Matchfit Academy - Reviews?

[Unregistered]

I'm on this because if you go back to the original post of a guy looking to get his daughter to play at a club a f this is what this dude gets. A bunch of bitches. Like I said its girls soccer. I wouldn't put to much emphasis on this as being some elite sport. Sorry folks its soccer in America and I leave it at that. 10 to 12 years of soccer @5k a year( after you pay to do all the extras) your at 60k.
That's 2 years at a Big10 school already paid🤣🤔. Save your money

[Unregistered]

I'm on this because if you go back to the original post of a guy looking to get his daughter to play at a club a f this is what this dude gets. A bunch of bitches. Like I said its girls soccer. I wouldn't put to much emphasis on this as being some elite sport. Sorry folks its soccer in America and I leave it at that. 10 to 12 years of soccer @5k a year( after you pay to do all the extras) your at 60k.
That's 2 years at a Big10 school already paid🤣🤔. Save your money

So, that's the only reason to do an activity? ROI for college?

What if...and this may sound outrageous, but...what if...people like the game?

[Unregistered]

So, that's the only reason to do an activity? ROI for college?

What if...and this may sound outrageous, but...what if...people like the game?

Again if you like soccer go elsewhere do not bring her to MFA. Its more of a Rugby/American style football program here.

[Unregistered]

Again if you like soccer go elsewhere do not bring her to MFA. Its more of a Rugby/American style football program here.

Don't care about the club, I'm more wondering/responding to the idiot who says you'd be better off ignoring the game and putting money aside for college. Like the two activities are mutually exclusive.

[Unregistered]

You can play Travel Town Soccer. Basically free compared to Club soccer. If you just enjoy the game. Pay to Play is for college aspirations. If parents say otherwise they are lying.

[Unregistered]

You can play Travel Town Soccer. Basically free compared to Club soccer. If you just enjoy the game. Pay to Play is for college aspirations. If parents say otherwise they are lying.

T
Spot on! By the time a kid is finished with ECNL if they start at U13 and play until U18 it has to be close to $60,000 if not higher. Why would anyone spend that kind of money if they weren’t hoping for some kind of return. If your kid enjoys the game you can still have them play at a lower cost level, no need for the high cost if all you are seeking is enjoyment. ECNL and DA get people to pay by dangling the carrot of D1 scholarships, and anyone that denies that are lying.

[Unregistered]

Don't care about the club, I'm more wondering/responding to the idiot who says you'd be better off ignoring the game and putting money aside for college. Like the two activities are mutually exclusive.

They are not mutually exclusive- the problem comes in when people don’t save for college bc they are paying for ECNL and banking on their kid getting a full ride. D1 full rides are few and far between, so frankly if you can’t afford both college and ECNL you may want to skip ECNL and put that money towards your kids college fund.

[Unregistered]

You can play Travel Town Soccer. Basically free compared to Club soccer. If you just enjoy the game. Pay to Play is for college aspirations. If parents say otherwise they are lying.

Travel Town Soccer is club soccer, no? They just play in lower level leagues.

[Unregistered]

For most its a prestige thing...Club brands are like driving a BMW/Range Rover to a lot of parents...hence the magnets touting PDA/MFA/ECNL on the back of said cars...

Having played D1(many years ago)... yes there are very, very few full rides available (most D1 teams carry 20+ but have 14 scholarships) and even if you get one ..then playing can become like a job with all the stress of keeping your place there...

Too many players are being pushed thru by parents who hire private coaches and film all games and watch/film all practices and coach/yell from sidelines ….it has gotten out of control.

We did the ECNL thing because I was led to believe it was where the better players played and that would lead to better overall development....but that is not always the case...you need to balance $$, time, and expectations. For some ECNL is the right fit...and yes many of the teams (1st teams) are better than NL teams...PDA Strikers would beat SC 05 team
having played and watch both of them...but that doesn't mean they play better soccer....
just means they have the bigger, faster athletes at the moment...
To see American style vs Europe....watch the ICC final PDA vs Barcelona ...it really highlights
the diff between rewarding bigger physically aggressive players over technically skilled thinking ones...

[Unregistered]

They are not mutually exclusive- the problem comes in when people don’t save for college bc they are paying for ECNL and banking on their kid getting a full ride. D1 full rides are few and far between, so frankly if you can’t afford both college and ECNL you may want to skip ECNL and put that money towards your kids college fund.

Wholeheartedly agree then. We are in DA, but have zero expectations on college $$. Not even sure my D will want to play in college when the time comes.

[Unregistered]

For most its a prestige thing...Club brands are like driving a BMW/Range Rover to a lot of parents...hence the magnets touting PDA/MFA/ECNL on the back of said cars...

Having played D1(many years ago)... yes there are very, very few full rides available (most D1 teams carry 20+ but have 14 scholarships) and even if you get one ..then playing can become like a job with all the stress of keeping your place there...

Too many players are being pushed thru by parents who hire private coaches and film all games and watch/film all practices and coach/yell from sidelines ….it has gotten out of control.

