Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest US soccer culture problem is that youth soccer exists to create economic success for private clubs. We are traveling all over because winning bigger and bigger things helps build the club profile. They don't care about the kids at all. Why do you think you have to respond within 48 hours to your offer letter to join the team? For the kids benefit? Or to lock down customers?

We are all paying to be used...they have us by the junk and they know it. How else can your kid make it to the top? Staying within the cheap, local leagues? Good luck bub.

Soccer isn't in the streets...its on "elite" teams who are exploiting adults who make it about them. All I can do is use those clubs as much as they are using me...and keep my eyes wide open.

Clubs may love this spending, but couldn't the leagues or governing bodies try to fix this? Why do they seem to constantly move in the opposite direction, with more tiers, requiring more travel? In theory all these tiers should at least ensure highly competitive games, but from what I see many teams are traveling all over to have 4-0 or worse games. There are teams in other tiers close by that could keep games closer.

Because leagues are competing with each other and they want more influence, size, money, power. We should stop thinking about this as youth sports with good intentions and instead view it as corporations fighting for market share. I do not trust these clubs and leagues at all.

The leagues and governing bodies have no authority to dictate how it works. Everything is driven by market forces. If there is enough demand for something it will come to be. We have all these elite leagues with crazy costs and traveling because there is enough demand for it. There isn't someone at the top that gets to make a proclamation about how things work. We parents collectively get to decide with our dollars. As long as there are enough parents willing to pay for these things the systems will continue to exist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest US soccer culture problem is that youth soccer exists to create economic success for private clubs. We are traveling all over because winning bigger and bigger things helps build the club profile. They don't care about the kids at all. Why do you think you have to respond within 48 hours to your offer letter to join the team? For the kids benefit? Or to lock down customers?

We are all paying to be used...they have us by the junk and they know it. How else can your kid make it to the top? Staying within the cheap, local leagues? Good luck bub.

Soccer isn't in the streets...its on "elite" teams who are exploiting adults who make it about them. All I can do is use those clubs as much as they are using me...and keep my eyes wide open.

Clubs may love this spending, but couldn't the leagues or governing bodies try to fix this? Why do they seem to constantly move in the opposite direction, with more tiers, requiring more travel? In theory all these tiers should at least ensure highly competitive games, but from what I see many teams are traveling all over to have 4-0 or worse games. There are teams in other tiers close by that could keep games closer.

Because leagues are competing with each other and they want more influence, size, money, power. We should stop thinking about this as youth sports with good intentions and instead view it as corporations fighting for market share. I do not trust these clubs and leagues at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest US soccer culture problem is that youth soccer exists to create economic success for private clubs. We are traveling all over because winning bigger and bigger things helps build the club profile. They don't care about the kids at all. Why do you think you have to respond within 48 hours to your offer letter to join the team? For the kids benefit? Or to lock down customers?

We are all paying to be used...they have us by the junk and they know it. How else can your kid make it to the top? Staying within the cheap, local leagues? Good luck bub.

Soccer isn't in the streets...its on "elite" teams who are exploiting adults who make it about them. All I can do is use those clubs as much as they are using me...and keep my eyes wide open.

Clubs may love this spending, but couldn't the leagues or governing bodies try to fix this? Why do they seem to constantly move in the opposite direction, with more tiers, requiring more travel? In theory all these tiers should at least ensure highly competitive games, but from what I see many teams are traveling all over to have 4-0 or worse games. There are teams in other tiers close by that could keep games closer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your player develops outside the game. Watch the video in the first post. The games are part of what hurts development, according to the podcast.

Every top academy in Europe uses match play as a significant portion of the daily and weekly development. Both in practice and in competition. Soccer is learning in completion, not against cones.

What the podcast / YouTube was critiquing is that in the US we make the games mean more for the individual player than they should. We fail to make matches and games a development environment opposed to a permanent “tryout” environment. In short, we suck the joy out of a sport and replace it with added pressure.

Oh yes. By the time players are 13-14 they are playing not to make mistakes or get yelled at. It is incredibly how this shapes the play. Also practices here are boring, lack defensive intensity and speed of play. These things results in a lot of technical players with a very high upside quitting the game.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your player develops outside the game. Watch the video in the first post. The games are part of what hurts development, according to the podcast.

Every top academy in Europe uses match play as a significant portion of the daily and weekly development. Both in practice and in competition. Soccer is learning in completion, not against cones.

What the podcast / YouTube was critiquing is that in the US we make the games mean more for the individual player than they should. We fail to make matches and games a development environment opposed to a permanent “tryout” environment. In short, we suck the joy out of a sport and replace it with added pressure.

Anonymous wrote:The biggest US soccer culture problem is that youth soccer exists to create economic success for private clubs. We are traveling all over because winning bigger and bigger things helps build the club profile. They don't care about the kids at all. Why do you think you have to respond within 48 hours to your offer letter to join the team? For the kids benefit? Or to lock down customers?

We are all paying to be used...they have us by the junk and they know it. How else can your kid make it to the top? Staying within the cheap, local leagues? Good luck bub.

