Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a U16 boy who has played in both MLS Next and ECNL, will say that if I had to do this all over again - I'd refuse to travel more than 3 hours one way for a match. There is just no need, and all parents should ban together to say "stop it".

Why do we all need to band together? If you don’t like it, you’re free to join another club. You’re acting like someone’s forcing this on you.

Herein lies the problem that feeds the pay to play. If you don't like it - leave, they say. Because there are other suckers that will step up and pay thousands of dollars to needlessly travel for hours under the false pretense that it's making their kids better. Everyone agrees it's BS but they also want their kid at the highest level possible. So, instead of walking away in unison, we walk away as individuals and other rich kids take our place. And nothing is solved. Meanwhile, the ones who suffer are the kids who don't have the money or support network, who could be playing and exceling against high competition in their back yard. The soccer development in this country continues to be focused on kids of means and not the truly hungry and talented. It's a vicious cycle. But, you've clearly chosen to continue partaking. I have decided to walk away, but thanks for your encouragement.

So, if I'm understanding you correctly...a kid that comes from a higher net worth family can't be just as hungry and talented as a kid who doesn't have the same resources. I get what you're saying, I'm not naive to your point, all I'm saying is that just because a kid comes from a family of more means, absolutely does not mean they are not as hungry or talented as a kid who doesn't. Might be an unpopular opinion but it is true.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a U16 boy who has played in both MLS Next and ECNL, will say that if I had to do this all over again - I'd refuse to travel more than 3 hours one way for a match. There is just no need, and all parents should ban together to say "stop it".

Why do we all need to band together? If you don’t like it, you’re free to join another club. You’re acting like someone’s forcing this on you.

Herein lies the problem that feeds the pay to play. If you don't like it - leave, they say. Because there are other suckers that will step up and pay thousands of dollars to needlessly travel for hours under the false pretense that it's making their kids better. Everyone agrees it's BS but they also want their kid at the highest level possible. So, instead of walking away in unison, we walk away as individuals and other rich kids take our place. And nothing is solved. Meanwhile, the ones who suffer are the kids who don't have the money or support network, who could be playing and exceling against high competition in their back yard. The soccer development in this country continues to be focused on kids of means and not the truly hungry and talented. It's a vicious cycle. But, you've clearly chosen to continue partaking. I have decided to walk away, but thanks for your encouragement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a U16 boy who has played in both MLS Next and ECNL, will say that if I had to do this all over again - I'd refuse to travel more than 3 hours one way for a match. There is just no need, and all parents should ban together to say "stop it".

Why do we all need to band together? If you don’t like it, you’re free to join another club. You’re acting like someone’s forcing this on you.

Herein lies the problem that feeds the pay to play. If you don't like it - leave, they say. Because there are other suckers that will step up and pay thousands of dollars to needlessly travel for hours under the false pretense that it's making their kids better. Everyone agrees it's BS but they also want their kid at the highest level possible. So, instead of walking away in unison, we walk away as individuals and other rich kids take our place. And nothing is solved. Meanwhile, the ones who suffer are the kids who don't have the money or support network, who could be playing and exceling against high competition in their back yard. The soccer development in this country continues to be focused on kids of means and not the truly hungry and talented. It's a vicious cycle. But, you've clearly chosen to continue partaking. I have decided to walk away, but thanks for your encouragement.

Why exactly does this need to be “fixed”? It’s a free market where leagues and clubs form, families decide if they want in. No one is being forced. If you don’t like how a program runs, there are countless alternatives, or you can start your own. That’s choice, not oppression. This is how virtually every sport operates. These are extracurricular activities, not public services. If something were blocking your child’s access to education, I’d be right there with you. But this is youth soccer, an optional, competitive environment that costs money to organize, staff, and sustain.

And let’s drop the myth that this is a uniquely American problem. Unless your kid is in a top professional academy overseas, parents pay there too. Training, travel, tournaments, none of it is free anywhere. The “pay-to-play” model isn’t a moral failure; it’s simply how structured competition works.

