Tuesday 18 June 2019

Money quote: “Unless the academy has education, I can’t foresee a kid giving up his entire life to go pro when his education is in front of him,” said Franks.

That light at the end of the tunnel is a runaway train. MLS already offers it's players a way to continue their education and earn a college degree. Some teams such as the Philadelphia Union in conjunction with their High School arrange college courses for their players to continue their education post high school graduation through online branches of major universities.

Not to mention with the money earned from a few seasons of Pro Soccer a kid can back to college when they're more mature and can take better advantage of the educational opportunities available to them. College will always be there, Pro Soccer will not.

Will players still fall through the cracks? Yes. Will they become pro players? Maybe. Over the past few seasons the majority of top MLS draft picks aren't American.

As MLS salaries continue to rise those academy players who offered the chance to turn professional will do so in greater numbers.

 

If my hypothetical kid got admission to Stanford, the Ivys, or one of the really good state schools and I had to pay for school, I would likely push them to school unless it is pretty certain they have a future in soccer.

 

I'm not one for predictions here, just some thoughts... Soccer is pricey pay-to-play. Lots of kids with college educated parents that want junior going to college.

If soccer is not going to pay off with a scholarship, it's doubtful junior is good enough to play pro. If soccer is going to pay off with a scholarship, is going pro going to pay enough? They are probably going to get a USL lower division contract. Soccer will look more like baseball in that regard. My recollection is that more and more high school baseball players are going to college rather than minor league ball.

There are going to be Freddie Adu's out there that can see the field at the pro level in their teens, and get a decent paycheck. That may be one or two players a year max.

College plays a major role in player development of the big four leagues in the US. I expect the same for soccer.

 

You haven't been paying a lot of attention to college soccer have you? Their season runs Sept-Nov. Their practice time is very limited during the entire year (20 hrs a week in season). They play 2-3 games per week.

https://www.espn.com/sports/soccer/...college-soccer-too-much-risk-rising-us-talent

The majority of MLS academies are fully funded, and free to play.

I didn't say College soccer was going to go away. The point I was emphasizing is that the college game is going to become more and more irrelevant as it pertains as a pathway to being a professional player.

There are currently 201 D1 Men's programs. Each program is allotted 9.9 scholarships that are divided among their 29 players. The scholarship money in Men's College Soccer isn't what many believe it is. A very select few get full rides. A very select few will get substantial academic scholarships and/or grants.

If your kid can make $80K/year for a few years as a teenager playing pro soccer, why wouldn't a parent support that option? Especially when the league is helping those players who want to continue their education by providing an avenue through online courses. Why pay for 4 years of college when your son can get a few years worth of college credits and make $60K-$80K a year while living at home?

There are over 347 Division 1 basketball programs in the USA. That's over 4,500 full scholarship players (up to 13 per team). There are 30 NBA teams, which consist of 360 players. There's a reason Basketball players choose to go to college over playing in the D-League...............the chances of them playing, let alone sticking in the NBA are very slim to none.

 

I'm not sure that, looking down the road, going $280,000 in debt in order to get your Sociology degree from Princeton is really looking like a viable alternative. I know it's another whole discussion, but it's a point that's fair in this context. It isn't 1985 any more.

I don't think the question of professional soccer vs. traditional college is anything like the slam dunk it used to be.

Let me also point out that, re: the excellent comments from @jaykoz3 above, he doesn't mention one of the most relevant issues, namely that while in theory a male soccer team may, by NCAA rule, issue 9.9 full scholarship equivalents, virtually no one does.

Division I universities don't waste precious female/male balance athletic grants on soccer players. Even the biggest schools often only give the equivalent of 4 or 5, and it's almost always spread out amongst 12 or 14 men.

They'll give a freshman book money, maybe, or a couple thousand bucks and tell them that they can get more next year and the years after that depending on their performance, but the soccer full ride is a myth that I wish players and parents were more aware of.

I've personally known high reputation High School All Americans whose families were certain all along that colleges would beat a path to their door offering free rides only to discover that mostly they were offered a token amount.

$80,000 a year and a pre-paid voucher from SNHU vs. book money and a quarter million dollars in student debt is really not such a hard choice.

 

#PlayYourKids

Been chasing this one for years and @bruceschoenfeld delivered.

Freddy Adu isn't giving up even if everyone else is. The one-time phenom and face of soccer in America reflects on a career that feels bracingly incomplete. https://t.co/A3V5W0K67A pic.twitter.com/fWr8QaanIJ

— James Tyler (still) (@JamesTylerESPN) June 17, 2019

They even have this unnecessary shot.

