Soccer experts and fans around the world were “quick to offer explanations” for the USMNT’s World Cup loss Monday, but the “most common conclusion” centered on the “price tag on youth soccer,” according to Ansley Gavlak of USA TODAY. Families can spend “several thousand dollars annually for their child to compete with ECNL and MLS NEXT teams, with some clubs charging close to $10,000 before travel expenses.” Parents are paying for “professional coaches, national competitions, field access and at least four training sessions per week for their child to be recognized and selected at the academy level.” Players from other countries, “however, don’t have the same issue.” Kids play in grassroots programs with volunteer coaches and local competition to get scouted -- there is “no pay-to-play middle tier competition.” However, “not everyone feels that changes to the cost of youth soccer will solve future USMNT issues.” As fans continue searching for answers following the USMNT’s elimination, “one thing is clear: the debate over youth soccer costs isn’t going away. Now, the question is whether anything will change” (USA TODAY, 7/9).
HOT TOPIC OF DISCUSSIONS: THE ATHLETIC’s Henry Bushnell notes sources in the youth soccer space said that U.S. Soccer is “doing more than ever before to ease friction and unify the landscape.” During the USMNT’s pre-World Cup camp at U.S. Soccer’s new national training center in Georgia, the federation hosted a variety of youth soccer administrators for a two-day summit. Throughout the World Cup, in every-other-day executive team meetings, youth soccer architecture “was a regular topic of discussion.” U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson said that the federation “remained ‘very active’ in youth soccer discussions throughout the month,” and “had been consulting with FIFA’s technical development group.” Bushnell writes the hope is that a “more coherent landscape and player pathway would lower operational and travel costs for youth clubs and, by extension, families.” But on the other hand, the “incentives haven’t changed, and the youth sport tourism industry isn’t slowing down.” In fact, it is growing. Private equity groups have gotten involved. The “price of play is as high as ever” (THE ATHLETIC, 7/10).
