Pay to Play - The BIGGEST issue concerning Youth Soccer in America w/ Open Goal Project
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ส.ค. 2021
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Have you ever wondered how disruptive pay to play soccer in the US youth system actually is to underserved communities? We take a deep look into the beast that is the pay to play system in youth soccer in America with the co-founder of an organization trying to support those underserved communities.
If you can help to support your community in any way with jerseys, field access, trainers, anything - go do it!
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Youth sports in America = Pay to play.
Being a citizen of America = Pay (healthcare, education, housing, personal transit, etc) to exist.
In Ecuador rich companies start a team free to play and their goal is to make it to first division by betting on the youth development their players thats what we are missing out here in the us.
The system is backwards here.
USL team can be champions and still not qualify to the next level.
MLS teams can be champions and still not play higher level tournaments like Copa Libertadores de America.
Unfortunately thats me right now. the college I go to also canceled their mens soccer program and at 19 im struggling to find a team that has open tryouts. I never got the chance to play because its basically "whats your credit score" when it comes to playing in an acadamy. All I wanted to do was play ball and every tryout for acadamy sports I could make, the people chosen for a team were kids that had years in the program already and was almost garunteed to return and pay the following year. A friend of mine did not even show up with a broken leg and made a team spot but didnt play a game. Great video, really spot on and hits deep. Thank you guys for shining more of a light on this.
The try-out process is a scam. Coaches have no real procedures for qualifying players, no systematic checklist of skills required/displayed--it's all a big joke.
maybe if you travel to southamerica and try to get a chance by taking proof at a medium level team maybe it will work for you, to give an example, try to play for a 3rd tier argentinean soccer team, uruguay or chile are great places also
I use to play pickup soccer with a really talented Latino kid. But because of his family being immigrants and their not understanding how things worked with the US he wasn't going to get his family to fill out all this paperwork and then especially pay money for him to play. But he had that natural soccer instinct that never got to go to an upper echelon.
I think a lot of us growing up or playing pick up will have a similar experience. There are tons of kids who are not able to even get over the first barrier because registration might only be in English or there’s nobody to help them through the process. I hope there continues to be support in this direction going forward.
I was that kid 😢 still am the kid (22) years old I still play pick up cuz I love the sport but I know it’s to late to think about going pro 😢 with no type of highlights from high school or I’ll never be heard of no one knew what I was Capable of
Back in high school I was in a school where American football and basketball was more fan and money sponsored so soccer was just in the shadows but even tho we had a team it wasn’t really a team because most kids that started in the line up where kids that had money to be in youth academies they started at a high level competition where as I who came from the hood had no money to have proper training coaching and motivation to be on a high level competition so almost every game I would just be benched because of my skill level but I injured both my ankles my 9th and 11th grade so that also fucked up my experience with the team during my 4 years in high school😢 so that was another reason I couldn’t show my full potential 😢 and during my high school years my parents couldn’t afford youth academy’s while I tried convincing them to put me in but we didn’t have the money now I’m 22 just playing pick up soccer around my city to hopefully be seen by other what I’m really made of 😢
@@oscar.v5859 Yeah, sorry to hear that. Hope you can just find joy in the playing.
@@oscar.v5859work hard make intelligent positive forward thinking choices so if you ever have kids they will be able to enjoy and maybe go further in the sport you love.
@oscar.v5859 nowadays you have social media record yourself playing, practicing, shooting around , post it someone is bound to see it you can also send it directly to teams and if your that good I'm sure you'll get at the very least a try out .... also mls teams tend to have open tryouts every year I would call around
What a fantastic video. It makes me sad to think that a kid that wants to play soccer at a competitive level can’t because they don’t have enough money. If we truly want to be competitive we need all kids to have access to opportunity.
Well said Dominican!
last I looked pay to play is just how it is done for all sports in the US. The only issue is that there isn't enough coaching for high school soccer where kids can grow for little to no cost.
the other thing is it seems like you all think the only people playing in big 5 leagues are poor kids.
