It can get out of hand. Parents hire a professional coach. Coach starts taking them to regional tournaments. Costs add up fast if you go down that road.
I dug around and found a per-player budget that we worked up in 2004 for my then-U13 son. It shows what we thought the most was we could spend that year for one kid to play. Costs have risen, but you can see how expensive it gets on a travel team, and we skipped two tournaments that year. Also, my kid's last shoes now cost closer to $200 per pair. The $75 shoes estimate makes me wistful for the good old days. And our club uniforms are now over $300. (every two years.) Doesn't include gas, gatorade, hotels and missed work for parents, other misc. costs, but it's a pretty good chart to show you what we spent several years ago. All I can say is, we spent MORE last year, as his team played several college showcase tournaments. Key the "###" just means I blacked out a tournament name or other local identifier. bottom line: let your kid play soccer because he or she loves the game. Spending all this time and money SOLELY in pursuit of a college scholarship may not be a wise fiscal decision, particularly for parents of boys. (There are more soccer scholarships available for girls.) Expense estimate Highest Cost Estimated Club Fees $600 Coaching Fee $40 to 60 PER MONTH /10 mos $600 ### Invitational $40 USYSA Snickers –or US Club Soccer Regionals in KS City $700 ### Tournament fee $50 ### Soccerfest $40 State Cup fee per player $40 CASL or Tampa Sun Bowl (we are not playing these this year) 0 Indoor Rental and League Per player $150 SC Del Sol (we are not playing this year) 0 ### Sunbelt Tournament $250 Nomads Tournament/San Diego $700 ### Cup tournament $40 Training Gear $25 (required by club) US Club Soccer registration $15 MISC Team expenses $50 high estim. Totals: $3300.00 Additional Anticipated Expense: New ### club team uniforms Fall 2004 (cost estimated) $100 New cleats/indoor shoes (1-2 pair) $125 Annual Total estimated expenses 2004: $3525.00
The totals you give can easily be DOUBLED when playing in one of the "SuperClubs". Our expenses in Iowa (for a not-quite-so-SuperClub) were much closer to $5000 last year. I would like to see a similar breakout for one of the SuperClubs...that would be eyeopening. R2- would you be willing to share any information along those lines?
A strong national level program can cost $12-15k in a year for a family,deep pockets and a willingness to travel necessary.
Yes, that was a couple years back, and we are at a larger club now, with higher fees, and as the boys reached high school the quality (and cost) of tournaments increased as well. But we are by no means a super club. Still, it was interesting when we totalled it up that year and realized what it was costing. And everything keeps going up.
Let's see, three (3) girls at $5,000 a piece per year for 10 years... can't......breath, chest......tight..... must......call......help!
You just gave every parent of girls playing soccer hope with that last line. The focus on college scholarships has too many involved for the wrong reasons. Not to jump on you Allsport, because everyone does it including me. We say, "Don't do this, BUT...." It's ingrained. Every club coach and administrator worth their weight will say kids shouldn't be playing soccer with the thought of scholarships in mind, yet their teams' schedules are loaded with showcase tournaments and their web sites tout where past players are playing college soccer. I think this makes it very difficult to establish a culture that loves soccer for soccer's sake alone. College soccer becomes the motivating goal and for lots of kids when the goal is met, they quit. I wish for once everyone would be honest and say just how many of those club alumni received full or partial scholarships and in what amount. I wish they would say how many actually got to play college soccer and how many made it through the full 4 years. I bet the numbers would be shocking.
