A coach calls out MLS Next as a cash grab that costs more than full-ride scholarships, then argues youth soccer's real value is relationships and mentorship, not money. The college coach matters most. Comment "camp" for his list of programs worth the cost.
Club soccer, specifically MLS Next, is just another cash grab. Anything worth value, you have to pay money for. Nobody said playing college soccer would be cheap. In fact, for you mom and dads listening to this, there is no way you're gonna make back all the money you spent from 0 years old all the way through high school through a scholarship. My scholarship, which was a full ride, was worth $250,000, a quarter of a million dollars. My parents, over the course of 0 years old all the way to college, certainly spent more than that. What we're really wondering whether it's worth the money is whether or not our child, or you the athlete, will have an experience that we cannot put a number on. Will you get a job one day? Will you meet the person you marry? Will you have an unforgettable experience that, because we're grateful to be on this spinning rock, you get to play soccer in? And to make sure that you end up on a team you love so it doesn't feel like your whole experience was a cash grab, Everything is going to come down to whether or not you like your college soccer coach. My coach is now the coach of a professional soccer team. When I was in high school, my father and this coach played a really big deal in my life. This is why I want everybody who finds the right soccer team to focus on the coach, not the name or the fact that it's going to cost money. You want to focus your attention on whether or not it is worth the experience for your son or daughter or for you, the athlete. If you want to know a list of camps that are not money grabs that you should go to, comment the word camp and I will send you a list.