Love it. But I wish there was something that was more widespread across the nation, but doesn't have to be free, but just cheaper, maybe half the cost of normal club soccer.
Great topic. US Select soccer is a massive ripoff of the participating families, and keeps out talented interested non-participants.
Every youth sport now is going to the more expensive club programs as opposed to the old rec programs.
Multi stage process;
1. Funding: A. Clubs with revenue higher than xxx pay a percentage B. MLS teams pay a % of profits. C. Players who go to MLS, USL or academies program retains % of ownership to their first pro contract.
2. Development: A. Hiring experienced coaches who focus on development B. School/education tutoring C. Family/community outreach
3. Pathway to Higher level/education: A. Partnerships with colleges at all levels (community colleges, state and private) B. Partnerships with MLS, USL etc etc to direct players to their academies
My son has come a long way from a small club that seemingly could not offer opportunities, to one of the area’s largest club that we are leaving after two years because of the lack of proper academy training despite the higher fees to register, before team and travel fees. Pre MLS and MLS Next at the club we are leaving would likely be unaffordable going forward at U13 onward. It is between $1200-2000 before costs of group training, travel, lodging. Technical training is being reserved for those cherry picked to be offered to train with an elite group at whatever the cost with that business venture is, or for those that can afford it with someone unrelated to the club. I wouldn’t be doing this if my son was not talented and identified as having a high ceiling. I do worry he will not be seen by a top tier club scout. We have decided to invest locally into a new club and hope the director’s connections as a former tier one pro in Europe and here in the US, and his technically sound training, will take my son to the next level.I have often wondered if this is worth the cost, time, and effort from both of us.
I have seen this before but a lot of factors come into play when moving up the ranks. Development here is far different than development in Europe or Latin America. If your kid is not training in Europe by 14 then he won't be top tier for a professional gig, but you never know. That said, remember college soccer scholarships rarely pay a student athlete's entire tuition and fees--so you'll keep paying to play in college too. The U.S. has a terrible system for development.
Same sad story over here. Only we paid upwards of about $3300 per season. Club callously dropped my boy after he captained the team leading to winning tournaments as soon as we were tapped financially. Since U8, no one trained my boy, no one gave him any individual training or guidance- all that was given by me his father. Im a coach, and the same issues that affect my son has prevented me from making progress in licensing. Got to the USSF D, and then all the restrictions came rolling in, location, money, club, etc. I continue my edu through European online courses and reading. US does not care about the sport. US doesn't not care about youth development, only MONEY.
American soccer is also not worth the cost that clubs charge. My son tried out BVB, where they boast about professional coaching, and found it a waste of time. Within 90 minute practices, he would do 7 things. One time they did 40 yard dash timing. For a 10U team.
He was used to my coaching, which involves high rep practices and massive development through fun. But I don’t get paid and would never pay $2500 for courses to be called a “professional” coach. But those coaches run around ruining the sport here. And robbing families. That word gets around
Those coaches are disappointing.
We just got back from State ODP soccer….. several hundred dollars for two to three months of training for the cheapest sport in the world. What could be the problem?
That was a fascinating interview, thank you for that.
Thanks for supporting as always Eric!
Hopefully the organization can be more inclusive and expand into lower middle class white neighborhoods as well. These people live paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford much of the “next level “ training programs.
A kid practicing a sport is a kid who is not on the streets learning bad things. Sports teach you discipline, commitment, and teamwork.
I wonder if smartphones didn't exist amongst the youth in 2024, would pay to play still popular or would kids be back to multiple sports ? I wonder... Good talk 👍🏽⚽
Opening the game up to these kids is just the right thing to do. They deserve an opportunity to learn these life lesson through the beautiful game, irrespective of background. Less importantly, it's an important issue for the future of USA soccer. Making youth clubs and programs equitable is essential for the USMNT becoming a world power.
Definitely agree on that front. One problem to solve is a moral one, the other is a national team issue. But both can be solved by attacking the same issue.
