<p>We just had our soccer club's big annual traveling soccer tournament this weekend, so my thoughts are turning to soccer as an extracurricular activity for college applicants. Harvard admission dean William Fitzsimmons notes </p>
<p>
[quote]
"The idea that extracurricular activities are open to everybody is nonsense," Fitzsimmons said, noting that the ice hockey goaltending equipment now breaks the $2,500 range.
<p>Our local soccer club does its best to keep things inexpensive, and we buy our children's soccer gear used, but I hear that as traveling soccer players get into higher age ranges, the travel expenses and expenses for hired rather than volunteer coaches mount rapidly. My second son is a U10 premier traveling player, who likes reading, writing, visual art, and soccer, and I would like to keep him involved in the soccer. But what can a nonathletic parent do to manage the expense of traveling club soccer, and how do student athletes balance their sport with their studies? Neither my wife nor I have any experience with this, so I would appreciate hearing from parents whose scholar-athlete students have reached college age how all this worked out in their families.</p>
<p>"But what can a nonathletic parent do to manage the expense of traveling club soccer"</p>
<p>I'll be interested in hearing the answers because everyone I know whose kid is involved on a travel team has more money than I have (and we are among the middle class families who qualify for little if any need-based aid). I was very happy that my kids lacked that kind of talent because we couldn't have afforded the time and money to support their being on a travel team.</p>
<p>Check with your local board, or the junior soccer association in your state. They will subsidize the costs of travel soccer (about $800 per year in our area) and the costs of premier soccer (only available after u-12 around here at a cost of near $1600 per year) if you qualify. If your child is a top player, the true premier clubs will not want to lose him/her due to financial constraints. </p>
<p>Soccer is, imho, less expensive than many other ECs that require one on one attention - and the direct costs (cleats, guards etc.) are less than the costs of ice hockey equiptment. </p>
<p>If you have other q's, and let me know what state you are in, I can point you in the right direction.</p>
<p>All of my Ds played soccer from the time they were 5 years old. Two played competitive/rep/travelling for many years and there were families of many different financial situations who participated. The costs at our club were much lower than at any I saw when we were living in the U.S. Our soccer club was, and I'm guessing still is, the largest in North America with over 13,000 players registered. There are 20 girls travelling teams and 17 boys, this year. All coaches are volunteers. </p>
<p>Costs for the travelling teams run approximately $500/year to cover costs of uniforms, referees, etc. Obviously, hotel costs for away tournaments and related travel expenses would be additional. Teams participated in fundraising to reduce the annual costs and if there were kids who needed some financial assistance, there was a fund for that.</p>
<p>My older two girls played 'rep' until they went off to college. One continued for one more year but stopped after that because the timing just did not work with her summer schedule. Both continued playing, in house leagues, through college, which were less of a commitment and my oldest D still plays recreationally. My younger two still play, although not rep. None ever had a problem with any school conflicts or problems due to soccer. Three of them played for their high school teams as well as for the club. </p>
<p>Soccer is a great sport and is very popular here, especially for girls. We know many who have gone on to excellent U.S. colleges as a result of their soccer. Two girls that my Ds played with have been on/are on the Canadian national team and have competed in the Olympics and the World Cup. Compared to other sports, the costs are relatively low. The added benefit is that anyone can play soccer. It's a sport that's inclusive in a way that hockey, baseball, basketball are not, as it's easier to participate and to be relatively competent, if not excellent, at soccer than it is at the others.</p>
<p>My son played on a club team until this spring. At least half the kids were from the primarily Latino/lower middle class neighborhoods nearby. The coaches were a Mexican father/son pair. The team was great, didn't win much at all, but was a wonderful place for my son for 7 years. I financed the participation of several kids - essentially funding a scholarship - precisely for the reason you mention, these families couldn't afford the $500 up front. For hotels for travel it was understood that those kids couldn't pay.</p>
<p>However, they weren't middle class kids who wouldn't qualify for need. They would absolutely have qualified for need-based aid. So it's a good question for the mid-range income family as frankly I don't know that I would have been so ready to finance kids from that kind of background. Sorry, but true.</p>
<p>S played club soccer from age 9 thru senior year in HS, also varsity soccer in HS. I managed the club team for several years. So much depends on the league you are in. We did not hire extra coaches/trainers, etc. We had a family with 6 kids and limited means. They managed by sending their S to tournaments with other families to cut down on costs. We were often that other family, and we were happy to have him with us. Bottom-line expenses included equipment (shoes!) and tournament fees. </p>
