[Z.I.P.]

So, in response to my post, you are saying that times have changed, pro soccer is easily assessible now, and that youth soccer is huge because these kids look up to pro soccer players?

Then why has youth soccer been so big for decades now? Why are soccer fanatics so emphatic in their denial as to why so many little kids play soccer? It's a game that is able to be played by kids with little or no instruction. You can throw the ball out there and simply tell them to kick it in the net. There's no equipment. You don't need a big financial commitment as a parent. The reasons are pretty simple.

Skip, I respect your desire to continue with this simplistic (and simply wrong) statement. however this is the second time I have had to correct you on it, so please read this clearly: ANY youth sports league can be referred to in the terms you use -- if you have no experience as a player or parent in recent years. I believe any kid can play little league baseball or pee wee football (etc.) for relatively little money -- the cost of uniforms, travel to games...I'm not sure what else. But unlike youth soccer clubs, to my knowledge other sports do not require large membership fees for merely belonging to the club, and coaching fees that normally reach into the thousands of dollars per year. As I mentioned earlier, these expenses required to merely step on the field of a competitiive youth league (as contrasted with AYSO, where indeed, "Everyone Plays", but no one reaches the level of play necessary to achieve the parents' goal of a college scholarship, or pro career) are similar to those which upwardly mobile families are required to pay to get their children into the best private schools in their communities. And this economic reality is one of the main reasons why American soccer has been held back, in contrast to the Euroean and Latin American countries where kids can indeed just step onto a dirt field and somehow be noticed by club scouts, because in those countries every adult basically is a 'scout" and when a youngster is noticed with outstanding skill, he is sure to be given an opportunity to show his skills to local clubs, which is the entry door to professional play. Think of a Canadian youth who is good at hockey -- he'll be seen, "discovered", and the junior hockey scouts connected to pro teams will beat a path to his door. This system does not yet exist in American soccer, and so those with the $$$ to bet on their kid's future must put up, or appear willing to pay the big bucks for professional coaching and career progression (this is why the highest salaries in US soccer coaching do not go to college or sometimes pro coaches, but rather to youth soccer club Coaching Directors). Ask any family which belongs to a soccer/football club how it effects their expenses. You're sure to get an earful!

[bobbyake]

Skip, I respect your desire to continue with this simplistic (and simply wrong) statement. however this is the second time I have had to correct you on it, so please read this clearly: ANY youth sports league can be referred to in the terms you use -- if you have no experience as a player or parent in recent years. I believe any kid can play little league baseball or pee wee football (etc.) for relatively little money -- the cost of uniforms, travel to games...I'm not sure what else. But unlike youth soccer clubs, to my knowledge other sports do not require large membership fees for merely belonging to the club, and coaching fees that normally reach into the thousands of dollars per year. As I mentioned earlier, these expenses required to merely step on the field of a competitiive youth league (as contrasted with AYSO, where indeed, "Everyone Plays", but no one reaches the level of play necessary to achieve the parents' goal of a college scholarship, or pro career) are similar to those which upwardly mobile families are required to pay to get their children into the best private schools in their communities. And this economic reality is one of the main reasons why American soccer has been held back, in contrast to the Euroean and Latin American countries where kids can indeed just step onto a dirt field and somehow be noticed by club scouts, because in those countries every adult basically is a 'scout" and when a youngster is noticed with outstanding skill, he is sure to be given an opportunity to show his skills to local clubs, which is the entry door to professional play. Think of a Canadian youth who is good at hockey -- he'll be seen, "discovered", and the junior hockey scouts connected to pro teams will beat a path to his door. This system does not yet exist in American soccer, and so those with the $$$ to bet on their kid's future must put up, or appear willing to pay the big bucks for professional coaching and career progression (this is why the highest salaries in US soccer coaching do not go to college or sometimes pro coaches, but rather to youth soccer club Coaching Directors). Ask any family which belongs to a soccer/football club how it effects their expenses. You're sure to get an earful!

To be fair, there are traveling baseball and basketball leagues that can be costly. Basketball has AAU or something like that. Almost all the sports except for football have expensive or cheap leagues. It's up to the parents about the expense. I am not aware of any expensive football leagues. I played for CYO and Paterson Park.

It's around $90 for Springfield baseball unless you sell candy which I ended up buying most of
And I think $65 for Springfield soccer. I do not recommend the Springfield league for young kids btw, horrible experience.

I was going through the soccer board today and have noticed that Skip has been trolling soccer since 2006. Zipsnation needs a way for people to opt out of certain boards, self-control doesn't always work.

[Dave in Green]

Why would a soccer hater bother reading a soccer forum?

[bobbyake]

Why would a soccer hater bother reading a soccer forum?

If you go through previous threads, you'll find a certain someone liked to reply with a sleeping icon when threads were started for soccer.

[Yaznasty]

Why would a soccer hater bother reading a soccer forum?

There are seriously people who only show up here when a thread of this type pops up, so that they can offer their expert forecast on why soccer will never be a big sport or even a real sport in the US. They never come to actually discuss Akron soccer, just why soccer doesn't matter and everyone who cares about it is only pretending to care about it.

[skip-zip]

There are seriously people who only show up here when a thread of this type pops up, so that they can offer their expert forecast on why soccer will never be a big sport or even a real sport in the US. They never come to actually discuss Akron soccer, just why soccer doesn't matter and everyone who cares about it is only pretending to care about it.

Couldn't you say the same thing about the people who repeatedly use Zips Nation to try to convince people to believe the contrary? After a half century or so of history tells us otherwise?

And let me correct you. I think plenty of people on both sides of this issue, including myself, come here to discuss Zips Soccer.

[bobbyake]

Couldn't you say the same thing about the people who repeatedly use Zips Nation to try to convince people to believe the contrary? After a half century or so of history tells us otherwise?

And let me correct you. I think plenty of people on both sides of this issue, including myself, come here to discuss Zips Soccer.

Skip, the data shows that soccer is on the rise. Attendance and tv ratings continue to increase. NBC Sports is hitting there very low goal of 100k viewers per game. ESPN just had record ratings for an EPL game.

You could debate the EPL or La Lig vs the MLS, that would be more logical than poo pooing the latest trend facts.