Paying something is one thing. Paying $10,000 plus per year to drive 14 hours round trip for a game or two is another. Have your kids played in Europe? Mine has, and I can tell you the amount of money and travel this is not normal there or really anywhere. Do you think Denmark makes kids buy blocks of rooms in a hotel so that three different parties can take a piece of the pie? They don't. Club fees are a few hundred dollars per year - not a few thousand.

Nobody should care about how Denmark does soccer.

Has your kid played in Spain? My son has, and it's not like this. It's not just Denmark. We have no soccer culture for many reasons, and one of them is that the almighty dollar and the false allure of playing in a "league" are soul-sucking facades.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a U16 boy who has played in both MLS Next and ECNL, will say that if I had to do this all over again - I'd refuse to travel more than 3 hours one way for a match. There is just no need, and all parents should ban together to say "stop it".

Why do we all need to band together? If you don’t like it, you’re free to join another club. You’re acting like someone’s forcing this on you.

Herein lies the problem that feeds the pay to play. If you don't like it - leave, they say. Because there are other suckers that will step up and pay thousands of dollars to needlessly travel for hours under the false pretense that it's making their kids better. Everyone agrees it's BS but they also want their kid at the highest level possible. So, instead of walking away in unison, we walk away as individuals and other rich kids take our place. And nothing is solved. Meanwhile, the ones who suffer are the kids who don't have the money or support network, who could be playing and exceling against high competition in their back yard. The soccer development in this country continues to be focused on kids of means and not the truly hungry and talented. It's a vicious cycle. But, you've clearly chosen to continue partaking. I have decided to walk away, but thanks for your encouragement.

Why exactly does this need to be “fixed”? It’s a free market where leagues and clubs form, families decide if they want in. No one is being forced. If you don’t like how a program runs, there are countless alternatives, or you can start your own. That’s choice, not oppression. This is how virtually every sport operates. These are extracurricular activities, not public services. If something were blocking your child’s access to education, I’d be right there with you. But this is youth soccer, an optional, competitive environment that costs money to organize, staff, and sustain.

And let’s drop the myth that this is a uniquely American problem. Unless your kid is in a top professional academy overseas, parents pay there too. Training, travel, tournaments, none of it is free anywhere. The “pay-to-play” model isn’t a moral failure; it’s simply how structured competition works.

Paying something is one thing. Paying $10,000 plus per year to drive 14 hours round trip for a game or two is another. Have your kids played in Europe? Mine has, and I can tell you the amount of money and travel this is not normal there or really anywhere. Do you think Denmark makes kids buy blocks of rooms in a hotel so that three different parties can take a piece of the pie? They don't. Club fees are a few hundred dollars per year - not a few thousand.

Nobody should care about how Denmark does soccer.

Anonymous wrote:Best thing for those VA Beach / Raleigh / Bedford trips is to carpool. Every parent doesn't need to be at every game. Your kid's teammate's parent is responsible and perfectly happy to handle a couple of kids for the day, and even overnight. It's cheaper and easier when fewer adults go.

That said, I agree it makes no sense for a "top" U13-U14 team in Northern Virginia to be traveling all over the place while never playing Bethesda, Pipeline, etc. -- and now, never playing MLSN/GA teams if they are ECNL/RL, and vice versa. The recent move to have more MLS showcases and ECNL showcases makes this worse - they play the same teams in the showcases as in the league.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a U16 boy who has played in both MLS Next and ECNL, will say that if I had to do this all over again - I'd refuse to travel more than 3 hours one way for a match. There is just no need, and all parents should ban together to say "stop it".

Why do we all need to band together? If you don’t like it, you’re free to join another club. You’re acting like someone’s forcing this on you.

Herein lies the problem that feeds the pay to play. If you don't like it - leave, they say. Because there are other suckers that will step up and pay thousands of dollars to needlessly travel for hours under the false pretense that it's making their kids better. Everyone agrees it's BS but they also want their kid at the highest level possible. So, instead of walking away in unison, we walk away as individuals and other rich kids take our place. And nothing is solved. Meanwhile, the ones who suffer are the kids who don't have the money or support network, who could be playing and exceling against high competition in their back yard. The soccer development in this country continues to be focused on kids of means and not the truly hungry and talented. It's a vicious cycle. But, you've clearly chosen to continue partaking. I have decided to walk away, but thanks for your encouragement.

