00:00 Start
00:48 What is Pay-tp-Play
02:33 Other Countries
06:05 Actual Costs
06:54 The Problem
08:31 Solutions?
source
47 thoughts on “Pay-to-Play in US Youth Soccer”
Comments are closed.
00:00 Start
00:48 What is Pay-tp-Play
02:33 Other Countries
06:05 Actual Costs
06:54 The Problem
08:31 Solutions?
source
Comments are closed.
703 Warriors is working towards a potential solution to replicate in the future. I welcome any and all feedback on what we are doing with 703 Warriors.
Writing this on may 2025, Liverpool had just won the Premier league, and I couldn't help thinking, what if their top two goalscorers, Mo Salah and Luis Diaz, who grew up in less than ideal financial situations, had been born in the US, most likely they would have never had the opportunity to make it to a youth team!! 😠 😡
Why does this seem a big issue in England paying subs of £20 to £40 is the norm this goes to the grassroots club to fund the club pitches pay for refs coaches and comitee are voluntary
In the UK most of the jobs are done by volunteers. The only people who get a fee are the refs. Facilities hire, balls and matchday kits are the only other expenses. That means it might cost a parent only £200 to £500 a year. Not complicated.
This outstanding video makes it clear that "pay to play" is one of the biggest problems in football ("soccer") in the U.S. Nothing against the kids presently playing in the clubs, but so many potential top players are left out because their family can't afford it.
Imagine Messii or Ronaldo playing in the US we would never hear of them because they were too poor to play competitive soccer!
Thanks so much for sharing my feelings on these pay to play soccer clubs! My grandkids play on these leagues and even today are on their way 2000 miles to be in a tournament and their parent cannot afford to be doing this! The kids are 14 and 13, mom drives an old car, they have to stay 2-3 nights, meals, then a clinic afterwards. Mom is not doing either child a favor! Their teams lose 95% of their games, practice fields are an hour away and usually flooded township parks. they miss school days traveling, most of the time, they'd rather just stay home. It's just so senseless! Some organization is making money off these parents/parent and several times the kids have gotten hurt! (concussion, broken lower leg, etc! Please, how can gram make sense of this heartbreaking waste of money? Everyone, feel free to comment! Am I just an old lady spoiling the dreams of half interested kids? I've been praying……….
This makes me want around the country and hand pick a team that I can develop from age six to sixteen, until I can start getting them international contracts. 🤓
Is there anywhere in the US that has a different model?
Pay to play is basically child care. There is no end game in sight.
If solidarity payments are to reimburse the club that paid to develop a player, then in the US, should these payments go to the parents that paid for the development of their children?
I played my youth soccer in MenloPark, Ca. I was fortunate to have met George Sundquist, an immigrant from Finland who had a vision to establish youth soccer on the San Francisco Peninsula. Sundquist, along with the Neuman’s, the Kocks, the Lyssand’s, Colon Lindores and many other people established a local soccer league were we practiced and played our matches on Burgess Field. My obligation, as well the other players was be bring TWO DOLLARS to each match to help in pay the costs for the referee and the field. I went on to play on several local club teams, at Canada College and SDSU. Back on the Peninsula I played in the Major and Premiere Divisions, Division 1 in the San Francisco League and in the Kriesliga in Germany. Through it all I never paid more than the TWO DOLLARS per mach going back to the late 1960’s in Menlo Park.
It was those people like Sundquist who spoke of their vision for soccer in America and fulled our desire, the players desire to raise up the sport of soccer to enjoyed by everyone. When I left Menlo Park it had become part of me to insure that soccer becomes the pinnacle of professional sports in America.
I coached several youth and adult teams in the Bay Area, and continued my coaching in the NorthBay in competitive youth soccer and in high school. I never asked to be paid and I never accepted any pay. I kept to the pure thought and philosophy of Sundquist and the others. What is happening now is bullshit. It’s a promise for the future that will not happen. It’s a business model to rip off parents and players alike. It absolutely makes me sick. What happened years ago with club soccer will go down in the annals of soccer lore as the absolutely worst event in our history. The thought that you can only achieve great play with great pay. That’s the undoing of the sport..and the corruption, the money chasing, the false promises and the politics are the only gains. My thoughts anyway.
basically other countries are more capitalistic than America when it comes to soccer, because smaller clubs are more motivated to develop players in those countries for greater compensation potential vs small clubs in America are only motivated by people with more money money, regardless if child is a star athlete or not, and the reward is not as great if child turns out to be a star. Other countries invest on children development and the best rises to the top.. but in America we invest in the highest most financially capable parent, but not the athlete as much. America will never rise above the competition with this broken model.
people act like pay to play is only in America.
