Does cost of club soccer really matter?

[Unregistered]

Every family has their own breaking point where they realize that the juice just aint worth the squeeze but that point is going to differ from family to family and my experience as told me that will be based largely upon what they see as their child's upside with soccer.

wow. BTDT waited a whole two hours to respond to the "op". A new slow record.

[Unregistered]

Depends upon the kid. With the youngest, at 10-12 I was being told that she was the best young GK they had ever seen. She made the U13 regional pool at 12 which gave those opinions some weight so there was every reason to be optimistic with her. With my middle one, it was obvious from the beginning that sports were just a social outlet for her so it was easy to just do the recreational path with her. She was happy with that. My oldest was a real soccer rat and at 10-12 I was still figuring youth sports out. Probably was a bit overly optimistic with her but not as much as one might think because the environment was so different back then. We didn't leave the state for a game until she was a U13, and New England until she was a U14. During the bulk of her youth career we basically only did tournaments in Region 1 and pretty much all of the expense for her was accumulated during an 18 month period between her U15 and U16 years. Back then I estimated that I spent roughly $30K on soccer for her but with hindsight I could have easily cut that at least in half, if not more, and not changed the outcome one bit. Obviously costs have exploded since then but what I have since learned with the youngest is that the amount of optimism a parent should have is directly proportional to the amount of free opportunities you get offered. In today's environment, if your child has talent you start hearing it from other clubs pretty early on and the discussions invariably jumps to discounts and then once you get to certain levels you don't pay for anything so I would use that as a gauge establishing a guideline that the amount of optimism should be inversely related to the cost you are expected to pay.

--beentheredonethat

Thank you for the response. I was curious because my child plays the same position as yours. She is still 12 but has received the same incentives as yours listed above. Btw- she very much looks up to your D - congrats on her accomplishments. Your info helped me in the last few years of the evolving door of soccer.

[Unregistered]

Really a poorly framed question.

What are you really trying to answer? There are only so many clubs and the cost ranges are not that wide - so is there a different question you're trying to answer?

I have found the cost range is very wide. Low end at $1,000 per year to high end of $3,000 per year. That's a 150% difference. The framework is essentially the same throughout all the clubs. In season training 2-3x per week, Games every Sunday, 2-3 tournaments per year, winter training. Exclusions typically include winter leagues, uniforms, and extra tournaments. But the real trigger in the cost explosion is the offer to play NPL or ECNL and all the travel costs associated with that. Its a flattering offer and too tempting to say no. Getting that at the earliest ages will account for a lot of your disposal income. Its seems that about 75% of those playing ECNL will get D1 money (partial or full scholarship), so there is some payback there. NPL is less likely, but its possible. With ECNL and NPL, its like the mob, once you're in, you can't get out.

[Unregistered]

"Cost" is a vague term. Do you travel? How far? How often? Do you carpool with others? Are there other options? Do you play other sports? Do you participate in winter activities? Is there a social aspect to consider? What is your income? How many kids do you have playing?

We are a part of GPS and after uniforms, will pay just under $2k. But, it's in town, travel so far is reasonable (will change soon), practices are 5 minutes away. There's no other quality program within a 45-minute drive. We do ski/snowboard (not as often as we like due to winter training) and for the two of us (dad and daughter) we'd drop $4k over the course of a winter for day trips and/or vacations and equipment. Much lower now as we only get out a few times now. 6 classmates play with her, and she's my only child. Oh, and she loves the game, has watched virtually every Euro and Copa game, along with EPL every Saturday morning.

There is no right answer, as the range would be from $500 to $10k

[Unregistered]

"Cost" is a vague term. Do you travel? How far? How often? Do you carpool with others? Are there other options? Do you play other sports? Do you participate in winter activities? Is there a social aspect to consider? What is your income? How many kids do you have playing?

We are a part of GPS and after uniforms, will pay just under $2k. But, it's in town, travel so far is reasonable (will change soon), practices are 5 minutes away. There's no other quality program within a 45-minute drive. We do ski/snowboard (not as often as we like due to winter training) and for the two of us (dad and daughter) we'd drop $4k over the course of a winter for day trips and/or vacations and equipment. Much lower now as we only get out a few times now. 6 classmates play with her, and she's my only child. Oh, and she loves the game, has watched virtually every Euro and Copa game, along with EPL every Saturday morning.

