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Soccer scholarship chase: fact & fiction

Tuesday, Apr 8, 2008 10:00 AM ET

SOCCER PLAYERS AND THEIR FAMILIES spend thousands of dollars each year on youth soccer in pursuit of athletic scholarships, but just what are the odds? According to NCAA figures released recently by the New York Times, there is 1.4 women's scholarships for every 100 high school players and half that - 0.7 scholarships for every 100 high school players - on the men's side.

The figures show that $78.2 million in women's soccer scholarships was awarded in 2003-04 - the last year information is available - putting soccer third among all women's sports behind only basketball and track & field. The value of a women's soccer scholarship - how much each player earned on average - was $8,404, putting soccer 13th among all women's sports.

As for men's soccer, it ranked fifth among all men's sports with $51.6 million spent on athletic scholarships but it was far behind the two giants, football ($367.3 million!) and basketball ($126 million). The value of a men's soccer scholarship was slightly higher than a women's scholarship - $8,523 vs. $8,404 - and ranked eighth among all men's sports.

"The youth sports culture is overly aggressive, and while the opportunity for an athletic scholarship is not trivial, it's easy for the opportunity to be over exaggerated by parents and advisers," NCAA President Miles Brand told the New York Times. "That can skew behavior and, based on the numbers, lead to unrealistic expectations."

Select or Not Select? A Very Good Question
It is the time of year when some of you will be approached by or you will be approaching various area select soccer organizations, to see if you child can play select soccer. You will be told various things to entice you, some of which are simply not true. You may be told things like, “it’s the only way to develop the player so that they can get into the high school team and get a scholarship”. Or “if you don’t get on a team now, you’ll never be able to get on one later”. Both of these are simply not true.
 
Apart from the significantly higher fees charged for competitive “select” teams, there are many other things you, as a parent need to consider for your child’s soccer development and well being. To give your child’s development the best possible guidance, please educate yourself with as much information as possible.
 
Consider that 73% of kids that start competitive soccer at age 8, which is where many teams in Ohio start, are not playing any longer by the time they reach high school age. Eight years old is simply far too young to put a child into a competitive situation. Player development takes a back seat due to the pressure on the coach to win. Ohio is one of only a handful of states to even contemplate select soccer at such an age. Most experts on child development in soccer and other sports settle on the ages of 12-13 years old before such competition should be introduced. Kids learn best when playing a game not playing to win.
 

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT?

•UNDER 10-"age of fun".

•UNDER 12-"age of technique".

•UNDER 14-"age of understanding".

•UNDER 16-"age of competitive match play".

•UNDER 19-"age of professional preparation".

LIVERPOOL F.C.

 

Players talents cannot be properly evaluated at 8, 9, 10 or eleven years old, consider all the can’t miss number one picks in the NFL draft that flop, these are 21, 22 year olds.
 
Gary R. Allen, Director of Coaching at Virginia Youth Soccer Association and National A Licensed coach says “Forming "all-star" teams when players are too young or developing a whole system of "select" or "travel" teams before the teenage years is detrimental to the long-term development of players. In "select team" environments, where we place our kids beginning often at age 8, the players are chosen because of certain "perceived" strengths. If they want to play, then they are required to use the strengths for which they were selected, so that their team can win. Conversely, in the "pickup" game, players are constantly experimenting with different ways to solve problems with and against different players, and though a failed experiment might cost a goal on a particular day, tomorrow is a whole new game. There is no season record (or disappointed adults) hanging over them. Furthermore, when we use more "competitive" teams as our primary development tool, we never allow players to experience the joy and passion of the game, because all of our efforts are towards winning, promotion, State Cup and ODP.”
 
He finishes the point very well by stating “After all, we need U12 National Champions, otherwise how will we be able to identify the players of the future -- winning is everything. Yet, in the 30-plus years that we have had organized youth soccer on a mass scale, we have not yet produced even one truly world class player!