I coach wrestling, I know, apples and oranges, right? Not really. We are a top four wrestling team on average in the state. 100% of our club, board members, Admin and coaches are volunteers. In Highschool we have three coaches on paid staff, the remaining four are volunteers. The UFC is the sport that we have to transition to, 90% of the belt holders are collegiate wrestlers. We've had a few kids go pro. The point I'm making is that it seems to me that Soccer is more about the money rather than developing kids. Am I wrong?
Coach in Utah ECNL for player have a cost of 15.000
US is a money making machine while in Europe they are soccer making machines.
Pochettino can’t fix this. WE are the problem. And we won’t win until we Change 💯
Need 529 plan for youth soccer
Grass roots clubs don't get any money from professional clubs if a player they trained makes it as a pro, in the UK. The pro clubs usually have a ~3 tiered youth academy system and they'll invite kids they scout from grass roots into the bottom tier of that system, at satellite development centres. If they're good, they move up through that system. They can still play for grass roots clubs until they are offered a youth contract by the professional club (usually 1 or 2 years). The grass roots club gets nothing out of that. They just lose their player. This happens from 6 or 7 years old.
So there's absolutely no incentive at all as a grass roots coach to push your kids towards that system. It's just a brutalist approach where all the professional clubs take whoever they want, whenever they want, then cast them aside when they don't think they're good enough, 3/4/5/10 years later, having deprived those kids of the fun of playing grass roots football for their entire youth football "journey". The bottom rung of that scouting ladder is just as brutal… The coaches for e.g. Leeds, where I live, will pull in kids from all over the place, give them a 4 week trial, then just bin them off if they're not good enough. In my squad of 18, I've had, I think, 8 kids go into a system at a pro club. 4 are still there. The most talented kid got binned off after 4 weeks because he wasn't ready yet. That's probably his shot at 8 years old, done… Cos honestly, all the scouts for the pro clubs are out watching the U7s and U8s and picking kids up that early. I certainly wouldn't say that's a system the US would want to replicate.
In terms of pay to play… In the UK for grass roots, the yearly subs are around the £200 mark, per player. We're £180. That gets you all the coaching for the year, the matches and the kit. We also have grants for families who can't afford that, paid for by the club. The big difference from what you mention in this video is that you pay your coaches and admin staff?! That was a wowzer moment for me. Everyone here is volunteers. The club will pay your coaching badges etc, but the thought of being paid to do the coaching is just a whole other world.
Edit – I would also say that ON TOP of that, the vast majority of players of a decent standard will also be doing paid coaching sessions with a certified coach at a private "academy" of some sort. That doesn't have to be expensive but my son for example has 3 sessions a week, each with a different coach. 1 where I coach (unpaid), 1 with a private academy coach (which is still reasonably priced at £8 an hour, I think), then one with a pro club in a development centre, where he still has to pay (£7 a week). I would say that variety of coaching is massively beneficial to the kids here, so if your system in the US is to have all the kids' coaching coming from the same voice at the same pay to play club, then THAT is a problem.
It is a POS system. The really good young athletes cannot afford it and go play something else, or the ones who play (case of many Hispanic kids) do so in these smaller leagues that they form themselves in neighborhoods and are never scouted. The other issue is that the bigger majority are training to play NCAA, not to win the World Cup against Argentina or Germany. There is a big difference in the standard needed for one or the other.
We already have the perfect model to develop youth athletics. It's called Little League Baseball. How about Little League Soccer? Do soccer the same way, make it more available on TV and get some fully outfitted fields out there for kids to play on. Requiring parents to fork over so much money just to play kids sports is ridiculous.
I don't have any kids of my own but I've been coaching soccer since 2002.. If Ihad a kid I'd let him/her play for the rec league from early age up to 12 years old . Here where I live , the rec league is only $30 per season (10 games + playoffs) and that includes the uniform.
By the time they reach 12 you already know if they are gifted to play the sport or not. If they love the game and have the skills then Id let them join an academy (travel team) where I know that they will develop their full potential until they reach the age of 18.. by that time they either get an scholarship or a contract with an MLS academy ..
Remember that there are laws to be followed . How many professionals on any field got their degree for free??
If you dont invest in your kid (sow) ..dont expect to reap any rewards ..
