San Jose Earthquakes Academy is on its way!

But a bit of that is because soccer is only drawing from the college-bound crowd. If they were pulling across the full spectrum of kids, lower league soccer is actually a good option for some. Or it would be if they were truly quality enough have a chance at a roster anywhere in the world. We just aren't at that level yet.

 

That and the fact that MLS doesn't pay. You turn pro and turn down an opportunity to get a degree, in some cases free of charge. I wouldn't want my kid to take an MLS contract for $55k , jeopardize his college eligibility for that salary.

 

They can always return to college and get an education in their off time and still play professionally. Pique has been taking summer classes from harvard and I don't think he's too worried about his college eligibility

 

It's not all that easy to go back to school. Pique is a World Cup winner. He doesn't have to worry about anything for as long as he lives and he is one in a million.

 

Point is that there is always time to get the education during your off time. And if you make it in the pros, there's no need to worry about college eligibility. Ike opara is one who finished school who finished his schooling while playing with the quakes.

 

Yeah, I've said this many times. If you have an opportunity to follow your dream (and your dream is to be a professional soccer player), you should go for it. You can go back to college any time, heck even when you're in your 70's.

 

Bob Bradley is the one guy who's sure to end the sense of entitlement enjoyed by Michael Bradley.

 

It’s not as easy as it sounds though and not everyone can just go back to school. Aside, from the fact that less than 1% of all NCAA student athletes (I’m sure it’s even less for high schoolers) turn pro, many student athletes fail to get their degrees. I don't know what the percentages are but I'm willing to bet the majority of the MLB, NHL, NFL and NBA players going back to school to finish their degrees is pretty low. If they were smart and made enough money though, they probably don't need a degree but that is also rare because many blow it all away.

Also, just look at the numbers of the players getting into MLS each year.

There are 28 players on roster and 616 altogether across the league. Take away 7 foreigners per team or 154 players , along with 3 or 66 Gk’s, you are left with 396 or 18 field players per club. The select few rookies who beat the odds if they are good enough have to be better than the existing veterans and more often than not, they aren’t even close. The odds of making it are slim to none and like I posted , unless they are good to begin with, they probably won’t make it anyway. If they are that good, they won’t stick around in MLS either way. Bottom line, regardless of your dream , the reality is you better stay in school! Just like the majority of the academy players want and aspire to do.

 

If the players are not going back to school if say they tried and didn't make it, that is a problem of their own doing, and does not relate to their decision to try to turn pro. There is nothing keeping them from going to college.

 

Who says there is nothing keeping them from going to college? Money and getting a job to support a family is keeping them from going to college at a certain age. That is just one reason but there are many reasons why many athletes won't and more often than not don't go back to school. That isn't coming from me , that is a reality.

 

How many guys have "families" if they are like in their early 20's and have fallen out of pro soccer? If they are having "families" that young, then that could happen just as easily while they are in college, and then they'd have to drop out anyway if there is that kind of financial hardship and they can't get a loan, etc., work part-time, or otherwise make it work.

 

No not just their own families but maybe their mothers and father. There are a lot of factors that you have no idea about. Just because you think it is easy to go back to school doesn't make it a reality. Just look at the percentages of NFL players who have their degrees and who blow all their money!

My cousin had a scholarship at Cal and played all four years and he can’t go back for a number of reasons. He is just one story but there are many more like him.

 

If there are family hardships that make it hard to go to college, those are in play whether or not someone tries to go pro first. And it is a quaint little idea but this idea that college somehow guarantees you a bright financial future no longer applies. Maybe in the 50's, but not so much anymore. Many people get degrees that are not directly applicable to any kind of employment, employers often don't really care about college - they care about experience. If anything, college will put you solidly in debt .

 

That's why getting a college scholarship to play soccer is a good thing. Even if you don't end up working in your college major, statistically you are likely to earn more income with a degree than without. As you pointed out, avoiding student debt is going to be key. That's why it's almost criminal that it costs so much these days to go to California JC or state college. And #FakeUniversities are big contributors to the student debt problem.

From USA Today Jan-2017:

• College graduates, on average, earned 56% more than high school grads in 2015, according to data compiled by the Economic Policy Institute. That was up from 51% in 1999 and is the largest such gap in EPI's figures dating to 1973.

From Federal Reserve Board Jan-2015:

• The gap is even greater if you get a graduate degree
• individuals holding a post-graduate degree are in an increasingly favorable labor market situation compared with the college-only group, especially since 2000.
  
• Below is "Figure 1. Wage gaps compared with high school graduates"

• 

 

I am a bit skeptical of data like this because my instinct tells me (and I don't have the data to back it up, so this is just a supposition) that the real increasing gap is between skilled and unskilled workers, and the college thing kind of goes along for the ride. Yes, college is often the way one acquires a "skilled" job, but not always. In the tech world, I don't know that a college degree is all that important anymore if you have the experience, and you can gain experience through self-teaching, proving your worth through creation of your apps or designs, etc. And there are many college degrees that wouldn't necessarily lead to a "skilled" job. Anthropology anyone? I happen to think that you should study whatever interests you in college w/o regard for direct employability because your career may wind up taking you many directions, and you may wind up in a skilled job, having acquired skills that you did not acquire in college. But let's not kid ourselves. An anthropology degree is not likely to lead you directly to the land of fortune.

I also suspect that the college "industry" / racket likes to publish these kinds of graphs because it convinces people to pay what is in many cases exorbitant tuition. I am not anti-college but these days there are many other paths to skilled jobs and high wages. My nephew dropped out of college, learned to program, wrote a few games that he actually made a little money on, and like a year after this all started, he has an internship at a tech company. I would not be surprised in the least if he is making 6 figures in a few years.

BTW, seems like we recycle this debate every couple of years. I'm sure I've posted something similar to this in the past.

 

Why didn't he get his degree in the four years he was there? Isn't 4 years the expected amount of time to get a degree?

 

Uh come on, u can’t believe the Federal Reserve Board?

 

The data is good I'm sure. I'm just thinking that there is an increasing gap between skilled and unskilled workers, and the college thing just goes along for the ride. Again, just my instinct. I have no data to back it up. Someone looking at the data sliced this way may think "OK, go to college!" (which is exactly what the college machinery wants you to think) whereas if it was sliced as "skilled vs. unskilled", and maybe the gap is even larger, they would think, "OK, get a skilled job!".

 

Yes and he should have gotten the degree but didn’t. He like every other kid , had this pipe dream of going pro and didn’t realize how difficult it was or would be to make it. He basically thought by going pro, he would gain a huge payday and wouldn’t need school and that wasn’t the case. He trained with the Quakes and Revolution but didn’t sign and Minnesota United wanted to pay him per diem without a contract. Then he went to the Cosmos who wanted him to stay with our relatives in NYC and play for their reserve team (at the time) the Brooklyn Italians without pay and he said no. He ended up playing for Ventura County and Fresno in the PDL and then gave it up.

He had played with current MLS players in David Bingham , Servando Carrasco, Stefano Bonomo, Steve Birnbaum and Hector Jiménez and they were lucky enough to carve out careers but not everyone has the same opportunity.

 

The opportunity of not being good enough?

 

Actually he started for four years over many Cal players and was their captain. None of the current or former Cal players in MLS are were any better than him. Birnbaum even played 5 years and was only drafted because the Bears were ranked #1 in 2013 , the year my cousin left. Both Frank and Ian wanted to sign him but Doyle didn't.

 

I'll be refereeing two EQ Academy games on Sunday -- the 01 and 99 boys. I'll let you know what I think after seeing these games (both playing against John Azavedo-coached Santa Clara Sporting teams.)