why are people pumping money to GPS

[Unregistered]

I don't think of these big corporate entities as "clubs". They are really soccer "services" delivering a product--sometimes a very good product, and a product that satisfies their customers' immediate appetites, but an impersonal product. You pay for the product, and the service delivers it--a transactional relationship. I think a "club" connotes something more communal, not in a Bernie Sanders sense, but in a "you've got to give something back" way. Can someone tell me if these corporate soccer services encourage their teams to go watch the games of other teams in their "club" ? Do they hire alumni players to help coach younger teams? Do they hold reunions or bring young teams to watch their former players college or pro games? Is there any abiding loyalty after the last check is cashed and the product is consumed? Has a lifelong relationship with soccer been inspired? Here is where I (grudgingly) agree with the "end result" posters: If it is just the "soccer", is lining the corporate pocket worthy of the effort?

Amen, Brother. Someone out there gets it.

[Unregistered]

I don't think of these big corporate entities as "clubs". They are really soccer "services" delivering a product--sometimes a very good product, and a product that satisfies their customers' immediate appetites, but an impersonal product. You pay for the product, and the service delivers it--a transactional relationship. I think a "club" connotes something more communal, not in a Bernie Sanders sense, but in a "you've got to give something back" way. Can someone tell me if these corporate soccer services encourage their teams to go watch the games of other teams in their "club" ? Do they hire alumni players to help coach younger teams? Do they hold reunions or bring young teams to watch their former players college or pro games? Is there any abiding loyalty after the last check is cashed and the product is consumed? Has a lifelong relationship with soccer been inspired? Here is where I (grudgingly) agree with the "end result" posters: If it is just the "soccer", is lining the corporate pocket worthy of the effort?

Well written. I agree that the word "club" shares none of the connotations associated with the word that means membership or belonging. Club is merely a label for pay-to-play soccer. Consumers think they are buying better coaching and better competition. Hasn't it become self-fulfilling tho? Is there another option?

If I want my child to play at the next level, can it be done without club?
My experience is NO.

[Unregistered]

Well written. I agree that the word "club" shares none of the connotations associated with the word that means membership or belonging. Club is merely a label for pay-to-play soccer. Consumers think they are buying better coaching and better competition. Hasn't it become self-fulfilling tho? Is there another option?

If I want my child to play at the next level, can it be done without club?
My experience is NO.

I'm sure you meant to say "if my child wants to play at the next level". Right?

[Unregistered]

^^ I surely hope so, but that little faux pas can be pretty telling at times.

[Unregistered]

^^ I surely hope so, but that little faux pas can be pretty telling at times.

I think having a physical space like FC Stars in Lancaster, FC Scorpions in Stoughton, WUP in Ludlow, Liverpool in Oxford makes it more like a club. But really, being a member of any soccer club is similar to being a member at your local Y. You pay the monthly fee, you get athletic activity.

[Unregistered]

Scorpions in Stoughton? Where in Stoughton?

[Unregistered]

I think having a physical space like FC Stars in Lancaster, FC Scorpions in Stoughton, WUP in Ludlow, Liverpool in Oxford makes it more like a club. But really, being a member of any soccer club is similar to being a member at your local Y. You pay the monthly fee, you get athletic activity.

Couldn't being a member of a soccer club be so much more? I'll risk sounding sappy to suggest that soccer could help cure the "bowling alone" anomie that plagues modern American life: It can provide fellowship (I even like the a-holes on my geezer league team...usually), it can provide healthy activity, it can provide entertainment, it bridges generations and cultures, it has real elements of learned craft--beyond mere athleticism, but still rewarding size, speed, endurance, tenacity. If you love soccer, some part of you has to hate writing a check to a corporation that exists almost exclusively for that transaction alone.

[Unregistered]

I'm sure you meant to say "if my child wants to play at the next level". Right?

Fair catch, and other poster pointed out that the error itself is telling. A more accurate statement would be "if I want my child to have the choice of playing at the next level".

I should also clarify that by "next level" I meant whatever level that is: A team, Varsity, or College.

[Unregistered]

I know GPS are unethical
I know that GPS are all about the money
I know that GPS will say anything (lie, cheat, distort) to increase their revenue
But my kid is on a decent team and having fun so I play along. It does make me feel a little slimy and certainly hope it doesn't come back to bite me. If you go in with your head up and know what you're dealing with you can make it work for you and your kid.

This is the best case scenario at GPS.