Best explanation I’ve seen on this. The USA will never win a World Cup until Pay to Play is solved. 💯
Love this video! I spend 5,000 a year for travel, uniforms, club fees and camps. Not to mention I don’t live close to an ECNL team so now I have to travel 4 hours if I want my daughter to be seen by top colleges. She is a 7th grader that is a top scorer on her High School Varsity team and she is 12! Apparently that means nothing to college recruiters because it’s not ECNL, where the “best” play. I hate how youth soccer is and it seems that no one cares to change it. Sickening
throw in a ball and used flip flop as goal post. This is how we are playing during my childhood in malaysia. Playing in dirt and sand field. I miss this day.
There are a lot of misconceptions about costs between the USA and the rest of the world.
Soccer in much of the world is free … at pro academies. Just as it’s free at MLS academies.
If you’re playing at a small English club, you may be paying. But not much. The costs are similar to US recreational soccer.
What we have in the USA that other countries don’t have is that giant middle tier of non-professional clubs’ travel soccer.
So the question to ask is what you’re paying for in travel soccer that makes it so much more expensive than rec soccer. For the most part, the answer is coaches. In some countries, volunteer coaches may have, say, a UEFA B license. Here, you may be paying a coach who’s just finishing much lower licensing courses.
But then the big expense is the actual travel. Instead of playing a club 20 miles away, you play 500 miles away. Hotels. Gas or even airfare. And clubs that host tournaments make a lot of money, so when you pay a tournament fee, you may be funding a scholarship program — at another club. Or a tournament might be your excuse to take a Disney vacation.
It’d be nice if US Soccer would take charge and put in some reasonable rules governing travel. But they already have enough lawsuits to deal with.
Amen Coach Rory! The US has the pyramid upside down. Until pay to play is addressed, the US will have a very difficult time growing the talent they need to win a World Cup.
The best players in the top leagues aren't the best players in the club. The rich families with only 1 child are the only ones who can afford the top levels.
Nobody should have to pay these fees, 10k-20k per yr is also a huge impact to a middle class family!
I have seen clubs that literally will create 3 or 4 academy teams and then just mix and match players on that team for each game they play. I coach my son's academy team which he is only 7 years old playing U10. I have been around the sport for 4 decades, and the way they do things have only made it worse. The only reason they have created all these various leagues is not because the level is any better but to rack in more money. My son does do the Atlanta United Regional Development School as extra training, which I have hopes that he will eventually be on the Atlanta United Youth Academy, but my wife has family in Italy, which I could also look to see if he could get into a club there. I say this as I would never put him on one of the MLS Next clubs where the cost is astronomical! The pay to play system in all youth sports is a racket and really don't do much when it comes to their progression a lot of times. Fortunately, with my years of experience and travel around the world, I take my son for free play in the parks and I am capable of giving him the individual training he needs at least at his current age and level.
As a parent of two kids in an affluent area (we are not affluent) the soccer club model is extremely frustrating. We were hesitant to put our kids in club soccer bc they are honestly not “elite” level athletes and the cost is beyond our means. However the Rec system is a complete joke since all kids with two legs and parents w a check book play at the local club. The FC allows “all kids an opportunity” which basically means they drain any and all talent. Most kids don’t belong in club, there is obvious favoritism and politics. Even when the FC is “charitable” and give the low SES kids with talent a “scholarship” they are only draining more talent from the Rec system. Basically we were stuck either giving up on soccer (and frankly many other sports with the same model). On the bright side my kids are active and have great friends. On the negative we struggle financially and write check to unscrupulous people who I have zero respect for.