I think a huge part missing in the conversation is acceptance. Accepting of "foreign" communities that already have established youth leagues. Barrier include language, fears, and self-confidence.
Explain why there doesn’t seem to be an access problem for kids to play competitive, travel football. I live next to a youth football program in a large city and there is no issues of lack of funding
The kids don't pay fees?
football is way more established in these neighborhoods. more coaches. high school support. legacy.
soccer aint football.
Boosters clubs
@@insightdeluxe2 no, it isn’t. However, there are more kids playing soccer than football and soccer is a much more affordable sport when you look at equipment alone.
@@brianroz3178
which neighborhoods are you talking about?
local youth football programs in america are decades old and have way more local participation and local support than soccer. its not even close.
have you been to a youth football game?
It’s way bigger than pay to play, soccer mirrors almost every other sport in the US now. The main difference is the value of the sport by families (pushing kids to big money sports, football basketball baseball, don’t see it as viable in US and don’t want kids to leave the country to paid well) and cities (access to fields or courts).
Also agree with the community and leadership aspect of what he is saying, but that is a total different element that is needed in the communities and it’s awesome he’s delivering it through the lenses of soccer.
I agree Daniel with the community and leadership but this is a way to build the next generation of those. Representation becomes a huge problem if nobody that looks like you or talks like you or has lived experiences like you is in a position of power. It’s great that in 6 short years they now have “alumni” to come back and be role models for younger kids in the program. Your other point on value of sport - to an extent I agree but let’s make no mistake that there is more top to bottom support for basketball or football for kids who would like to play competitively especially in inner cities.
@@ItsCalledSoccer Oh I definitely agree with you. My biggest point is that there is very little access to fields or courts inner city, there is very little push from parents in the inner city to even try soccer, as the main sports are football, basketball, and track. They definitely need more representation and more opportunity. I have looked at many organizations and ways to possibly create an organization of my own , when I retire in a couple years. It was awesome to see your cousin's organziation making. a difference. Again all sports are pay to play at the competitive level, thats all I was trying to say. My son's soccer is 1500ish a year, thats cheaper than gymnastics, ninja warrior, and jiu jitsu he does. Its also over 1400 dollars more than the kids here in Germany pay, and all leagues are competitive. The funny thing is we feel that we have to travel for competition, and this isn't the major issue, the major issue is young kids are over coached and not allowed to just play, we need more play, more play, more play (more pickup, the younger the better, kids need to love the game to devote enough time to become great), but the access for pickup or parks with goals, or courts with goals are limited.
---rant over---
Someone with time and conviction should put together a team of scrubbers ( overlooked and without being in pay to play system ) and have them play the mls next champs. The spoiled boys will of course lose if this were to happen provided the scrubbers trained together for a month and have the right coach. US soccer development as it is today is definitely not set up right. Promotes wrong thinking and is observable in the product. Hope it gets fixed soon.
TBH lack of finances is not the biggest issue facing kids who want to play - clubs in my area offer a lot of scholarships to kids who can't pay, and it's not that hard to get if you are good. The biggest problem is the lack of time investment from the parents - if they are not involved in their kids lives and don't want to take them to practices, kids have no way of actually becoming good and getting that scholarship. Poor kids in Brazil can just go outside and play with the hundreds of other poor kids. Poor kids in America need someone to drive them and all of their friends to the same location to play, which never happens - there is ZERO pickup soccer for kids outside of the large cities, and the fields are available and often empty.
@@prs314
There are neighborhoods where kids are playing all around us. These are in areas where there are a lot of children / families. I'm going to keep an eye open for this now. A few days ago my son and I stopped at a junior high because we saw a boy out practicing long range shooting by himself. My son yelled "pretty good" and I gave him a thumbs up. A lot of times practicing like this is as much the essence as those brief moments playing for your local club / team. The most light filled gift of all is Jesus of Nazareth. You can win 7 balon de'Ors and win the world cup and still have an emptiness if you don't have JESUS.