Why exactly does this need to be “fixed”? It’s a free market where leagues and clubs form, families decide if they want in. No one is being forced. If you don’t like how a program runs, there are countless alternatives, or you can start your own. That’s choice, not oppression. This is how virtually every sport operates. These are extracurricular activities, not public services. If something were blocking your child’s access to education, I’d be right there with you. But this is youth soccer, an optional, competitive environment that costs money to organize, staff, and sustain.

And let’s drop the myth that this is a uniquely American problem. Unless your kid is in a top professional academy overseas, parents pay there too. Training, travel, tournaments, none of it is free anywhere. The “pay-to-play” model isn’t a moral failure; it’s simply how structured competition works.

Paying something is one thing. Paying $10,000 plus per year to drive 14 hours round trip for a game or two is another. Have your kids played in Europe? Mine has, and I can tell you the amount of money and travel this is not normal there or really anywhere. Do you think Denmark makes kids buy blocks of rooms in a hotel so that three different parties can take a piece of the pie? They don't. Club fees are a few hundred dollars per year - not a few thousand.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a U16 boy who has played in both MLS Next and ECNL, will say that if I had to do this all over again - I'd refuse to travel more than 3 hours one way for a match. There is just no need, and all parents should ban together to say "stop it".

Why do we all need to band together? If you don’t like it, you’re free to join another club. You’re acting like someone’s forcing this on you.

Herein lies the problem that feeds the pay to play. If you don't like it - leave, they say. Because there are other suckers that will step up and pay thousands of dollars to needlessly travel for hours under the false pretense that it's making their kids better. Everyone agrees it's BS but they also want their kid at the highest level possible. So, instead of walking away in unison, we walk away as individuals and other rich kids take our place. And nothing is solved. Meanwhile, the ones who suffer are the kids who don't have the money or support network, who could be playing and exceling against high competition in their back yard. The soccer development in this country continues to be focused on kids of means and not the truly hungry and talented. It's a vicious cycle. But, you've clearly chosen to continue partaking. I have decided to walk away, but thanks for your encouragement.

Why exactly does this need to be “fixed”? It’s a free market where leagues and clubs form, families decide if they want in. No one is being forced. If you don’t like how a program runs, there are countless alternatives, or you can start your own. That’s choice, not oppression. This is how virtually every sport operates. These are extracurricular activities, not public services. If something were blocking your child’s access to education, I’d be right there with you. But this is youth soccer, an optional, competitive environment that costs money to organize, staff, and sustain.

And let’s drop the myth that this is a uniquely American problem. Unless your kid is in a top professional academy overseas, parents pay there too. Training, travel, tournaments, none of it is free anywhere. The “pay-to-play” model isn’t a moral failure; it’s simply how structured competition works.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a U16 boy who has played in both MLS Next and ECNL, will say that if I had to do this all over again - I'd refuse to travel more than 3 hours one way for a match. There is just no need, and all parents should ban together to say "stop it".

Why do we all need to band together? If you don’t like it, you’re free to join another club. You’re acting like someone’s forcing this on you.

Herein lies the problem that feeds the pay to play. If you don't like it - leave, they say. Because there are other suckers that will step up and pay thousands of dollars to needlessly travel for hours under the false pretense that it's making their kids better. Everyone agrees it's BS but they also want their kid at the highest level possible. So, instead of walking away in unison, we walk away as individuals and other rich kids take our place. And nothing is solved. Meanwhile, the ones who suffer are the kids who don't have the money or support network, who could be playing and exceling against high competition in their back yard. The soccer development in this country continues to be focused on kids of means and not the truly hungry and talented. It's a vicious cycle. But, you've clearly chosen to continue partaking. I have decided to walk away, but thanks for your encouragement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a U16 boy who has played in both MLS Next and ECNL, will say that if I had to do this all over again - I'd refuse to travel more than 3 hours one way for a match. There is just no need, and all parents should ban together to say "stop it".

Why do we all need to band together? If you don’t like it, you’re free to join another club. You’re acting like someone’s forcing this on you.