Just out of curiosity, how many thousands of dollars do you spend every year to teach your kids that drinking coke isn't healthy, doing your homework is important, working as a team is a key to success, and things don't always go your way? I'm fairly certain all of these things could be effectively taught to your kids without funding a fledgling club soccer career. Actually, I am certain because I've lived it. Fully funding their education would provide a much more beneficial impact to them in the long term. You are totally right about the scholarships though. I don't think most people realize how few scholarships are available to athletes outside of football and basketball, especially if you are a guy. D1 soccer teams have 9.9 scholarships to spread across a 30 player roster, and D2 teams have 9. That works out to about 25-30% of a scholarship per player if the total scholarships are divided evenly across the entire team. You can get that level of scholarship money if you prepare well enough for ACT/SAT, get a good GPA, and maybe apply for one or two outside scholarships. The idea some parents have that they will recoup the money they spend on club soccer, AAU basketball, travel baseball, etc. when little Johnny gets a full-ride scholarship to OSU is insane. Little Johnny probably won't be good enough to play at ODU, let alone OSU. And even if he is good enough for OSU, chances are pretty high he won't be getting a substantial amount of scholarship money, if he gets any at all.
I'm from out of state, so apologies if everyone else knows the answer to my question. You specifically mentioned selling on Stubhub or TM on game day. Is it legal on non-game days?
Unfortunately, I started watching the TV series before the books, so I've held off reading them until the show is over (SO GLAD Amazon picked up Season 4, cannot WAIT!). I have 0 self-control, so if I started the books, I'd easily outpace the show. lol So... It's easier to not start than it is to stop.
I went the opposite direction. After hearing how good the show was, I decided to read the books first. I read them all last winter on my Kindle at the rec center, and then on vacation this summer I read the novellas. Interesting to me is how the pictures in your mind don't match the actors cast. For example, based on her descriptions in the book I always pictured Naomi as someone like Maggie Q.
I regret not making it to a CCL road match the last time we were in, won't make that same mistake next time we qualify.
Many thousands. And you're right many of those things can be taught (and actually are) at home by me & my wife. But I played sports my whole life and it reinforced what my parents tried to teach me and in many ways did a better job. I had to learn to do those things I listed for myself. A coach telling me sometimes was more effective than parenting. But that aside, the relationships I built we're invaluable and learning how to be a leader and teammate carried into my professional life. I pay the money for my kids because I can and they love it- no other reason. Because I'm fortunate. Because I work hard professionally - because of who sports helped me become as a person. They've been told repeatedly, if they do t live it to let me know and I'll save the money or spend it on something else. Like I said if my kids were passionate about something else (sport or not) and it helped develop them as individuals I would encourage it it - even better if it's cheaper. For me as a kid, my church also played a big role in my development. BTW - my wife only played a few rec sports at younger ages, and she is extremely successful adult. Even she sees value in the experience & joy our kids get from sport - or she definitely wouldn't spend the money.
Oh yeah, if you know you aren't going to use your tickets you can put them on there or a couple places ahead of time whenever you want. For big events in Ohio its actually a bit of an issue. Hamilton sold out on the first day the tickets went up for sale, however there a bunch of StubHub and Ticket Master now...at 5x the original value.
Parental ignorance has always been the primary issue. I used to swear that I was going to set up an internet soccer parent advice line to explain some of this shit to them. One of the big ones is that while you may be eligible for a Home Grown offer you are under no obligation to accept it. You can say no thanks and either go to another country or go into the Superdraft which I wish they would just call the draft, (there was a reason they started calling it that but it's long since left any meaning behind and now it just sound stupid). MLS academies do not own players. You are a free agent. Now in fact the vast majority of kids who get HG offers accept them and for obvious reasons: 99times out of a hundred, you're playing for your local MLS team and staying home is an attraction.Your only other MLS choice is to declare for the SD and end up in Salt Lake City.
Out of curiosity how many guys have passed up a Homegrown contract and entered Super draft? I honestly can't recall one but I haven't payed that close of attention. All the press the last two weeks has been college guys choosing between HG deals or Europe - not and also super draft. I even saw one this week where a team was pressing for HG signee so that they could then turnaround and sell to Europe club. The other point I was making was more toward the 17-18 year old who wishes to forgot college game and turn pro. What are his options coming out of an MLS academy? I'm not arguing with you Bill. We are on same page. And you're right parents need to be better educated because there are a million misconceptions and bad info out there.
I can recall two. It's not common. But it is an option. HG is very attractive. Aside from letting you stay at home, you are also roster-exempt in most cases (it's complicated) much like a GenA, so your salary is going to be more than what you'd get if you were drafted. unless you hate the team you grew-up with,its a good deal.
