| WHY IS AMERICAN SOCCER A YOUTH BIG MONEY SPORT? |
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| on 23 Mar 2010 | |
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WHY IS AMERICAN SOCCER A YOUTH BIG MONEY SPORT The continuous power struggle in American Soccer of allowing big money to influence that youth sport is unprecedented in the American youth systems. It also does not follow the world soccer scene. We have allowed our beautiful sport in this country to be ruled by super clubs who charge enormous fees with the promise that their paid coaches and trainers will produce exceptional soccer players of the future. By charging these enormous fees it shuts out many in the lower income brackets. This is in direct contrast to what basketball, American football and baseball do. While these sports make huge efforts to engage poor, lower income kids and their families, we in the soccer community do the exact opposite. This is also in direct contrast to what is done through out the rest of the world, where the academies are free for the youth players. I believe a huge philosophical change is needed in our sport. At the youth level is should not be business driven. How many poor kids has American Soccer lost to other sports due to money charged? We have a huge untapped talent market that will remain so as long as clubs continue to charge anywhere from 5-10,000 dollars with their paid trainers promising the next Freddy Adu. Most soccer players come from extreme poor backgrounds even in the US. It was nice to read Soccer America’s latest issue on volunteer coaches and Rick Davis. We need to go back to those days and continue to do out-reach programs. Finally the last step is to engage the high school coaches in America. This is where we can make huge strides without worrying about politics. We need to start a conversation with the coaches to make the high school programs meaningful and competitive again. There has been a huge drop-off in level of play within the high schools, but maybe we need to explore a two tier system in the schools. They should allow their real good soccer players to play within an ALPHA tier against other High Schools and allow everyone else who wants to play the game to play the BETA tier. The two tier system will bring back quality of play, make High School soccer relevant again and appease everyone. Since it’s free it will also open up doors for all the players regardless of income levels. We have to engage all youth players in order to continue to grow , get better and more competitive in the world scene. Paul Giovanopoulos Rose Tree Soccer Club Media PA |
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