harms kids. That’s what makes the baseball situation at SJC so striking to me. [/quote]

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