<p>If you think I can add anything useful, feel free to pm.</p>
<p>We have a number of years with competitive club soccer and h.s. varsity soccer. Our club definitely offers financial assistance to lower income players, although I'm not sure of the threshold. Several of the boys on my son's team have, for various reasons, been required by their families to pay part of the expenses, and they've done so through fees earned through refereeing. Both of my kids did a lot of refereeing, and the money can be very good, especially if they ref adult or high level club games or tournaments. Since weekends were generally free during the school season, that's when most of them earned that money. Our club has also done quite a bit of carpooling and sharing of hotel rooms among the boys.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If your child is a top player, the true premier clubs will not want to lose him/her due to financial constraints.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's completely new information to me, and I appreciate you sharing it. We have become pretty familiar with precollege financial aid for study of math (our oldest son's main area of talent development), but all that we had heard up till now about traveling soccer in our area is that it is an ongoing and ever greater expense. We'll find out what the rules are here about waiver of fees or third party support. Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>Yes, nceph makes a very good point! S worked as a ref. He also worked with younger kids as a soccer-camp coach/counselor. This was helpful in many regards. The first, of course, was the income. Beyond that, we were surprised to find that his exta involvement qualified him to receive a scholarship from the soccer league. I think it also helped to show that he was quite involved in this particular EC when the time came to apply for colleges.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My younger two still play, although not rep.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Is "rep" what I called "premier" (the highest competitive level of a state's age-stratified traveling soccer program)? My second son is on his age group's highest "premier" team right now in our club. I am told that he has enough "natural" ability that he could develop a lot as a player. I am so clueless about soccer that I have no idea how good is good enough to make it worthwhile to aspire to continued high-level play. Ending up as a player for a college dorm team sounds just right to me as a goal--and I know at some colleges that would take an amazingly high level of play. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Several of the boys on my son's team have, for various reasons, been required by their families to pay part of the expenses, and they've done so through fees earned through refereeing.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's another very good point. In our club, players are urged to take referee training because </p>
<p>a) the club always needs more referees, especially for its recreational program for younger players (which is how all my kids start out) </p>
<p>and </p>
<p>b) a player who has taken referee training tends to understand the game better. </p>
<p>From that perspective, maybe I have fewer money worries than I thought. Opportunities to referee abound around here, and I think my son who likes soccer would also like to earn some of his own money.</p>
<p>My D and S both played Club soccer. One year when my H was in Grad school and I was only working part time, we were given $100 off of our fees. Our club offered several opportunities to fund raise. I often participated in taste tests or helped bag at Kohls to defer fees. </p>
<p>My D played traveling hockey. The club also had ways to defer costs. We bought equipment used or on sale. Our association had goalie equipment for the goalies to use during the off season. They could rent it for use during the off season.</p>
<p>As for balancing academics with sports; they learn. My D was a three sport athlete in 7 - 12th grade, and maintained a 4.0. She also was in orchestra. She often was working on something in the car on the way to games. Her friends were her teammates. She didn't spend alot of time watching TV or playing video games. </p>
<p>My D was a referee one summer. She had one incident with parents/ coaches yelling at her to challenge the head ref's call. She decided not to ref the next summer. We've had our share of bad refs but yelling at referees (especially kids) IMO is not acceptable.</p>
<p>"Ending up as a player for a college dorm team sounds just right to me as a goal--and I know at some colleges that would take an amazingly high level of play."</p>
<p>Well, that's exactly where our S is now! He loves soccer, but his coursework makes regular practices and travels difficult to manage. He has a great time playing IM soccer--on two teams.</p>
<p>My take on what it takes to "make it worthwhile to aspire to continued high-level play" is the commitment level of the player. All we hear about the benefits of team sports is true.....as long as the motivation is coming from the player.</p>