I’m in Florida, USA. My 2 sons have been playing competitive soccer since they graduated from recreational level and we enrolled them in the first “Private Soccer Club “. Somehow, a private citizen owns the land where this private club operates from, however, the city adds this club to their website and it is misleading in the fact that they charge a nominal fee but the city has no oversight or receives revenue from the club. The BOD ended up being a husband and wife. Imagine the dysfunctional leadership and add in that one of the coaches literally took almost the entire traveling team to go to a club 10 miles up the road. In my opinion, there was mismanagement of funds and the bylaws were blatantly disregarded. I reached out to FISA, anybody who is in a position to do something. To date, I don’t know if they do anything. The club was essentially defunct. Prime example of several ethical issues and shady practices. We then left and joined a very known club (franchise that simply uses the name and brand of the MLS team). There’s so many things that happened in this club that I would be writing a novel on here. The things your video pointed out is things that I agree with. The bylaws are crucial for their mission statement. The bylaws at this club applies to each individual instead of the club as a whole. The reason I say this is if you’re willing to spend $5,000 and sponsor a “golf tournament “ this equates that your child, (who can’t do the basic fundamentals of the game) gets promoted over the player who should’ve been promoted two years prior. Board members… the bylaws state that 3 people employed by the club are on the board but their names are confidential. If that doesn’t make you wonder, an “elected” board member (there’s really no open process. They advertise that there is, but unfortunately for them, I have documentation in the form of group texts and emails that the pre-existing board members select the individual or individuals who they want). The children are last on the list of this club’s agenda. The coaches curse, play mind games and will refuse to promote a kid who deserves to be promoted because “they can’t lose this child or they will lose their games and then their job is in jeopardy”. My 11 year old made it to MLS Next. The money that has been spent is ludicrous. My son’s team has LOST every game. I thought MLS Next was the best of the bunch? 4 days per week practices for 2 hours and these kids can’t do the basics. My son was the only one who stood out and played at a level expected for this title. You’re absolutely correct that the different leagues don’t communicate and it gets to be a confusing and frustrating experience. I’m not that parent who doesn’t observe and know what’s truly going on. I’m fortunate enough to have the financial resources to take the evidence I have been collecting for the past 2 years and methodically waiting until the acts shown by the administration has actually become a toxic but law breaking organization. I’m doing my due diligence and looking for an attorney who will take this on. I’m going the “deceptive business and trade practices” route first. This isn’t “he said, she said nonsense”. I have my arguments in writing. Another parent is going to file suit for the minor children because at least 8 kids have been bullied, threatened that they will lose their ability to go for scholarships, etc. Something needs to change and there needs to be an individual who can get the reality out of the dark and to the light of day. This has been the most destructive and emotional experience my family has ever experienced and we want to start a new club. There are so many grants to underprivileged demographic areas and this is where you find the truly talented players. I understand it’s a profitable business. I understand why they do what they do. However, what good is ANY of it if you take the integrity out of the sport? When segments of a community are ostracized from being able to play a sport because of financial constraints, there should be resources and scholarships. Where are they??? I’m not seeing any of these clubs utilizing any of these methods. I have spent $11,000 so far on this sham MLS Next endeavor for one of my children. This sport is so meaningful to people all over the world. It’s an essential part of different ethnic groups culture! We must do whatever it takes and shed light on these deceptive and horrible people who claim that they will transform our children to become the best version of themselves while fostering a competitive and challenging environment. It’s all a LIE!
Well the club my daughter plays for
Has our team fees subsidizing the lower league mls team with the same name. Some of our coaches went 2 months without a paycheck and were not fully invested in coaching. We had to email the owners to state our disappointment with how they are running the club and the coaches got paid.
The sad thing is the club was profitable until they started using our youth program revenue to fund the pro team. It’s very upsetting to see greed take over. Needless to say many players are leaving the game due to this.
How does the funding of youth soccer differ from the funding of youth ice hockey, baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse, etc. Don't parents pay league fees for their kids to play in every sport? Do pro teams in other sports subsidize youth leagues to any significant degree? I've never heard of that beyond the public relations level. How is soccer any different from every other sport? Does catering to a higher income crowd maybe ratchet upward what is then expected in a youth program, or what the programs think they can charge? Do youth programs in other sports offer the same level of instruction, and travel as far for games, and charge less in league fees?
Very interesting graph at 7:24.
US soccer needs a strong grassroot network of clubs, not just teams. But clubs that are community based and provide for every age, ability and gender. Clubs that can offer a home ground with pitches, dressing rooms and club house. Clubs that are mainly funded by sponsors, some by local government in the form of field maintenance, some income from transfer fees and from member fees (about $150 a year).
The teams of these clubs should play in leagues that are strictly organized. The leagues should be organized in districts that all contain about the same amount of clubs.
Our local Police athletic league just started a program. The only fees that are charged is for uniform and to help cover very specific fees. It ends up like $200 to $300. Thousands less then the local travel teams. We are part of something called Suffolk Soccer interleague which is the kind of program I think more of the country needs. My sons specific team is made of some very talented kids with parents that cant afford much. You look at the soccer academies here that are pay to get in and you notice a very big difference. Our program Just started this month and already has more kids than coaches. The Head police officer got more kids than he thought.