There is no right answer, as the range would be from $500 to $10k

To be fair, I should add with other camps, futsal, outside training, etc. add on another $1500 or so...

[Unregistered]

Thank you for the response. I was curious because my child plays the same position as yours. She is still 12 but has received the same incentives as yours listed above. Btw- she very much looks up to your D - congrats on her accomplishments. Your info helped me in the last few years of the evolving door of soccer.

Thank you for your kind words. Congratulations on your daughter. Very cool. My sincere advice for you with respect to her is to shut out all of the inter club silliness and parental cock-blocking to focus strictly on the process of her getting better. You will be amazed at how easily things come together when coaches see upside potential and a desire to reach it. Clearly she has talent so it really is all about her challenging herself to improve each and every day. Going forward her path will largely be defined by how much she improves and how constantly she does it. The minute either one of you settles or otherwise slows down is the minute she will be judge to have reached her potential and that will shut her path forward down. If soccer is important to her, don't let that happen. In terms of cost, of course you are going to spend some money but honestly what you need to teach your daughter is how to self coach and be disciplined to work on her weaknesses. That doesn't actually cost much. Every player ever born has weaknesses in their game, the great ones challenge themselves so that theirs are still better than other's strengths. God luck on your journey.

--beentheredonethat

[Unregistered]

I see we're talking about costs again. And self-congratulating through more fictionalization. Very cool.

[Unregistered]

I see we're talking about costs again. And self-congratulating through more fictionalization. Very cool.

It's taken him awhile but it seems he's finally learning :)

[Unregistered]

its all about greed

The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed -- for lack of a better word -- is good.

Greed is right.

Greed works.

Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind.

And greed -- you mark my words -- will not only save Club Soccer, but that other malfunctioning corporation called GPS.

[Unregistered]

I see we're talking about costs again. And self-congratulating through more fictionalization. Very cool.

It is cool. Do you disagree with the content or the advice?
Even if this is 80% manufactured by 1 poster his "conversation" is more engaging than pontification - give him credit for creativity. I think the advice is spot on

[Unregistered]

The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed -- for lack of a better word -- is good.

Greed is right.

Greed works.

Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind.

And greed -- you mark my words -- will not only save Club Soccer, but that other malfunctioning corporation called GPS.

GPS Jealousy Guy is back. Yeah!
Sorry you kids got cut and your club is unsustainable. Keep blaming others

[Unregistered]

GPS Jealousy Guy is back. Yeah!
Sorry you kids got cut and your club is unsustainable. Keep blaming others

No kidding. Dude's got an angry axe to grind. Sad.

[Unregistered]

It is cool. Do you disagree with the content or the advice?
Even if this is 80% manufactured by 1 poster his "conversation" is more engaging than pontification - give him credit for creativity. I think the advice is spot on

80% manufactured? What exactly would that mean? And there's only one person who serially posts with the message asking that even if the content if fictional was is there to complain about. He's said that a thousand times. Advice? What advice? Haven't seen anything that any normal person wouldn't already be doing. Kids have to play and train somewhere even if they don't get caught up in which club. They still have to pick one and they are better off picking a decent one I would think. The fact that ultimate talent and motivation have to come from the kid is not some new, dazzling insight. Pretty basic, so nothing for a fictional parent of a 12 year old to go gaga over.

[Unregistered]

80% manufactured? What exactly would that mean? And there's only one person who serially posts with the message asking that even if the content if fictional was is there to complain about. He's said that a thousand times. Advice? What advice? Haven't seen anything that any normal person wouldn't already be doing. Kids have to play and train somewhere even if they don't get caught up in which club. They still have to pick one and they are better off picking a decent one I would think. The fact that ultimate talent and motivation have to come from the kid is not some new, dazzling insight. Pretty basic, so nothing for a fictional parent of a 12 year old to go gaga over.

Hate to break it to you, but there were actually 2 different posters in that exchange which means YOUR little fantasy is the one that was manufactured.

[Unregistered]

Hate to break it to you, but there were actually 2 different posters in that exchange which means YOUR little fantasy is the one that was manufactured.

Oh, OK, so what would the poster mean by 80% manufactured? You two posters must already know each other given the similarities in talent and accolades so the exchange comes off as a little odd. The number of GKs in youth soccer in Mass who are tracking for world-class or even high level regional status I would imagine is pretty small, and who knows, you might even be with the same club lol. Really need to think through these gambits a little more carefully before hitting Send.