<p>tokenadult, yes, 'rep' would be the highest level available. It's just a different name. :) My advice is, if it's possible for you to swing financially and with your other family commitments, to allow your son to play at the highest level possible if that's what he wants to do. As long as he's happy, having fun, and actually getting a reasonable amount of 'play' time, that's great. It has to be fun, though, or in my opinion, it isn't worth it. Approach it in this way and not as a means to a soccer scholarship for college, though. I've seen too many people count on that as a real possibility and then not have it happen. Kids should play because they love the game, not because someone thinks it will pay off when they apply to college. Best of luck to you and to him. I have watched so many hundreds of soccer games in my 'career' as a soccer mom, manager, convenor, club official, and I have many, many very fond memories.</p>
<p>Our S played travel club soccer, state level ODP, and high school of course. I believe that a couple of very talented kids on his club team were accommodated by fee waivers, staying with other families for tournaments, given rides to and from practice, etc. However, I know others who were not able to stay with the team due to a lack of funds. Support was only provided for the top-top players (those who were expected to go on to play in college). Our team had both international travel and lots of national tournaments as well as the regular regional games, plus the expectation of camps, etc., so it did get expensive, but we loved every minute. It was our life, as well as that of our son, for about ten years. I think both the child AND the parents need to love it for it not to be considered a burden.</p>
<p>My D plays in our state's top premier division, and just survived her first year of high school, where she played varsity soccer and lacrosse. Sometimes it seems like a bit too much stress, since the high school teams practice or have games 5x per week, and club soccer is year-round. She toyed with the idea of quitting club soccer when she entered high school, but instead just switched to a less high-powered team (still premier) and has been very happy. I figure it's a great way to spend time, it keeps her happy, and it's at least a way to demonstrate to college admissions folk that she's energetic, focused and willing to commit to something over the long haul. She's not counting on playing in college, and we're not making the mistake of banking on a scholarship (alwaysamom is so right about that!) She's developed impressive time management skills as a result of soccer. We won't let her stay up into the wee hours to finish homework, so she plans well and gets it done efficiently. </p>
<p>Cost-wise, a lot depends on how much out of town tournament travel a team does. (Most of our league play is reasonably local) If you add ODP, etc., costs can escalate. Our club gives scholarships based on need, not ability, and teams often do fundraising. </p>
<p>You don't really need to figure out how good your kid is. If he's happy, your job is to provide opportunities for him to try out for high-level teams, and the coaches will figure out if he'll cut it. I think the parents who know more about soccer are sometimes more likely to delve into the politics of coaching and player selections and all sorts of unpleasant stuff, so you might just consider yourself blissfully ignorant :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the further replies. I don't know what "ODP" means. </p>
<p>My son is very happy on his current team, because his volunteer coach (the dad of one of his teammates) is a very warm, encouraging man. The coach estimates that he will only be able to help the players develop for another year. He has already dug into his own pocket, not hitting up the rest of us parents, to pay for additional practices with the local high school coach and other more knowledgeable people. So in just more than a year it may be that our expenses will increase.</p>
<p>ODP is the Olympic Development Program. I hear it varies tremendously from region to region, but in general, anybody can try out, but only the very best are selected for specialized training, games and playdates. There is some cost involved, but I don't think it's prohibitive. Around here interest/involvement peaks around U-14 or U-15; if you don't make ODP by then, you probably aren't going to.</p>
<p>Local tryouts are to make the state ODP team. In our area, only the best kids on the state team are chosen to go to the ODP tournaments and then only a portion of those kids are permitted to tryout for the regional team (four regions in the US if I remember correctly). Those tryouts are held at a soccer camp. The best kids at the regional camp make the regional team (with whom they will play tournaments) and then the best of those make the national ODP team. This process is repeated every year, so a kid could make the state team as a U-15 but not as a U-16, etc. ODP tryouts and practices are year round if you keep progressing from local to state to regional to national and then start over again as the child ages up. If you look at college rosters for soccer, lots of kids mention whether they were state, regional, or national ODP players, although not every good players goes through that system. </p>
<p>One of the "costs" of ODP is the time commitment of driving the child to practices. We were lucky to live centrally so the state ODP practices were only an hour away but some kids have to come from 3 or 4 hours away so it takes the entire Saturday or Sunday of the kid and a parent. Also, the national tournaments all involve flying and hotel rooms, so that adds up if the child goes to those. Very few kids stick with ODP unless the live, eat, and breathe soccer.</p>