Soccer isn't in the streets...its on "elite" teams who are exploiting adults who make it about them. All I can do is use those clubs as much as they are using me...and keep my eyes wide open.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest US soccer culture problem is that youth soccer exists to create economic success for private clubs. We are traveling all over because winning bigger and bigger things helps build the club profile. They don't care about the kids at all. Why do you think you have to respond within 48 hours to your offer letter to join the team? For the kids benefit? Or to lock down customers?

We are all paying to be used...they have us by the junk and they know it. How else can your kid make it to the top? Staying within the cheap, local leagues? Good luck bub.

Soccer isn't in the streets...its on "elite" teams who are exploiting adults who make it about them. All I can do is use those clubs as much as they are using me...and keep my eyes wide open.

Our private HS team has started doing this---getting on planes and traveling to play other HSs. It is the MOST ridiculous thing ever.

This is also in the middle of college soccer season. It's not like college coaches watch high school games anyways---but high school games in the middle of dead season...certainly not!!

The need for this is not there. I still can't fathom why it's being done.

RIDICULOUS!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest US soccer culture problem is that youth soccer exists to create economic success for private clubs. We are traveling all over because winning bigger and bigger things helps build the club profile. They don't care about the kids at all. Why do you think you have to respond within 48 hours to your offer letter to join the team? For the kids benefit? Or to lock down customers?

We are all paying to be used...they have us by the junk and they know it. How else can your kid make it to the top? Staying within the cheap, local leagues? Good luck bub.

Soccer isn't in the streets...its on "elite" teams who are exploiting adults who make it about them. All I can do is use those clubs as much as they are using me...and keep my eyes wide open.

Our private HS team has started doing this---getting on planes and traveling to play other HSs. It is the MOST ridiculous thing ever.

This is also in the middle of college soccer season. It's not like college coaches watch high school games anyways---but high school games in the middle of dead season...certainly not!!

The need for this is not there. I still can't fathom why it's being done.

Anonymous wrote:The biggest US soccer culture problem is that youth soccer exists to create economic success for private clubs. We are traveling all over because winning bigger and bigger things helps build the club profile. They don't care about the kids at all. Why do you think you have to respond within 48 hours to your offer letter to join the team? For the kids benefit? Or to lock down customers?

We are all paying to be used...they have us by the junk and they know it. How else can your kid make it to the top? Staying within the cheap, local leagues? Good luck bub.

Soccer isn't in the streets...its on "elite" teams who are exploiting adults who make it about them. All I can do is use those clubs as much as they are using me...and keep my eyes wide open.

Anonymous wrote:The biggest US soccer culture problem is that youth soccer exists to create economic success for private clubs. We are traveling all over because winning bigger and bigger things helps build the club profile. They don't care about the kids at all. Why do you think you have to respond within 48 hours to your offer letter to join the team? For the kids benefit? Or to lock down customers?

We are all paying to be used...they have us by the junk and they know it. How else can your kid make it to the top? Staying within the cheap, local leagues? Good luck bub.

Soccer isn't in the streets...its on "elite" teams who are exploiting adults who make it about them. All I can do is use those clubs as much as they are using me...and keep my eyes wide open.

Anonymous wrote:The biggest US soccer culture problem is that youth soccer exists to create economic success for private clubs. We are traveling all over because winning bigger and bigger things helps build the club profile. They don't care about the kids at all. Why do you think you have to respond within 48 hours to your offer letter to join the team? For the kids benefit? Or to lock down customers?

We are all paying to be used...they have us by the junk and they know it. How else can your kid make it to the top? Staying within the cheap, local leagues? Good luck bub.

Soccer isn't in the streets...its on "elite" teams who are exploiting adults who make it about them. All I can do is use those clubs as much as they are using me...and keep my eyes wide open.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest US soccer culture problem is that youth soccer exists to create economic success for private clubs. We are traveling all over because winning bigger and bigger things helps build the club profile. They don't care about the kids at all. Why do you think you have to respond within 48 hours to your offer letter to join the team? For the kids benefit? Or to lock down customers?

We are all paying to be used...they have us by the junk and they know it. How else can your kid make it to the top? Staying within the cheap, local leagues? Good luck bub.

Soccer isn't in the streets...its on "elite" teams who are exploiting adults who make it about them. All I can do is use those clubs as much as they are using me...and keep my eyes wide open.

Truth!

Anonymous wrote:The biggest US soccer culture problem is that youth soccer exists to create economic success for private clubs. We are traveling all over because winning bigger and bigger things helps build the club profile. They don't care about the kids at all. Why do you think you have to respond within 48 hours to your offer letter to join the team? For the kids benefit? Or to lock down customers?

We are all paying to be used...they have us by the junk and they know it. How else can your kid make it to the top? Staying within the cheap, local leagues? Good luck bub.

Soccer isn't in the streets...its on "elite" teams who are exploiting adults who make it about them. All I can do is use those clubs as much as they are using me...and keep my eyes wide open.