Forget all this talk about bashing 91. Let’s be honest with one another….all these clubs are a joke. They never put the kids first. It’s all about business, at least it is on Long Island. Can’t speak for other states. If these clubs would start focusing on the right coaches, not high profile coaches who have no idea how to coach at the youth level and spend more time on player development they all would have more success and a lot less BS.
Very interested to see what happens next week when LI clubs start having tryouts. So many people jumping from team to team. Let’s stop blaming the parents, maybe if these clubs provided a better product people would be loyal and stay.
This is such a classic disenfranchised parent comment. Let me respond from a coaches perspective (and I am not affiliated with any of the programs discussed here. I no longer coach club ball mainly because of this toxicity).
You talk about complaining of cost and lack of player development but how many times did you go to practice and have half the team missing because of vacation/camp/other sports/birthday parties/"it's too hot?" How many times did you have your child not go to practice? Is it a business? Yes, 100% but I can not tell you how many times parents said they would be at a tournament and at least 10-20% of them are no-shows and now instead of 18-20 players we have 14-16. So we pad the roster so when those 10-20% don't show up, you still have 18-20 players to play 3-4 games in 90 degree weather. Or we grab a guy from another team to fill out a position. You whine when we move a FOGO from one team to another, but you never have an issue when you grab a kid from another team to suppliment yours, do you? You complain about cost, but after giving you a break and allowing you to pay in installments, EVERY one of your payments are late and we have to cahse you down, even though we've already paid the tournament costs and coaching salaries that your child has already played in. You want to win but you want your kid to play evenly even when he's the 6th best attackman of the 5 guys they really need. You are so hammered on a saturday tourney that I have to drive your car back to the hotel because you can barely stand up, even tho I have been there for 12 hours that day. You ask about our loyalty but you show up to a tourney playing for 2 teams.
What is it that you want?
So what's your explanation for charging people 5k when others can do it for $2500 or even less ?
Not the guy from above. But that is an easy question. FREE MARKET if you don’t want to pay the price go somewhere else no one is forcing anyone to pay anything. It’s 100%your choice if you do.not like the what you are buying do not buy it. If you can get a similar product for less money go for it. Id others have it at 1/2 the price take it.
I am the guy from the previous quote. This guy nails it.
Why do they charge it? Because people pay it. Tournament fees are not cheap and they're going up. You all want good coaches to give up half their summers AND have to deal with crazy parents? A couple of bucks and some free swag isn't cutting it anymore. This is now a market and an industry. It is NOT (in my opinion) in the best interests of the game, this is a business and you need to continue to grow to attract more investment. Growth means profits.
Can you get an equal if not, greater experience elsewhere where your kid gets treated well, he's coached up AND has a great experience? 100% If parents - and let's not kid ourselves THEY are the worst offenders in this - can give up the "keep up with the joneses/my kid is amazing" nonsense its entirely worth it. Right now, that is not where the dollars are going. The industry - and it IS an industry - is giving the parents exactly what they are asking for. NO ONE is forcing you to pay it.
Do yourselves a favor: calculate how much money from say, 5th to 12th grade you might spend on club travel chasing that schoalrship $ That's 7-8 years at a low, $2-$4k. Call it 3,000. That's $21,000-$24,000 in jus the costs to play. That's well more than you will ever hope to recoup in scholarship money.
