Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are three main reasons why some major universities such as Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida, Arizona, Purdue, Illinois, etc do not have men's soccer.

1.) Title IX: A law that requires the same number of women's athletic scholarships as men's at each institution. This was meant to level the playing field, and while people are free to bemoan this - it being implemented decades ago is a major reason why the US Women's Soccer program, US basketball teams, etc have excelled on the world stage.
2.) American Football: Because there are a limited number of scholarships, funds, and allotments per Title IX - a large chunk of the funding goes to football. Most football rosters have 50-plus players and well over half of those are on significant scholarship, particularly at a major university. Because everything is a business, this is unlikely to change as long as 60,000 seat stadiums are getting sold out throughout the fall and much of the winter.
3.) Marketing and Revenue: Soccer doesn't make money. They don't sell many tickets or any merchandise. I am on the belief that could change with the right marketing and structure. It is unlikely to do so in the next decade or so. Alot of people can tell you who made the basketball or football final 4 last year. Safe to say only the hard core enthusiast can tell you about soccer. It's a shame, and kids should be watching more college soccer. With a basic ESPN subscription almost every men's and women's game is available to watch live or on demand.

Undoubtedly Title IX helped the US women on the international stage (sadly it was also illegal for women to play in many countries).

But isn’t it time to level up the men’s side? Surely the universities need to be part of that.

Anonymous wrote:To compare, DD didn’t make varsity at our private HS, but is being pursued by two D3 coaches. Actually wish they’d leave her alone. The varsity coach has spoken loud and clear.

Anonymous wrote:It’s fine to not be top tier. Most kids play to get exercise, learn the game, be a good teammate and good sport, time management, make friends.

But the pipeline to college is a moneymaker too - all the travel for the showcase tournaments. It wears your kid down and makes it hard for them to study, especially junior year when everything is so important and classes are hard.

And there just isn’t much of a pipeline. Probably even less so now due to roster limits.

Anonymous wrote:I mean why do they play at the highest levels?

At least MLS Next players are prohibited from playing high school soccer. That forces a decision about what you want to do. ECNL should follow suit - on the boys and girls side - along with Girls Academy.

Anonymous wrote:I suspect they have to split money between men and women’s sports. Since football sucks up so much money, the men’s soccer gets axed to make expenditures 50-50 between men and women’s sports.

Anonymous wrote:I totally understand wanting to play for fun and wanting to play in high school. It’s just the endless trying to play on college when the opportunities aren’t really there for young men is disheartening.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean why do they play at the highest levels?

At least MLS Next players are prohibited from playing high school soccer. That forces a decision about what you want to do. ECNL should follow suit - on the boys and girls side - along with Girls Academy.

A lot of this is travel soccer and their constant pushing soccer as an avenue to jump the line with college admissions. It becomes a self perpetuating feedback loop. Though when you see where the few who do get in to college by playing soccer go you have to wonder if they would have gotten in without soccer. Soccer is not like the revenue sports.

Anonymous wrote:I mean why do they play at the highest levels?

At least MLS Next players are prohibited from playing high school soccer. That forces a decision about what you want to do. ECNL should follow suit - on the boys and girls side - along with Girls Academy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So then I ask you, why do boys continue to play, knowing that college opportunities are limited (Club soccer is a real step down for the high end players), pro opportunities in the US are even more limited, and opportunities overseas are even more limited.

They don’t realize it until Jr/Sr year of HS. I have warned so many soccer parents about this, but they have zero clue and think I’m FOS.

Anonymous wrote:So then I ask you, why do boys continue to play, knowing that college opportunities are limited (Club soccer is a real step down for the high end players), pro opportunities in the US are even more limited, and opportunities overseas are even more limited.