A rant on US Soccer ranting

After hearing a bunch of people screaming about “pay to play” youth soccer, I felt compelled to offer a few corrections.

“End pay to play” isn’t a “plan.” That’s along the lines of “We’re broke? Print more money!”

It’s not accurate to say the thousands of youth clubs in this country will be able to slash their prices if they’re eligible for training compensation and solidarity pay. Nor is it accurate to say soccer is free in our peer nations. It’s affordable. And if you want to make it affordable, you can try a few things:

Cut staff, including coaches. Does every “travel” team need a professional coach on the sidelines every week?
Fewer tournaments. Some clubs make a ton of money on tournaments, but those that don’t host them are paying a lot to play in them.
Less travel. We might be making progress on this now that US Club Soccer and US Youth Soccer are working together more.