Follow me here: There are a few teams in the PDL that pay some or all players a salary to play-and the team(s) is/are still sanctioned by USASA....PDL/NPSL/NSSL is considered unofficially the 4th tier of the USA pyramid so my questions are: 1-theoretically the NPSL COULD allow its players to be paid? 2-Before you answer NO to question #1-if the NPSL said to each team member that no players may be paid to play, the EASY-LEGAL way around that is what I know a couple teams already do in the NPSL and that is---THEY PAY THE PLAYERS TO WORK THE YOUTH CAMPS-THAT COVERS THERE BUTTS SO TO SPEAK 3-I THINK THE NPSL IS DOING GREAT-BUT I FEEL THE SHOULD IMPOSE A TRUE SEMI-PRO TYPE ALLOWANCE OF SAY $150-200 A WEEK--WITH THE NEW RULES OF COLLEGE PLAYERS BEING ALLOWED TO PLAY WITH PROS NOW THIS WOULD MAKE THE NPSL SKYROCKET IMO..........JUST FOOD FOR THOUGHT-
FYI - unless there has been an update in the past few weeks, the new rule does not allow current college players to play alongside pros. What is says is that players will not lose their eligibility if they play (or have played) with professionals prior to enrolling in school. Once they start school, the restriction (no pro teammates) kicks back in.
was really asking if npsl will aloow some of its teams to go pro--like SOME PDL teams are--it really would be a smart move--the teams that want t stay AM can the teams that want to go pro with very low wages can--best of both worlds---I think this will be the key factor to developing a true 4th division in usa........like I said before ther always a way of paying Ams anyway_(with the camp-youth summer coaching etc)
Unfortunately creating a pro-type of league requires the clubs to be able to to afford a small salary per player whether its a game by game contract, goals scored, etc. Because NPSL has such a low club entry fee and seasonal fee, most if not all the clubs cannot really afford to pay the players anyway. Since the NPSL was created to be a league where the teams run the league rather than being owned by the league, and where the fee's are very low in comparison to PDL and the USL system, I don't find the creating a professional league all that great of an idea. Look at the history of the USL pro leagues. Look at how many clubs come and go due to insufficient finances. The NPSL is doing a fantastic job at growing a national league and developing regions. That is where the focus should stay on. If teams want to pay there players, they will find ways to do it with out being known.
people are missing my point --all i am saying is in the case of the npsl this is where they should shadow the pdl by saying-"hey if you want your whole team to be pros making $100 a week ok" OR you can have a all Am team_NPSL would be foolish, lets say, to deny a new team that may want to be full pro to do so....once again IMHO......
It varies region-to-region. Some regions are top-down, i.e. new franchises are created from scratch, some regions are more bottom-up, i.e. franchises are taken on by existing amateur soccer clubs. Though top-down would create franchises who would want pay players, bottom-up creates more stable franchises and those clubs don't die when if the franchise fails. The latter is preferable to the former. There are exceptions, sure.
amancalledmikey---agree with that statement to a point--but all i really see is a USA soccer pyramid that has pay players at the 1st 2nd and 3rd level-and now a little at the 4th---where as in the uk you go quite a few levels beyond that -quite a few.....
Different culture altogether though. There are masses of baseball teams in the US and lots of younger and older players can draw some sort of salary. Similar sort of thing with semi-pro and junior hockey in Canada. Gotta remember, soccer is the number five team sport where all the best young players must stay amateur so they can get a college education.
To pay or not to pay? Or is some cases, players may be asked to pay to play. The operational models may be different, but I love the idea of keeping averyone on the same table. Here is Texas, you are going see a mix of the models. One team is going to operate with 20 young players that are paying to play with 5 players with serious professional and college experience. My club, Regals FC, would like to eventually give our players Walmart giftcards instead of actual payments. Now, if we are drawing 7,000 fans a game, we would certainly step up the pay structure.