If you want to complain about the HG rule,and there's certainly plenty of room for it, you should check out the weird,odd, inexplicable case of Dallas FC U-19 Chris Cappis from last summer. Bottom line: MLS is still making this shit up.It's Kafkaesque. https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/soccer/soccer/2018/11/03/mls-stiffed-fc-dallas-signing-chris-cappis
I totally understand the value of sports. I'm a huge advocate for kids being involved sports. It's extremely beneficial in so many ways. I'm not trying question your parenting or monetary decisions at all. My point is, each of the benefits you listed as a reason for spending many thousands of dollars on club soccer could easily be taught at a fraction of the cost by playing rec soccer, playing for your school, or playing for a lower tier club. Club soccer is out of control simply because the parents fall for the trap. 75% of it is a total scam and I hate seeing people throw their money away when it could be spent on something like an education. Like I said though, I'm not trying insult you for parenting or monetary decisions. I have no idea the specifics of your situation and spending thousands of dollars on a club might actually make total sense due to your kid's skill level, interest, and your income level. I'm speaking more in general.
Hi Bill. First-time parent to this shit. Teach me all that you know. Thanks. I promise to be a quick learner. Chelsey
1) Trust nothing you are told by any coach. Ever. They all lie, even the good ones. 2) When in doubt, see rule #1 3) I am as serious as a heart attack.
"A spokesman for the Crew SC told me that there are no official numbers yet on how many tickets have been sold for the 2019 season, but that details on the upcoming season will be announced soon by new Crew SC President Tim Bezbatchenko." https://www.bizjournals.com/columbu...-ahead-at.html?iana=hpmvp_colum_news_headline I wonder if this means we will get an update on the number of season tickets sold so far during the press conference on Wednesday. I only see this happening if we have sold a substantial amount. Also, I wonder where the team stands with respect to corporate ticket sales. I would imagine they are pretty much starting from ground zero. I would also imagine our corporate ticket sales should be better than previous years once all is said and done. This should help bump up our season ticket totals even more.
No question club soccer is wildly expensive in most cases and the vast majority of kids won't play in college, let alone get a scholarship. Speaking from my experience, however, simply playing rec doesn't give you all the benefits of playing at the highest level possible for your kids. My daughter wasn't the best, fastest, most skilled player on most teams she played on because she was always pushing herself to get better and playing above her skills. This carried over to her school work and other aspects of her life in immeasurable ways. There is no question the confidence she feels is built on the pressure of playing for something as opposed to just getting a participation trophy for running around for 90 minutes.
I'm not denying the benefits that can be gained. I fully acknowledge them. I'm simply stating that paying $3-5k/year to play club soccer is not the most cost effective way to teach a good work ethic for a lot of families. The alternative to learning a good work ethic is not limited to playing rec soccer. Life is much bigger than that.
this has been one of the main things on my mind since friday. we know how PSV wouldn't even return a phone call from people at Schottenstein (remember how they used to have a cool, tiny, furnished, room on the pitch that they'd use to cross-promote?). One of the reasons partially why places like Houston get away with claiming 'higher attendance' than us is because they likely have a greater number of corporate-owned season-ticket seats that go empty every game. PSV's been driving businesses away for years. I believe corporate season ticket purchasers are not largely among those who signed the ticket pledge. So, there is room to potentially build upon that base already. But on the other hand, it's going to take a long time to get businesses back on board with buying season packages - and I don't think business-purchases are the bulk of the sales being made since friday. It's going to take time, but reestablishing those relationships could lead to lots of sales. #STC's list of over 300 business partners might be a good place to start.
How about the coach for the Dallas Texans who lobbied to get Chris Richards onto an FC Dallas DA team. Less than 2 laters they sold him to Bayern for 1.5 million and 40% of his future sale. He never played a minute for FC Dallas. It’s not like the Texans coach has to do what he did but he knew Richards needed pushed at a higher level and FC Dallas could provide that.
Columbus Crew SC to usher in a new era with introductory press event on Wednesday, Jan. 9 "Columbus Crew SC ushers in a new era this week with a special introductory media availability as new Crew SC Investor-Operators Dee Haslam, JW Johnson and Pete Edwards are set to address local media in a press event at 12:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, January 9. President Tim Bezbatchenko and Head Coach Caleb Porter are also set to be introduced at the press event, which will be emceed by ESPN Soccer Analyst Taylor Twellman." WHEEEEEE! The event will be live streamed, so warn your coworkers now about all the booing you'll be doing at your monitor.
Isn't that in some cases because the pro club sponsor can't be on a youth team jersey (bookmaker, brewer, etc.)?
#Crew96 will usher in a new era with an introductory press event Wednesday 🖤💛 Details, including live stream 👇 https://t.co/FKsi6qg9m9— The Crew (@ColumbusCrew) January 7, 2019