I will take a shot. I don't know about the womens game. I know about the mens game. Every kid that made my old club and played at the under 17 level can play in college at some level. Most starters could play in division 1 on some kind of ride full or half. College is a funny place. The player pool is big at colleges. A coach could get the kind of players that he wants to have for the way they play. After all they are paying their players to play with schorlship money. That makes the player pool large. Parents want that. We used to want to attend an invitational in Italy for the older player. Play against Seria A youth teams parents complained. It did not help them get schorlships to college for their kids so they don't have to pay. I would normally advise every parent or grandparent to start putting away college money for their children and grand parents for their grand child as soon as they are born. You are going to have the money and don't have to worry about schorships. Incidently some states have the 529 savings plan for college. You can deduct 7 thousand a year from your state taxes for their college education. I would advise all of you to do it. I have with my grand children it is a smart move. plus you can go on the upromise site and go on line to stores and buy something. You get 3to5 percent back for college. I just bought flowers and cholate for my wife for aniversery getting 12 percent back towards my Grand daughters college fund. Also both play tickets Mama Mia but it was not on the upromise site. So used another cash back card. When the money come I will dump it into her 529 plan. Back to business a lot of our players frankly don't go to college then have jobs and play in minor pro leagues. They don't go because they are looking for a playing career and plus they don't do well in school some of them. Girls are all genius the good players wind up with honors in college and in the Ivy league. If a coach suddenly leaves his college school and is replaced by another coach. Then that coach decides he wants different kind of players then the previous coach. Then my soccer friends the hand writtin is on the wall and the players that are already there will be unhappy with their total college experiece because of it. I have seen that happen in too many players in college situations. So transfer the hell out of that school if that happens.
No offense taken. I put that last line about girls because (as a parent of boys), I wanted to be fair in saying there are more soccer scholarships for girls, as I understand it, to offer parity under Title IX. If your college offers hockey/basketball/football scholarships for men (for example), they need to offer an equal amount of scholarships for women, so soccer, volleyball, field hockey and other sports with womens' teams benefit from this federal law. Football and hockey are such expensive sports with equipment and arenas, etc. that you can fund a lot of women's sports at the price it takes to run a successful hockey and/or football program. In our family, we are dealing with the reality now, that my son's ability as a field goal kicker is much more valuable to colleges than his ability on a soccer field, despite being a standout soccer player and a just-a bit above-average (IMO) football kicker. Apparently a football kicker with a high GPA is a enough of a rarity to gain a look. Not complaining, but it's strange since he only starting football this year, and he's been playing soccer for more than 12 years. You said: "I think this makes it very difficult to establish a culture that loves soccer for soccer's sake alone." Yes, and although there are always the brilliant exceptions, (the Pele junior who gets a full ride at the local club), our culture is also pricing many talented players right out of club soccer. It IS expensive. Club soccer has become a profitable business and parents are so hungry for our kids to play on the best teams for the best clubs wearing the best equipment at the best tournaments, etc., that we are not very good "consumers" in asking just what all this money is for, and evaluating and helping point youth soccer in the direction we think it should go.
The NCAA allows each division 1 soccer program 9.9 scholarships for men and 12 for women. In division 2 the ratio is 9 for men and 9.9 for women. There are 112 Division 1 college's that offer soccer scholarships for men. For women's soccer there are 99 Division 1 colleges. When you say most of the starters on your team could play Division 1 on some kind of scholarship ... I see that in Division 1, there are roughly 1,000 scholarships out there for men's soccer annually. Number of youth under 19 registered to play soccer in 2001: 3.9 million I'm trying to come up with some reasonable mathematical way to look at this. Let's guestimate, that of those 4 million youth soccer players, 25,000 of them are graduating high school seniors and looking at going to college in a given year. Just a guess, dividing the total number by 12 (average years youth soccer is played) and rounding down for kids who drop out and/or don't go to college. If there are about 1,000 Division 1 scholarships for men, let's say 3/4 of them are already taken by current sophomores, juniors and seniors at college, that leaves 250 scholarships for about 25,000 potential college-bound players. So, everything else being equal, your player has a 1 in 100 chance of getting a Division 1 soccer scholarship, right? That's without considering whether or not your kid would be accepted to the school he wants to attend --- which whittles the chances down even more. DISCLAIMER - those figures are just some numbers pulled off the internet for discussion, No way of knowing how accurate they are. Just seemed pertinent to the cost vs. scholarship payback discussion.
