Reply to Hope Solo - Youth Soccer is for Rich White Kids

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=RantingSoccerDad][quote=Anonymous][quote=RantingSoccerDad]The basic point is correct -- cost is an issue, as is travel (much easier to get the time off to shuttle your kids around when you're in a white-collar job).

The idea that $15,000/year is typical, much less the average for *any* player and not just the top 0.1 percent, is bizarre.

$5k/year for *national team* camps? I may check into it, I can't believe that's true. I've heard plenty of stories of talented kids who can't afford to play elite travel. I've never heard of anyone turning down a youth national team camp because of cost.

Also -- the idea that the typical NFL player paid a lot of many for camps before high school is ludicrous. Some, sure. Plenty of QB camps for the next Peyton Manning. Maybe some kicking camps. But the pathway isn't exactly closed for a big, aggressive defensive lineman who plays everyday rec football (possibly with financial aid) and then high school.[/quote]

I don't think she said it was typical.  I think she meant that's what she would have had to pay to play at the highest level if leagues and clubs were like they are now.  Again, that is a reasonable estimate for Development Academy and ECNL, especially those that have to travel to national team camps a few times a year.  You pay your own travel even if camps are free.[/quote]

From the original story: "In making her case, Solo said that the average price for a kid to play soccer in the U.S. is $15,000 per year."

I've yet to see any clarification.

On national team camps: A previous poster said transportation was indeed free. I'm looking into it. In any case, that's 1-2 camps a year for the most part. Flying first class?

[/quote]  I concede on both points.  Although travel for ECNL girls in ODP can also add up if they make regionals and/or national camps.  Ir can be several times a year not just 1-2.  [/quote]

Whether Hope got the $s right or not, soccer in the US is expensive! And I find the claims that kids can just play rec absolutely mind-blowing. This is the same soccer board that obsesses about low-talent kids fighting to make an A or B team. Now we want the real natural talents with a love of the game to settle for rec? Something's really wrong here and I can't believe people who claim not to notice that.

Again, hope may not have had the dollars wrong (average vs. average elite level teen) but she's not wrong that pay to play hurts US soccer and doesn't select for the best talent. And I know, I know, Christian Pulisic. I find it sad that that's the go-to. Since when is America happy that we have one kid who's among the worlds 100 best? Would we be happy with only 1/100 NFL, MLB or NBA players? We wouldn't even settle for one in a hundred snowboarders, hurdlers, or skeet shooters. America is a big, rich, athletically stocked country and we should do much much better than to just have Christian Politic.[/quote]

Even if she were right about the Rich Kids playing soccer, are you saying there is no talent among them. Except for motivation, why Rich kids are less talented than the non-Rich ones? I would think there a lot more talents in the pool of so-call rich kids than that in Iceland. The problem is not lack of talents. The problem is the lack of developing talents.[/quote]

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