If pay to play was in Portugal , We wouldn’t have Ronaldo
we have a Canadian Premier League team in my home town (Forge FC) but I'm paying $300 for a 6 week came for my 3 1/2 year old to play at. "Little Kickers." Why doesn't Forge FC start and run these camps, we can split the cost with the club, easy way to sell merch for them, cheaper for me and it will drum up interest in the club for my kids, maybe they will want to go see a forge game or multiple games per season. Then i won't feel like the cost of my ticket is a sunk cost. Fast forward 14 years and what if my kid is awesome at soccer and has played with Forge all these years? bam, you've got local cheap talent to populate the B team and maybe even the 1st team one day.
I heard that the "Pay to Play" system we have here in the US was bad. But I did not expect it to be this bad.
I kept on hearing that we don't have good players because they turn towards other sports in the US. Those who hear that just responded with "Poor excuse! No matter if those 'good' players played soccer, just accept that your players suck!"
Well, has it ever occurred why those would-be good Soccer players would instead turned towards other sports in the US?!
It's because of the "Pay to Play" system!!!! After seeing the cost comparison of the sports, it's very easy to see that as the real reason why they turned towards other sports in the US.
So yeah, turning towards other sports that are more affordable & accessible alternatives in the US is a "Poor excuse", right?!
And don't tell me "Just get a job!" Even then, some families, particularly those who're comprised of talented kids for Soccer still can't afford it because it's too expensive for them!
If you ask me, this system in a sense, is setting our players in the USMNT up for failure, due to improper development.
When I was 14 I was selected, (through a process), to play for the U15 National Team at a tournament in Holland (PtPSA), but my family COULDN'T afford $5,000+ for me to ACTUALLY GO.
Ultimately, I think it comes down to the lack of a strong soccer culture in the US. The sport isn't engrained in our society like it is pretty much everywhere else in the world. A lot of that has to do with all of the other sporting options that are more established in this country. Some fans in this country live and die by results of their football, baseball, Hockey, soccer team, etc. but the sports fandom is spread out and not concentrated like many other countries. In order to get rid of pay-to-play we need more local professional football clubs to provide the infrastructure for free youth soccer. As you highlighted in your video this is where the majority of funding for youth soccer comes from. These clubs get their revenue from support (ticket sales, merch), player transfers, and league profit sharing. Without soccer being a major cultural sport, the support is just not there in this country to be able to maintain the thousands of local professional football clubs that we would need to support a free soccer infrastructure for the youth. Pro/Rel would help grow the professional soccer club landscape but ultimately soccer isn't popular enough to support the large amount of clubs we would need.
I think almost everyone agrees that pay-to-play is not ideal but we need unique solutions to solve it. We won't be able to just implement systems used in other countries because the US setup is unique. We are unique because we have other more popular sports in this country, soccer isn't intertwined with the country's culture, we don't have a consistent professional system that's been around for over 100 years and our country is way larger than most we would be comparing too which adds so much complexity. On top of this, MLS stifles growth of other professional clubs as they are set up as a single entity system, they lack pro-rel and they essentially they silo themselves off from a healthy soccer system so that their system only benefits them.
I think the best way to start fixing this is for FIFA and US Soccer to pressure MLS to change their ways and get away from this single entity league they have. Obviously, this means adding in pro-rel. THere also needs to be more outreach to lower income areas that don't typically play the game and get them involved with free or nearly free teams. Grow the game outside of where it currently sits. Then it's going to take time for all of this to organically grow.
Thank you for taking time make these videos! Very informative and clear presentation.
I think a way to mandate training compensation and solidarity payments is the bronze bullet to fix this stuff. But how is pro/rel to blame? People way too often invoke Pro/Rel as the silver bullet to fix everything and the kitchen sink when it isn't.
Baseball and basketball have taken this route as well. And with the emergence of 7v7 travel, football is headed this way as well.
Just a thought but I wonder if a solidarity payment system could be implemented for players that go to college on scholarship as well. Wouldnt be much but something
Also, I think including more game knowledge and technical training methods into the lower level coaching licenses would help raise the baseline of American soccer culture.
I got this idea bc my coach mentioned he only needed a E license to coach high school soccer. My uncle got his d license a while ago which included so much more information that literally changed the sported landscape in my area for 20 years his training was that influential and good (using old Ajax youth drills helped a lot too lol). My uncle wasn’t a coach and he always had limited time with players. On the flip side, I spent countless hours w my hs coach and didn’t learn much or improve much bc he just didn’t have the knowledge. I’ve always wondered how things would have gone if we had that amount of time with better coaching.