Furthermore, the idea that USSF should take every dollar of the profit from the Copa and spend it supporting a few thousand elite youth players is simply outrageous. There are two or three million registered youth players in this country. Girls too, amazingly enough. Special Olympics. Deaf soccer. Adult amateurs. More. And that leaves aside the fact that the Fed is coming out of pocket big time to support a women's league where most players don't make 15k a year and live in people's guest rooms. And that leaves aside coaching classes and referee training and field construction and urban outreach and on and on, stuff that benefits more than a thousand little Johnny Rocketlegs most of whom will never go beyond NCAA soccer But screw them - what we need is to blow every dime on travel and uniforms and training for a relative handfuls of kids in the hope that a half dozen of them may one day be good enough to go get rich by signing with a team in Europe Good plan.
Props to U.S. Soccer for having a "Development Fund" page specifically for supporters to pour pennies into our youth program. Every penny counts to achieve our goal of going far in 2022!
??? I don't get it. I mean, I've heard about their new sports hijab, but they're a big company. I'm sure they have a different department doing that. ???? Why would they do that? This thread has taken a deep, deep turn for the weird.
With PR being so far behind on their back pay to the U.S. government alone, that someone like our Fed would make a token donation in the name of U.S.A. soccer. I thought it was funny.
[QUOTEThis thread has taken a deep, deep turn for the weird.[/QUOTE] This is the new reality of just about every thread on BigSoccer these days. Is this a feature or a bug is the question that needs to be answered.
Back on topic - what is interesting is that we haven't heard anything from USSF about what they plan to do with a $46m windfall that they have known about now for 7 months. Up until this article - there wasn't a single peep about the $46m.
Bill explained exactly what they're going to do with it. It's not a "windfall". It's revenue. Surplus revenue gets plowed into the general fund that helps fund the multitudinous non-revenue functions of the fed. The answers you seek were spelled out above.
Nope, not volunteer run. However, not really expensive either. This year I paid $1600 total I believe. That's good for a program that keeps the kid fit, challenged and busy all year round.
That would be too much for the parents of 95% of professional soccer players (globally). I take it's not a USSDA affiliated academy.
Yes it is affiliated. I don't think its expensive at all. That's cheaper than just about any activity you can find for kids. For comparison I just checked what they have at the Y which is about as cheap as you can get. A two month soccer program for the same age group will cost me $115 - non member price. Only one hour of practice per week and one game. FWIW, that's pretty much what any recreational activity - soccer or otherwise would charge. Meanwhile, two months prorated in the DA including uniform costs plus tournaments plus three to four hours a week of practices cost me $260. So I get three times the practice, much better quality of training, uniforms and competition for twice the price. It's a good price any way you cut it. And yes, there are plenty of middle and lower income families there.
It's expensive if you live in South Chicago or East L.A. or the favelas of Brazil. I did say globally. Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, Neymar, Ronaldo, Alexis Sanchez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luis Suarez couldn't have afforded academy fees. I'm sure somewhere in the inner city districts of the US there's a kid good enough to be the next Ronaldo. I know NYC FC provide scholarships for underprivileged kids, hopefully other kids do.
45 million Americans live in poverty, so I would say examples from other countries are relevant. I'm not being critical of you at all., in case you thought I was. I hope your boy has a great time in the academy and plays in college and maybe beyond but it wouldn't it be great if we could give all kids the same opportunities and spending using part of the Gold Cup profits could go a long way.
The reality is a lot of kids who can't afford it get their dues paid/waived, if they are deemed good enough.
Chicago and LA have MLS clubs. So no issues there if you really have talent. In the end the answer is grow the industry of professional soccer.
A lot also don't... Blatantly false. But you're second sentence is correct. Generally speaking, the answer is grow the industry on the macro level. We're still responsible for proactively tackling the problem on a micro level head on.
I have always told people that if they can show me a kid with actual athletic talent - not just someone who wishes he did - who comes from a family with no money for soccer that I can have him on a team commensurate with his talent, at no charge, within 72 hours. I'm genuinely sorry that we don't have the money for all 3 million youth players in the US to play free but we don't and we aren't going to. But it doesn't take a junior Messi to get a club to give a ride to a kid who can play.