So sad! We spent thousands only to be jerked at the end. My boy obviously talented, having been invited to Europe 3x. We couldn't afford any of the programs offered to him. Brick wall. 😢
You got AYSO which teaches that competition and cardio training are bad. You got pay to play which does not teach any development and is nothing more than paying a lot to have your kid in an expensive league, with expensive gear, and expensive trips. My kids go to a Catholic school, and we started a 4th/5th co-ed team to play in a private Christian league. No cost to the kids at all.
A lot of clubs definitely charge for a tryout. Chicago fire charges $20 but FC united charges $120. It’s definitely insane and their justification for doing this is greed. It definitely thins out the talent. If this was the way the rest of the word did it. There would be no Messi, CR7, Pele and Maradona.
Every organized activity in America is pay to play especially sports. It is inane to think otherwise. There are way too many costs associated with any organized activity in America to think there aren't any costs associated. The difference is who pays the bill. Sure we can find a way to lessen the burden on one side, but it only shifts the burden.
The only reason pay to play is a thing, is parents. The kids of any sport don't care. Also coaches don't really care either. It is the parents that create run these organizations that believe somehow, creating barrier to entry is a good thing. Also there needs to be a distinction made between "travel" soccer, youth soccer and leagues. Everywhere I have been there is always...ALWAYS a free to play league. Also, if you're a player that is really good enough, you can play on almost any travel team for free. However, the thing is deep down, people really don't care.
Finally, the one thing that will remove that whole pay to play (never go away) for a player or children as a whole, is money...that almighty dollar and wins too. Think about basketball or football (american football) private high schools, scour the playgrounds for players all the time, because wins equals dollars and they want dollars. Public high schools will chase down the junior high football players to get them to come to their school, why? Wins equals dollars (booster money). If every youth soccer club (travel or not) could profit off of a kid signing a pro contract, even 5 or 10%, you can bet every club would scour every league near them and make everything free for the player including food and transportation. Until that happens, we will never get away from pay to play, because of two things, every little Johnny or Jannie is special and needs a "professional" to make them better in anything and people in general just....suck as humans!
@Cole Tripp. You are 100% correct!!!!
thats all right bro, just dont expect ever to be a world champion, ever.
@@pilotoespacial3000 We are or have been champions in almost every sport doing it our way. Don't think your way of thinking will continue. It is just a matter of time, hell we have the demographics on our side.
For all the reasons discussed, futsal is the real solution to pay-to-play. There is no reason why kids need to play "travel soccer", with all it's involved costs. So don't go down that path. Once the kid develops good ball skills thru futsal, and they love the ball and the sport, then maybe get them onto a grass/turf pitch around age 13/14.. This is how the Brazilians do it.
Also in Mexico
Hero ball is no longer the way in todays futbol. Prime current example is Japan woman’s team discipline and tactical understanding at the individual and collective level is what is successful. Passion with out discipline doesn’t get you far. MNC are talented to be sure but they each know that they are part of a Machine.
@oscar.v5859 mexico is a terrible example as they are being outcompeted by the U.S at their main sport, which is the USA's 4th. Also Mexican academies are pay to play
Coaching is big business in this country, that's the driver
Mls next pick the richest kids and the occasional random fast black kid or tricky latino
Its called FOOTBALL. ONCE WE START CALLING IT WHAT IT IS INSTEAD OF PRETENDING ITS SOMETHING DIFFERENT, then maybe change will come. Now, US soccer is going NOWHERE. Ive seen too many talents drown in the corruption. Its disgusting.
don't MLS clubs sponsor academies that could give scholarships / room&board to kids? but do they have scouts that look anywhere but at pay-to-play tournaments?
Most academies have gone to a self-funded model where it is free for the kids and families. To your point the bigger issue is introducing them to competitive soccer and getting the proper training before they get there.
