Is The Professionalization Of Youth Soccer Killing The Fun?

1/21/2010 3:44:12 PM

AYSO’s Commitment To Soccer And Child Development Keeps The Fun In Soccer

I thought it must have been some kind of mistake. E-mails were being sent out to the wrong address list or something. There’s just no way that 7-year-olds were being invited to soccer tryouts, I figured.

But it was true. A local soccer club that announced it aimed to be the most competitive in the area was–via e-mail, postcards and ads in the local newspapers–soliciting children who had just played their first season of soccer to attend tryouts. There was even a banner courting players hanging from a fence near a freeway.

So children for whom soccer was supposed to be about fun play and learning would arrive at a field to perform for adults walking around with clipboards. Then they would be told whether they made it–or if they were rejects.

Those children chosen would be rewarded by paying hundreds–even thousands–of dollars more to play soccer and start traveling to games, spending more time in the car than on the field. And the “rejects” receive a clear message about what was thought of them even though they are far too young to reveal their true potential.

What in the world was going on here? And why has this been happening all across the USA?
There was a time, not that long ago, when children were given athletic opportunities by community-based leagues and their schools. Then, at around the puberty age, those particularly talented and ambitious children might join more competitive programs, known as select, elite or travel teams while others got to enjoy continuing at the community level.

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