We did the ECNL thing because I was led to believe it was where the better players played and that would lead to better overall development....but that is not always the case...you need to balance $$, time, and expectations. For some ECNL is the right fit...and yes many of the teams (1st teams) are better than NL teams...PDA Strikers would beat SC 05 team
having played and watch both of them...but that doesn't mean they play better soccer....
just means they have the bigger, faster athletes at the moment...
To see American style vs Europe....watch the ICC final PDA vs Barcelona ...it really highlights
the diff between rewarding bigger physically aggressive players over technically skilled thinking ones...

Well, to be fair for that PDA team, what they went through to even make it to the start of the game was nothing short of extraordinary. The closest comparison I can make is Apollo 13, maybe Shackleton.

[Unregistered]

Well, to be fair for that PDA team, what they went through to even make it to the start of the game was nothing short of extraordinary. The closest comparison I can make is Apollo 13, maybe Shackleton.

when you consider the heat, the humidity, the travel, the refs, just coming back from hs (why do we do this again?), first time playing together for a while, a setup that clearly favored the internationals so they would keep coming back, bad lasagna, flights on spirit, locusts, and bad wifi at the hotel, the showing was nothing short of monumental.

#remember the eleven

[Unregistered]

For most its a prestige thing...Club brands are like driving a BMW/Range Rover to a lot of parents...hence the magnets touting PDA/MFA/ECNL on the back of said cars...

Having played D1(many years ago)... yes there are very, very few full rides available (most D1 teams carry 20+ but have 14 scholarships) and even if you get one ..then playing can become like a job with all the stress of keeping your place there...

Too many players are being pushed thru by parents who hire private coaches and film all games and watch/film all practices and coach/yell from sidelines ….it has gotten out of control.

We did the ECNL thing because I was led to believe it was where the better players played and that would lead to better overall development....but that is not always the case...you need to balance $$, time, and expectations. For some ECNL is the right fit...and yes many of the teams (1st teams) are better than NL teams...PDA Strikers would beat SC 05 team
having played and watch both of them...but that doesn't mean they play better soccer....
just means they have the bigger, faster athletes at the moment...
To see American style vs Europe....watch the ICC final PDA vs Barcelona ...it really highlights
the diff between rewarding bigger physically aggressive players over technically skilled thinking ones...

I feel bad for the PDA girls. They are clearly not being taught to play the right way by PDA coaches. The coach in the ICC never made any real adjustments against the Barca team. He just yelled at them to fun faster or make better passes. lol It looks like they are being coached to be faster, more aggressive and more direct than the next team. They couldn't string more than 3 passes together. The goalie just punted the ball on every occasion. I was shocked by the lack of technical ability. Some of the first touches were really poor. They are able to dominate on the East Coast because they get the best athletes and they overwhelm most teams. Teams are easily intimidated by them because of the aggressiveness. Playing against a younger Barca team with clearly better technical abilities totally outclassed PDA.

[Unregistered]

Travel Town Soccer is club soccer, no? They just play in lower level leagues.

MUCH lower level in some cases. We left travel in our town when we were given a 19-year-old coach who, as my wife who was team mom said, was being managed by the kids, not vice versa. That same year our town HS girls coach revolted against the travel program, which was managed by old-timers, and told parents if their kids wanted to learn enough to play HS, they needed to get them out of that program--which is saying a lot considering the level of HS play.

Our first club team (u-10) was composed of many parents who had similar experiences in other towns. As one parent who actually coached one of his town teams said, half the kids come to practice to do cartwheels on a great field. If your kid is more interested than that, it becomes a fiasco, especially when kids stop showing up for games and practices at the end of the season and you can't even complete your schedule!

I never hear much of this when I hear know-nothings claim that every kid who plays club has a parent who is after a scholarship. Many kids are just after a decent game and competitive experience, and if you can afford a few bucks more, you can get that experience for your kids. Maybe then they'll be good enough to start for their local HS and maybe even play on into college--not necessarily on a scholarship.

Those are priceless experiences that I had growing up (and playing another sport) and am willing to give that to my kids, if they want it.

[Unregistered]

I feel bad for the PDA girls. They are clearly not being taught to play the right way by PDA coaches. The coach in the ICC never made any real adjustments against the Barca team. He just yelled at them to fun faster or make better passes. lol It looks like they are being coached to be faster, more aggressive and more direct than the next team. They couldn't string more than 3 passes together. The goalie just punted the ball on every occasion. I was shocked by the lack of technical ability. Some of the first touches were really poor. They are able to dominate on the East Coast because they get the best athletes and they overwhelm most teams. Teams are easily intimidated by them because of the aggressiveness. Playing against a younger Barca team with clearly better technical abilities totally outclassed PDA.

There were other teams in the tournament as well. Very high quality Barca squad that likely has their pick of any players they want and none of them probably decline since that only probably have to pay a few euros if that. Not much of a comparison to USA pay to play soccer at pda or any other club