@@ItsCalledSoccer i grew up playing YMCA soccer league in the late 70's, where the coach was just somebody's dad who often didn't know squat about the game (not to mention this was before ESPN even existed). one year i was very lucky & happy to have an ex-MLS player for a coach, and actually got to learn some real stuff about playing soccer. i never played at a higher level though. i don't think our high school even had a soccer team when we were freshmen. things have definitely changed for the better
Eric wynalda said "we don't have a talent problem. We have a scouting problem"
It’s pretty clear the expensive travel team is no longer the best way to get noticed. Feeder systems of MLS teams and the youth leagues they operate have minimal fees (and possibly no fees at all) and are by far the best path to playing professionally.
I agree with the notice - but one thing I realized through this is just the barrier to entry to even get to that point. And that’s something we need to improve.
The MLS Next Clubs in Michigan and Ohio charge $4,000 to $5,000 per year, plus travel and uniform kits. What MLS Next Clubs charge minimal fees?
@@tagheuer02 exactly
I didn't realize there was any difference between the MLS feeder teams and the expensive travel team. They are all operated by clubs that charge several thousand a year and have their top teams playing in exclusive club leagues with expensive travel involved
Stop talking about the MONEY playing football is fun if you get good at it so be it! Enjoy first progress second!
Also you will not catch up with the rest of the world for a very long time so sit back and enjoy the ride don't rush it you will get there!
Have you ever thought about renting a pitch, print some kits, get a bunch of balls and make every player pay 500$ as the rest of the world does? You don’t need extraordinary facilities or a full merchandise to play soccer.
Yeah I guess you thought about it because you started this open goal project wich admirable indeed
But why no one do the same?
You don’t need free leagues nor do you need to eliminate pay to play leagues. All you need are free community soccer field that can’t be rented by soccer organizations. Like black top basketball all you need are free fields. “If you build it they will come.” Too much overthinking this issue.
they talking about competitive soccer. I think these guys know what they're talking about if they made a video about it. Soccer academies that r meant to develop youth players charge thousands of dollars. Some academies do offer free scholarships, but they wont accept u if u got no comp experience. basically like a credit score for soccer. If u havent payed thousands of dollars throughout ur life ur not gonna get opportunities
we can defeat pay to play model by partnering public private with already existing recreation departments and facilities
Bringing DEI into the conversation just ruins it. That will exacerbate the issue, just switching it from choosing people purely because of money to stricyly because of race or background. It's a money issue, not a DEI issue.
Welp... money definitely is an DEI subject. Also, some people of a certain persuasion WANT IT TO BE EXPENSIVE so their kids will play.
Getting people to donate money is not even a business plan, let alone a sustainable business plan. You need to figure out an actual revenue stream or this goes nowhere.
Love the idealism. We have another system no one else in the world has. Because of that it acts as a counterweight to rest of world methods. Seeing everything from a neutral perspective helps see the balance in our system. The players have control of there destiny since they pay to play.
Problem is the system promotes selfishness of the player. Spoiled and entitlement attitude doesn't match up well at all in international competitions. You can literally see the mental shortcomings on the pitch in watching American mls next matches. The fostering of this system is a walk away play ( 1/2 commitment of play )
@@watchmen-nehemiah4v20 Valid points on selfishness. That exists for coaches and clubs as well in the rest of the world. My experience is with girls youth game. My care factor for the men’s game is meh. From that limited perspective the US system is yielding much better results over time. The secret being our university system and title 9 as an equalizer.
This is a cultural problem by area. Not funding or diversity. My 11 year white son is the minority. There are more 1st and 2nd generation immigrants and and other historical minorities on his teams than your typical white Americans. This spans across the 5 teams and 2 age groups in different areas across the Pacific northwest. The teams that mostly white were the recreational teams from when he was small. As he's grown and worked his way up his teams have found the kids you say wouldn't have access. This interview feels more like you have a woke problem and fit in your political solution.
The cultural problem we have stems from US soccer is just not currently as marketable. This will all change when we get a Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant that inspires the American youth in a way similar to the other marketable super star athletes.