1. ) Coaches &/or Clubs doing it only for the $$$.
2. ) PARENTS !
I would put parents first, because we are the ones they sell this all to. If we wanted youth sports to be like they were 30+ years ago they still would be.
Are you a communist? Do you work for a paycheck or do you donate your time? Do you think you make less than those managing clubs or coaching teams. Everything has a cost. Schools, churches, scouts, etc. Everything has a cost. And thank god we live in country with free enterprise where we can make choices spend money where we choose. Oh, except excessive taxes. Politicians are the ones you should be complaining about.
Are you a communist? Do you work for a paycheck or do you donate your time? Do you think you make less than those managing clubs or coaching teams. Everything has a cost. Schools, churches, scouts, etc. Everything has a cost. And thank god we live in country with free enterprise where we can make choices spend money where we choose. Oh, except excessive taxes. Politicians are the ones you should be complaining about.
There was a time when most coaches coaching teams of kids 5-13 did donate their time and were not paid. Or at least not likely paid directly for just coaching. As society their was a shift and value we place on youth sports has changed dramatically.
The change of value, is not so much what values matter, but it's monetary value placed be it becoming a pro or getting a full ride to college. Sure on the girl side there are many more spots to play collegiality than 30 years ago, but now there are 10 times the girls playing sports at the youth level than in the past, especially past grade school age. So chances for girls and boys to make to the collegiate level or pro are not any better today than in the past.
With the exception of fraction of a percent most kids would be better off back in the days of the volunteer coaches, and high school being the top level of teenage sports.
Most paid coaches are knee deep in a twisted relationship with parents, where children are used as child labor to further the coach's career and bolster the parents ego.
Coaches berate and denigrate children over performance mostly because the coach can not afford to look bad. Parents push the kid because they want to look good around the water cooler.
This is not a system designed to develop the best players. The US is spending a lot more, and getting a lot less, in soccer. We out spend nearly every country in the world on soccer, and yet at the international level, we suck.
Anyone who thinks US Soccer is about the kids, or about developing players, is nuts. It is about money and egos. Period.
Parents are the most important adults in the life of a child. Coaches must win the hearts and minds of parents. The key is education. We must take the time and energy to educate and involve parents. Once they understand why we do what we do they will support. This, however, requires coaches who actually know what they are doing and can support their practices with real evidence.
Clubs doing it for the money turns parents into customers.
And customers are always a pain in the butt.
Go watch youth football. You will see lots of parent volunteers out there all the time. It seems the only people who want to bother to be a soccer coach need to get paid for their time. It is crap... nobody wants to do it. That is why clubs will put a parent coach on a team that your kid is paying $1200+ per year to play on. There is nobody wanting to do it, so you have to pay for it and even then you may just be paying for a babysitter.
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