Allsport, The calculation you are attempting is almost impossible to make. It will vary across the country and there is much more involved than just the dollars that can be of value. To begin with, all things are not equal. Rather than 3.9 million players and the math that flows from your assumptions, look at the number of players that are on the top 50 U18 or so teams in each Region. These teams primarily produce the pool of college players. That is about 3,600 players annually. Next, the "DI" label is meaningless in soccer. There are a number of DII and NAIA schools that offer very competitive programs and an excellent education. (I did not include DIII, because we are considering soccer scholarships, and DIII programs do not offer athletic scholarships, though that is also misleading.) Further, many college coaches will tell you players will tend to go to schools that are about four hours from their home. Thus, the pool of scholarships is far broader than you allow for, but can also be larger in some areas of the country than other areas. To have a better picture you need to look at your regional area, the number of colleges, the number of scholarships those institutions offer (your numbers on the women's side are out of date, many programs do not following fund to the limit offered and you need to add in DII and NAIA programs), and the number of top club programs producing potential college players. If you look at the number of scholarships available at all levels, it totals about 4,500 available for men, according to the number is the College Source book on Soccer. There are also about 11,000 total positions available, not including junior colleges. This means that the better club programs will place a high percentage of their players on College teams (Big Guy did not state his players received scholarships, but that they could play in college.) For most areas of the country you will find that the top clubs fairly consistently place their players on to colleges and the players receive some measure of financial aid related to athletics. That does not mean a full scholarship. It is usually a partial, but it will also include many non-financial benefits that have value to the student. For example, student athletes at many institutions get preferred housing, preferred enrollment (they get first choices as to classes and times - no having to wait in line only to find the class you needed was already filled), often free meals, tutors and more. You also have to consider that a large percentage of the players on the top club teams do not go to colleges with funded soccer programs, and may not go to college at all, decreasing the pool of players that are competing for dollars. The club I am associated with has graduated seven boys’ teams. That equals 112 boys of whom 92 or 82% went on to play in college and received some financial aid related to soccer. Thirteen did not go to college. Seven went to college that did not offer a varsity soccer program, though five played on their college’s “club” team for at least one year. This rate of participation is typical of the top three programs in our area. You also have to consider that many programs offer and actively recruit players who qualify for other sources of money. This includes academic funds, and also “leadership” grants and similar financial aid. Of that number only five received full scholarships. One of those five went to St. Louis University and left after his sophomore year to play in the MLS. Many received partial scholarships. Generally, only players who are in the National pool or are in Regional pool, but play a needed specialized position (generally, goal keeper) receive full funding. My son, for example, went to a junior college for his first two years, receiving a 100% scholarship and then to a top 20 DII school where he received a 50% scholarship (tuition, room and books) for three years (he was red shirted with an injury one year, but still received his scholarship.) In addition, he received money for having been an Eagle Scout, for academics, and from other sources. This money he may have received if he had never played soccer, but the soccer coach and his schools AD put the package together actively gathering the strings together. It should be noted that the partial scholarships generally were small the freshman year and increased to 50% or greater the senior year. Finally, it is not the dollar value of the scholarship that matters, but what you have to pay. My daughter is a perfect example of this. She played four years of varsity soccer in college. Going in she had many offers. One was from a Big 12 school that offered her as a freshman $500 a year in soccer money. Another was from a private school that offered her $8000 in soccer money. The Big 12 school was a better choice. She would have had another $1500 in academic money and we qualified for in state tuition. My total cost for her if she had gone there even if her scholarship had not increased, would have been about $6,000 a year. She went to the private school, and even with an additional $4,000 a year in academic scholarships, it cost me another $15,000 a year for her to go where she wanted. Over four years that was a difference of $36,000. It is not the amount of the scholarship – it is your costs. If you have a program that affords you the opportunity to have lower tuition that can be worth much more than a scholarship, even a nice scholarship, elsewhere. With that in mind also consider that athletics may gain your child admission to a college they may not otherwise be accepted to. As a related example, I know one player who went to Georgetown, played for them for one year and dropped soccer after that to keep his grades up. If your only measure is the financial aid he received for soccer – none – versus what his parents paid for club, then the answer would be a decided no in their case. However, one of the major reasons he was accepted to Georgetown was his soccer ability, and that was where he wanted to go to school. How do you factor that in? All of this means the math you are attempting is all wrong. There is much more to the equations, much of which cannot be quantified. It is generally fair to say that if a child is part of a club that is one of the top clubs in a Region they have a very good chance of being able to make a funded varsity college team and receive some financial aid as a result. Is it worth the investment of time and money spent on club soccer? It was for my family, but that is something that has to be answered by each family. It is foolish to see paying club fees at ages 11 or 12 as an investment in a college scholarship. Not as foolish at age 15 or older – if you are on a top club side. Still there are many unknowns from injuries, to grades, to which college their girl friend is going to that can throw everything out of whack. In the end the calculus is far more individual and some sort of mathematical formula based on numbers of scholarships and numbers of players is meaningless.
