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Soccer landscape may change - consumer behavior surely will

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    Soccer landscape may change - consumer behavior surely will

    When the dust settles and who knows when it will, I will be in no rush to sign up for clubs / teams / leagues travelling to far flung locales, spending boat loads of discretionary money that I may or may not have to play games most of which are not meaningful to my players.

    In Palm Beach County and points south for example there are enough clubs to ensure 95% of the player pool can get level appropriate competition without having to travel to the ends of the earth to find it. Yet, you see neighboring clubs deliberately avoid playing each other for whatever reason - hard feelings, afraid of losing players, do not want to support other local clubs financially by participating in events, etc.

    Time for clubs to bury hatchets and get some perspective. The trend of league expansions will ebb, as it should. When this is all over don't expect life to just go back to exactly how it was before.

    #2
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    When the dust settles and who knows when it will, I will be in no rush to sign up for clubs / teams / leagues travelling to far flung locales, spending boat loads of discretionary money that I may or may not have to play games most of which are not meaningful to my players.

    In Palm Beach County and points south for example there are enough clubs to ensure 95% of the player pool can get level appropriate competition without having to travel to the ends of the earth to find it. Yet, you see neighboring clubs deliberately avoid playing each other for whatever reason - hard feelings, afraid of losing players, do not want to support other local clubs financially by participating in events, etc.

    Time for clubs to bury hatchets and get some perspective. The trend of league expansions will ebb, as it should. When this is all over don't expect life to just go back to exactly how it was before.
    This is actually a very profound post. Not only for youth soccer but for life as we know it. I don't know about your business/profession but we are having (virtual) meetings to discuss how we come out the other side of this better off.

    We've already had the conversations about how to survive the next 90-120 days. Now the discussions are focused on "life after CV-19". We (and everybody) wants to lay the ground work for how to come roaring out of this setback.

    The youth soccer clubs that can do the same and picture the "new normal" and make strategic decisions/alliances are going to screaming back in a big, positive way!

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      When the dust settles and who knows when it will, I will be in no rush to sign up for clubs / teams / leagues travelling to far flung locales, spending boat loads of discretionary money that I may or may not have to play games most of which are not meaningful to my players.

      In Palm Beach County and points south for example there are enough clubs to ensure 95% of the player pool can get level appropriate competition without having to travel to the ends of the earth to find it. Yet, you see neighboring clubs deliberately avoid playing each other for whatever reason - hard feelings, afraid of losing players, do not want to support other local clubs financially by participating in events, etc.

      Time for clubs to bury hatchets and get some perspective. The trend of league expansions will ebb, as it should. When this is all over don't expect life to just go back to exactly how it was before.

      Woah!! "Far flung locales...boat loads of money...travel to the ends of the Earth"....???? Drama much??

      Brevard County might be as far as you've ever been, but for most, Greer, SC is not the end of the Earth.

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        #4
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        Woah!! "Far flung locales...boat loads of money...travel to the ends of the Earth"....???? Drama much??

        Brevard County might be as far as you've ever been, but for most, Greer, SC is not the end of the Earth.
        Greer, SC is fine, try Sand Diego for 6-days if your team makes the ECNL Championships.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          When the dust settles and who knows when it will, I will be in no rush to sign up for clubs / teams / leagues travelling to far flung locales, spending boat loads of discretionary money that I may or may not have to play games most of which are not meaningful to my players.

          In Palm Beach County and points south for example there are enough clubs to ensure 95% of the player pool can get level appropriate competition without having to travel to the ends of the earth to find it. Yet, you see neighboring clubs deliberately avoid playing each other for whatever reason - hard feelings, afraid of losing players, do not want to support other local clubs financially by participating in events, etc.

          Time for clubs to bury hatchets and get some perspective. The trend of league expansions will ebb, as it should. When this is all over don't expect life to just go back to exactly how it was before.
          Nice wake up call for soccer clubs! I'm sure they will see many kids deciding to spend their time doing other things. Maybe this will force the clubs to focus on the kids and what makes sense.

