Anonymous wrote:It’s different for girls. But, boys, forget it. Girls aren’t competing with the big $ maker for colleges: Football. Most boys will get nothing or $2k—woo woo— not even worth a season $ worth of regular travel. Most families have no idea what the landscape is really like. If your kid is dumb, it might help him a slightly better chance to get into a school but it isn’t going to give you any $ towards it.

True that opportunities are greater for women.

On another note, these club coaches that expect or demand year-round play and tell kids (and parents) as young as 9 or 10 to give up other sports are a big part of the problem too. Every study out there shows that sports specialization at a young age is bad for development, leads to burnout, overuse injuries, etc. Yet some club coaches demand it and some parents blindly follow along.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^

Yeah, that WAS hilarious. Being outraged about what someone else’s soccer team does for travel that they are sooo compelled to comment and judge when it has zero impact on their lives.

it has an impact. When all these sycophant dolts start doing anything a Club asks, no matter how ridiculous the demand, it affects the entire landscape. If more REASONABLE parents said 'hell no' there wouldn't be ridiculous meaningless travel.

More parents need to grow a set of ball and say it's too much to those in authority across youth soccer.

Instead they write their check and bend over and feel oh so important that their kid is so special they get to drive up and down the entire East Coast, and even fly to the Midwest for regular season games.

+1. Parents are the ones who enable this madness. And yes, being in a league with 6-hour commutes or games in the Midwest for 11U is madness.

. Agree. Parents are the enablers.

It’s different for girls. But, boys, forget it. Girls aren’t competing with the big $ maker for colleges: Football. Most boys will get nothing or $2k—woo woo— not even worth a season $ worth of regular travel. Most families have no idea what the landscape is really like. If your kid is dumb, it might help him a slightly better chance to get into a school but it isn’t going to give you any $ towards it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^

Yeah, that WAS hilarious. Being outraged about what someone else’s soccer team does for travel that they are sooo compelled to comment and judge when it has zero impact on their lives.

it has an impact. When all these sycophant dolts start doing anything a Club asks, no matter how ridiculous the demand, it affects the entire landscape. If more REASONABLE parents said 'hell no' there wouldn't be ridiculous meaningless travel.

More parents need to grow a set of ball and say it's too much to those in authority across youth soccer.

Instead they write their check and bend over and feel oh so important that their kid is so special they get to drive up and down the entire East Coast, and even fly to the Midwest for regular season games.

+1. Parents are the ones who enable this madness. And yes, being in a league with 6-hour commutes or games in the Midwest for 11U is madness.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of these kids will get big scholarships and some will be pros.

Sorry, but that just is not likely. From a Forbes article: “According to the NCAA, only about 2% of high school athletes are awarded Division I athletic scholarships. Many of those are only partial scholarships and/or discontinue before graduation. About another 2% of high school athletes eventually compete on a Division II level, with only a portion receiving scholarship”

In Dibision I, football and basketball are full awards. A soccer team like say GW might have five scholarships to spread over 19 players. Some will get more than others but few will get a “free ride”

Get a life. PP said some, which is true. They did not say all or most. Very few is some. Out of all the kids in the dc area doing travel soccer among all age groups there will be some.

I have been a guidance counselor and have seen the way this plays out. I am certain a lot of these parents shuffling kids to NC and NY and flying to the Midwest (?!) are chasing the scholarship dollar. It all can come at a tremendous cost that will probably end up being more than whatever grant the kid gets. The travel, the ODP or showcase tournaments, extra coaching, etc. not to mention disrupted family time.

From the NCAA: “Do the Math! NCAA Division I men's Soccer teams have an average roster size of 29 players but only a maximum of 9.9 athletic scholarships to award per team. This means the average award covers only about 1/3 of a typical athlete's annual college costs - and this assumes the sport is fully funded at the sponsoring school.” (plenty are not)

Anonymous wrote:Some of these kids will get big scholarships and some will be pros.

Sorry, but that just is not likely. From a Forbes article: “According to the NCAA, only about 2% of high school athletes are awarded Division I athletic scholarships. Many of those are only partial scholarships and/or discontinue before graduation. About another 2% of high school athletes eventually compete on a Division II level, with only a portion receiving scholarship”

In Dibision I, football and basketball are full awards. A soccer team like say GW might have five scholarships to spread over 19 players. Some will get more than others but few will get a “free ride”

Anonymous wrote:Do people really like spending entire weekends driving 6 hours to a kid’s game?

You do not have to. Nobody is forced to play DA or ECNL.

Do people really like spending entire weekends driving 6 hours to a kid’s game?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^

Yeah, that WAS hilarious. Being outraged about what someone else’s soccer team does for travel that they are sooo compelled to comment and judge when it has zero impact on their lives.

it has an impact. When all these sycophant dolts start doing anything a Club asks, no matter how ridiculous the demand, it affects the entire landscape. If more REASONABLE parents said 'hell no' there wouldn't be ridiculous meaningless travel.

More parents need to grow a set of ball and say it's too much to those in authority across youth soccer.

Instead they write their check and bend over and feel oh so important that their kid is so special they get to drive up and down the entire East Coast, and even fly to the Midwest for regular season games.

No, you can simply not participate. Simple.

Anonymous wrote:^^

Yeah, that WAS hilarious. Being outraged about what someone else’s soccer team does for travel that they are sooo compelled to comment and judge when it has zero impact on their lives.

it has an impact. When all these sycophant dolts start doing anything a Club asks, no matter how ridiculous the demand, it affects the entire landscape. If more REASONABLE parents said 'hell no' there wouldn't be ridiculous meaningless travel.

More parents need to grow a set of ball and say it's too much to those in authority across youth soccer.

Instead they write their check and bend over and feel oh so important that their kid is so special they get to drive up and down the entire East Coast, and even fly to the Midwest for regular season games.

^^

Yeah, that WAS hilarious. Being outraged about what someone else’s soccer team does for travel that they are sooo compelled to comment and judge when it has zero impact on their lives.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would people stop with the f%cking talk about kids not playing pro, not getting scholarships, not getting this or that....WE F%CKING KNOW. WE DO! JUST STOP! PLEASE! Do what you want and we will do what we want.

Well you sound like a totally rational, not unhinged at all soccer parent. Do what your kids want. And I am guessing 12-hour days that involve six hours of driving for one game is not it.

Lol

Anonymous wrote:Some of these kids will get big scholarships and some will be pros.

Okay. Sure

Some of these kids will get big scholarships and some will be pros.