 

The thing is, those who are going to those schools are typically either legacy students with money, scholarship students going essentially for free, or lower income students who are actually going for free. I know several people from lower middle class and below families that have Ivy League educations for room and board only. Fairly recently, as long as you were accepted, you could go to Yale for free if your family income was below $270,000.

 

You're probably echoing the thoughts of Jordan Morris' parents.

Generation Adidas kids get their college fees paid for if they don't make it as a pro.

The English players' union give players financial support to attend college towards the end of their careers. Most of those who take advantage seem to go for physical therapy or sports management.

PSG have a partnership with a university to ensure all their academy players get a college level education.

Galaxy, RSL and several other academies have schools on their training complexes.

Kids who want to play pro soccer shouldn't be deprived of a college education. But there are other ways to attain one other than a traditional NCAA compliant college scholarship.

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/philadelphia-union/inside-look-unions-ysc-academy

https://phillysoccerpage.net/2017/01/24/teaching-self-responsibility-at-ysc-academy/

https://phillysoccerpage.net/2016/12/20/a-day-at-ysc-academy/

https://phillysoccerpage.net/2016/11/16/ysc-academy-opens-its-doors-three-points/

https://phillysoccerpage.net/2017/05/10/the-academys-future/

This last one offers insight into how YSC provides for players post graduation.

 

Particularly when one is a doctor. I imagine some of this would be tied to what a potential "alternate" career would be. Is it something that you could do with a technical or bachelor's degree or is it something that you would need years of schooling as in the medical profession? At least now there is a discussion.

Years ago, Mike Fisher (of UVA) decided to pursue medical instead of a pro career. Part of that was he was losing interest, but I imagine the upside of MLS was not a foregone conclusion in the late '90s.

 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/blog-fifa/story/3878296/platini-detained-as-part-of-2022-world-cup-probe

When you come here to get @Bill Archer 's take on this story and no one is talking about it.

 

I misread your post as basketball and not baseball. Here's the realities of College Baseball. Turns out, it's not as rosy as College Soccer:

http://www.diycollegerankings.com/11-7-reality-check/475/

Most top level players go the Junior College route. Why? After a year of JUCO ball they can reenter the draft and possibly improve upon their original pick. Also, JUCO colleges can offer more scholarships (up to 24 per team). https://keepplayingbaseball.org/college-baseball-scholarship-limits-and-rules-by-level/

4 year schools at the D1 level get 11.7 scholarships to spread over a team. Keep in mind most teams have more than 11 pitchers............

The reality of College Baseball, is that most players aren't on scholarship and are in fact walk-ons. Keep this in mind if/when you are watching the CWS this week.

 

Also keep in mind that most college baseball players are seriously shortchanging their college education because they play/practice/travel so much. Their athletic load is far above other sports.

 

Though sadly the more realistic situation is they get offered a half scholarship, or a scholarship that kicks in after 3 years of varsity play or whatever.

 

It's not even just baseball. Someone I grew up with played Women's soccer for Western Michigan, a MAC school, and even at a pretty "meh" program it was kind of jarring how much they discouraged taking a tough academic load... and this was under a "deferred scholarship" type thing. She's almost have been better off playing D3 where things are a lot more flexible on the athletic side.

 

And there's even another factor, which is MLS is starting to offer these kids deals at age 16. Griffin Yow and his parents probably were thinking about college, but he had turned DCU down, he'd have foregone $150k before he was even old enough to go.

 

They absolutely do not go the JUCO route. There was ONE player drafted in the first round this year who was at a JUCO school this spring, and he went to a four year school first and then transferred to the JUCO.

 

Zach Pfeffer just graduated from Temple with a degree in finance and a completed internship at Goldman Sachs in case people were wondering how some of our teenage washouts are doing. Not bad for a kid who got paid 65k/year to live with his parents for a few seasons.

The Fire is paying that 14 year old goalie about 60k IIRC to play with their academy. I'd take that in a second for my kid if it meant giving up NCAA eligibility.

 

True, but they also only have to take 6 credit hours per semester to remain eligible.

 

And the minimum salary was $24k for the 18 team roster and $12.9k for reserves.

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/schools/juco.shtml

 

Well yeah, in medicine, 30 is when you start making a six figure salary. In soccer, it's when you stop.

 

Ditto.

 

I seem to remember Fisher graduating a year before MLS even came into existence. Suffice to say a lot has changed.