          Comment


            #6
            I've no doubt many Americans will be re-prioritizing things in their lives. Many absolutely have to because of financial hardship. Others are taking the time to reflect on what really matters to them, what brings them joy vs things that don't. Is your kid dying to get back to soccer? If not, why? If so, is it because of boredom or is it driven by a true passion?

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              #7
              I hired a tennis coach to keep the kids busy. They seem to be enjoying it. We may try tennis next year.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                Greer, SC is fine, try Sand Diego for 6-days if your team makes the ECNL Championships.
                No teams from Jacksonville have to worry about that on the girls side.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  When the dust settles and who knows when it will, I will be in no rush to sign up for clubs / teams / leagues travelling to far flung locales, spending boat loads of discretionary money that I may or may not have to play games most of which are not meaningful to my players.

                  In Palm Beach County and points south for example there are enough clubs to ensure 95% of the player pool can get level appropriate competition without having to travel to the ends of the earth to find it. Yet, you see neighboring clubs deliberately avoid playing each other for whatever reason - hard feelings, afraid of losing players, do not want to support other local clubs financially by participating in events, etc.

                  Time for clubs to bury hatchets and get some perspective. The trend of league expansions will ebb, as it should. When this is all over don't expect life to just go back to exactly how it was before.
                  No one will want to sign a contract and pay up front fees for a year of soccer to have a club day “we continue to pay our coaches so they can feed their families”.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    I've no doubt many Americans will be re-prioritizing things in their lives. Many absolutely have to because of financial hardship. Others are taking the time to reflect on what really matters to them, what brings them joy vs things that don't. Is your kid dying to get back to soccer? If not, why? If so, is it because of boredom or is it driven by a true passion?
                    My kid is crazy to get back and has torn up the sod in my back yard training on his own. So, he needs to play. The problem, as always, is where? So few good programs that warrant the sacrifice and $

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      When the dust settles and who knows when it will, I will be in no rush to sign up for clubs / teams / leagues travelling to far flung locales, spending boat loads of discretionary money that I may or may not have to play games most of which are not meaningful to my players.

                      In Palm Beach County and points south for example there are enough clubs to ensure 95% of the player pool can get level appropriate competition without having to travel to the ends of the earth to find it. Yet, you see neighboring clubs deliberately avoid playing each other for whatever reason - hard feelings, afraid of losing players, do not want to support other local clubs financially by participating in events, etc.

                      Time for clubs to bury hatchets and get some perspective. The trend of league expansions will ebb, as it should. When this is all over don't expect life to just go back to exactly how it was before.

                      I would love to see the soccer landscape change as it is surely broken. However.. I highly doubt that anything will change.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                        I would love to see the soccer landscape change as it is surely broken. However.. I highly doubt that anything will change.
                        It has been kind of nice having dinner as a family every night.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          I would love to see the soccer landscape change as it is surely broken. However.. I highly doubt that anything will change.
                          Teams/clubs will consolidate because of fewer players, possibly a smaller league or two collapse. But the broader issues of how to fix what ails US soccer will not. That requires leadership and cooperation. USSF is incapable of the former, and the leagues the latter

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            It has been kind of nice having dinner as a family every night.
                            There's a lot of upsides, including making everyone slow the hell down. Even among families that come out financially healthy, I think some will still be asking if they want to get back on the hamster wheel. Those that aren't ok, well obviously fancy kid's sports is one of the first things that goes away

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                              There's a lot of upsides, including making everyone slow the hell down. Even among families that come out financially healthy, I think some will still be asking if they want to get back on the hamster wheel. Those that aren't ok, well obviously fancy kid's sports is one of the first things that goes away
                              It's been fabulous to have dinner as a family, someone said and is true. We had been forced to slowdown and to a point it's being a good change and a revelation to many. We are seeing pretty solid businesses trembling, some thought of themselves as indispensable to realized that they are not. Even the ones that luckily have been able to keep their jobs are thinking twice on how are they spending their hard earned cash.

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