I agree. Just putting it into a very broad formula to look at the odds. Yes, on both points. Many of the soccer players I know ended up playing soccer at college on academic scholarships, which further confuses any attempt to look at monetary value. It's often clear that the academic scholarship is given so they WILL come play soccer at a given school, but it can't be counted in any measurement of soccer scholarship. True. My son is at a private university on an academic scholarship. He is not playing soccer, but I have no doubt that the soccer experiences he listed on his application nudged him into a top pool of overall applicants, compared to a similar kid who got good grades but did not participate in activities. No argument from me and impossible to quantify, as you suggest. The equation was just an attempt in a very broad way to look at the ODDS of a random high school age club player getting a D1 scholarship. It wasn't meant to be definitive, just to suggest the overall liklihood when folks are asking whether the money they invest now will pay off later in college money. My point has always been that a player and his/her family ought to LOVE the sport to play at a high level. Putting this much time and money into something for a vague promise of financial reward in the future is unwise. It is not unwise to do something you enjoy immensely nor to make it possible for your child to do something they WANT to do. You sound very knowledgeable so I concede. We are from a smaller state and this has not been my experience with the players I know. If you don't exclude smaller clubs, the chances are much less for a given player. It's not meaningless if the point is to get folks thinking about what they are "investing" in youth soccer and what they potential outcome is, IF they think playing soccer is the means to a full ride in college. My formula - a very vague equation at that - doesn't include only the top players from top clubs. It's more of an attempt to say: well, if THIS many kids play soccer and THIS many of them want to get a soccer scholarship what are the odds of that happening? Is your kid better than the next 100 kids in line? (Well, we all think THAT is true, but is it?) I think another part of the overall equation is that top players from top clubs have other resources to help them get into colleges and get financial assistance BECAUSE they have already shown they have the talent, the drive, the persistance AND because they have the resources and connections of the club (advisors, coaches, access to showcases) behind them. The average Joe player has a lot stacked against him (or her) without those resources, in my opinion. (For the record, this isn't sour grapes, my kid didn't want to play in college and made no attempt to do so, didn't even talk to coaches at the colleges where he interviewed, when the admissions counselors offered an introduction.) By the way, Kudos to you for raising great kids in both instances. They are fortunate to have a parent who is involved in their lives and helps them make good decisions.
One thing I didn't see mentioned - aren't college soccer programs also recruiting a lot more foreign players now, who are getting some, or many, of those scholarships?
What is the point of having 3 tournaments in one fall season for a U9 team? This is just ridiculous. Clueless clubs are escalating the costs with no real benefits, pricing a lot of families out of the game. Imagine if these poor U9 players only went to TWO tournaments in the fall instead of THREE, and spent the third weekend having a free Dutch 4v4 tournament on their home fields! Oh, the horror! Imagine the slowdown in their soccer development! Imagine the lack of fun in their lives!
