Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Youth soccer in US is ridiculous. Nothing else to say. There is so many more opportunities and potential in Europe. It’s sad we are stuck here and paying premium for this low level soccer experience.

In other countries, they tell kids at early ages they aren’t good enough so most kids quit very few push through.

In America, everyone is “Elite” and everyone who pays feels entitled. Most of the kids playing youth soccer here would have been told at an early age to quit soccer in Europe.

In Europe each country, everyone is under the same pyramid but our problem is we too big of a country to be under one pyramid. That’s we have so many shitty leagues and governing bodies

Anonymous wrote:Youth soccer in US is ridiculous. Nothing else to say. There is so many more opportunities and potential in Europe. It’s sad we are stuck here and paying premium for this low level soccer experience.

Anonymous wrote:
This is the best advice I can give to parents of young players. Try a different sport, hockey, swimming, lacrosse, other. Playing soccer in college is a hoax, for boys, college spots are filled by internationals. Girls side is now mirroring boys’ now and there are fewer spots. International students pay higher tuition. Avoid trashing your $ and effort and time. When your kid turns 15 it’s going to be late to go back in time. Invest your kids time in different sports or on improving SAT scores this will help more if you are looking for a scholarship.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MLS Next, ECNL, GA, NA and ECNLR all travel. The first two travel more, as this is expected. If you are not willing to travel, then don't commit.

I guess the point those who respond like this are missing is this unnecessary travel is bad for the sport. It's bad for talent retention and it's bad for morale is the families who are supposed to support their child. So yes we could just stop the madness and play EDP, but it's not going to change anything for the players with a lot of potential who simply give up on high level soccer.

This. People who accept the existing excessive travel of mlsn and ecnl are part of the problem.

Yes but how does a person stuck in the system change it? If I make a stand and not participate there will be another all too ready to take our place. It’s capitalism and the free market. This isn’t just a youth soccer problem. It’s the same in youth volleyball, gymnastics, baseball, etc.

You need leadership from the top us soccer organization to initiate the change. Keep the leagues structured by metro areas. Connect these metro areas to smaller country side areas from the states forming that metro area. Keep that way until u17. Use national ID sessions to recruit across the country for the us national team for u15 and above. Otherwise a kid with much more talent but living in a family with less financial conditions won't beat the try hard wealthier family that can invest 10k on their kid per year on club fees, out state trips and extra private training.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MLS Next, ECNL, GA, NA and ECNLR all travel. The first two travel more, as this is expected. If you are not willing to travel, then don't commit.

I guess the point those who respond like this are missing is this unnecessary travel is bad for the sport. It's bad for talent retention and it's bad for morale is the families who are supposed to support their child. So yes we could just stop the madness and play EDP, but it's not going to change anything for the players with a lot of potential who simply give up on high level soccer.

This. People who accept the existing excessive travel of mlsn and ecnl are part of the problem.

Yes but how does a person stuck in the system change it? If I make a stand and not participate there will be another all too ready to take our place. It’s capitalism and the free market. This isn’t just a youth soccer problem. It’s the same in youth volleyball, gymnastics, baseball, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is the best advice I can give to parents of young players. Try a different sport, hockey, swimming, lacrosse, other. Playing soccer in college is a hoax, for boys, college spots are filled by internationals. Girls side is now mirroring boys’ now and there are fewer spots. International students pay higher tuition. Avoid trashing your $ and effort and time. When your kid turns 15 it’s going to be late to go back in time. Invest your kids time in different sports or on improving SAT scores this will help more if you are looking for a scholarship.

Or how about not choosing sports in order to maximize scholarships? It’s an activity not an investment. Spend time and money on things you enjoy doing.

Anonymous wrote:
This is the best advice I can give to parents of young players. Try a different sport, hockey, swimming, lacrosse, other. Playing soccer in college is a hoax, for boys, college spots are filled by internationals. Girls side is now mirroring boys’ now and there are fewer spots. International students pay higher tuition. Avoid trashing your $ and effort and time. When your kid turns 15 it’s going to be late to go back in time. Invest your kids time in different sports or on improving SAT scores this will help more if you are looking for a scholarship.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why isn't there a concerted effort in the DMV to stop the madness of the gerrymandering of leagues? There is zero need for any teams, including top teams in this area to be traveling five-plus hours one way. Teams in ECNL at the older age group are playing each other once all year while traveling to New Jersey, New York, North Carolina or South Carolina several times a year. It just doesn't make sense. Nobody is developing talent by spending $800 a weekend and ten hours in the car. Stop the silliness. Parents should demand that there be a high level DMV extended league that stays within a two-hour radius.

No one is forcing your kid to play ECNL. If you don't like it, drop your kid to a lower level. RL teams usually stay within 2-4 hours. We knew what we signed up for when we accepted the offers. Get over it or get out.

The real issue is this dynamic is not contributing to the development of the players relative to their international peers. It is so much American status-seeking.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why isn't there a concerted effort in the DMV to stop the madness of the gerrymandering of leagues? There is zero need for any teams, including top teams in this area to be traveling five-plus hours one way. Teams in ECNL at the older age group are playing each other once all year while traveling to New Jersey, New York, North Carolina or South Carolina several times a year. It just doesn't make sense. Nobody is developing talent by spending $800 a weekend and ten hours in the car. Stop the silliness. Parents should demand that there be a high level DMV extended league that stays within a two-hour radius.

No one is forcing your kid to play ECNL. If you don't like it, drop your kid to a lower level. RL teams usually stay within 2-4 hours. We knew what we signed up for when we accepted the offers. Get over it or get out.