"One thing I didn't see mentioned - aren't college soccer programs also recruiting a lot more foreign players now" Yes, St Johns does plus they have a relationship with the better clubs from NYC area of which my club is one and with Long Island. I gave them a player from Portugal some years ago. They also get islanders from time to time like frpm Jamaica and England.
These numbers do not include scholarship info - just the odds of playing. They are interesting. http://www.ncaa.org/research/prob_of_competing/
But I always thought that a lot of the best players don't play High School ball, opting instead to play just for their club. If so, the % of High School players who become College players may be meaningless.
The methodology includes figures from 1982-2006. The NASL folded in 1984 and the MLS started in 1996 so I believe that some of the data is skewed. The "odds" are also based on pure numbers of HS participants in those sports. There are numerous other variables to consider but I guess the bottom line is to become a pro in any sport the odds are low. I think everyone can appreciate that.
You are going in the wrong boat.....If you are expecting to see your daughter playing college soccer at top level you need to invest your money on better coaches to improve her skills. You would be amaze of how many professional players have move to USA from south America and eastern Europe ....Ask around and you will find them....I live in Houston and my 8 years old is coach by a Yugoslav ex player, my kid have improve 10 folds on the first couple of months Good luck
i cant see how ity can be that hard to pay i could probrably play for a team for under £100 easily £50 for the club + joining the league ------£20 for boots ------£10 for top ------£10 for shorts ------£5 shorts ------£5 shin pads all off of ebay apart from league fees also matches are usually only like £2 or something like that
It is different over here. We have 50 states with cities potentially thousands of miles apart. Costs are reasonable if the programs are reasonable, like playing games in a local league and using volunteers. But costs esculate because teams play in many tournaments involving huge expenses. Many of the tournaments are held in high cost resort areas. And paid professionals are involved rather than volunteers. The tournaments are promoted as a good opportunity for player development and a doorway to better playing opportunites. The promotional hype is to say the least, exagerated, but financially well-off parents like the notion that they can buy better playing opportunites for their children. Since parents are willing to pay, promoters put on tournaments and the local tourist industry profits too.
its annoying when people claim that if you put the money that the sport costs into a bank account you would have enough for college..... 1) as consumers are, if you have the money, ull probably spend it.... 95% of americans are paycheck to paycheck people (not saying people dont have saving or investments, but they require next paycheck to get bills n' such paid for on time).... and on average, the average american spend $1.25 for every $1 they earn at work... in other words if you didnt spend it playing soccer then you'd spend it doing something else 2) 20-25k for college?? a reasonable price for a school like IU... however if you are an out of state attending IU then the price would be closer to double that.... however, if you send your kid to a small local college then yes, that could cover it.... money shouldnt be the issue here.... the fact that someone would spend 2.5k a yr is the issue.... i think my parents spent no more then 700 a yr on me at the travel level and my team was even in the premeir league in indy for some time... just b/c ur spending the big bucks doesnt mean your getting the best education... in fact the best training is done at home... give the kid the ball and let him/her spend hours outside playing with it.... spend $30 at ur local Walmart to get them a mini-goal to shoot on... the game shouldnt and isnt that expensive to play.... sports, altho can cost money, do many things for the kids.... it keeps them active, and seeing how the US has a weight issue this is a good thing.... they remain social and make friends that typically wont all attend the same school..... they learn to except loss and not get so down if they tend to fail, but rather pull ahead and learn from the loss... typically kids who play sports from early childhood through HS have a knack at being leaders... whether its taking lead of a group project for school or taking control of your city's council.... the money is not being wasted, if ur daughters having fun, healthy and safe
Speaking of money....what are reasonable fees for the following scenario. Team: Competes in large league consisting of teams from metro-detroit area. Currently in Division 4 of 6 divisions. Coaching: Young, enthusiastic, also coaches HS varsity. Assistant coach is a parent. I believe head coach holds class D. Practicing twice/week. No additional trainers brought in. Any thoughts on what appropriate coaching fees should be?