How’s the 2023-24 season going?

Say you made 65k played professionally for 2 years and saved everything you could. What would that leave you about 50k after housing food and taxes?

UC Irvine is 12k per year for in state. Or 48k for 4 years.

Seems like you just paid for college.
BTW, this is why it's so important that girls have a bridge like MLS Next provides for boys.

Now that there's enough $$$ on the table to make girls playing professionally interesting. There also needs to be some way for youth players to understand if they have what it takes to play professionally.

MLS Next allows boys youth players to play against MLS Academy teams in league without sacrificing their amature NCAA status. This gives players a choice to either play professionally or in college. (Assuming they have the opportunity )
 
You say you’re going to graduate college with a $65k a year salary? That’s typically not the case for most college graduates. $65k a year as a new pro doesn’t seem too far off when comparing to a new grad salary.

I’m sorry, what I meant to say is, $65k as a new grad (60th percentile) and the average national salary for workers is $59k and average salary for NWSL is $65k it doesn’t seem too far off to play NWSL and then go to college on the side. To me that sounds like a win win. You get professional experience while going to college part time. Then when you’re done playing and you’ve completed college there’s life after soccer and not a student loan and no experience.
 
I’m sorry, what I meant to say is, $65k as a new grad (60th percentile) and the average national salary for workers is $59k and average salary for NWSL is $65k it doesn’t seem too far off to play NWSL and then go to college on the side. To me that sounds like a win win. You get professional experience while going to college part time. Then when you’re done playing and you’ve completed college there’s life after soccer and not a student loan and no experience.
That's how I see it as well. It all depends on the school you choose to attend.

Also if you're under 18 there's all kinds of special rules NWSL clubs need to follow (can't trade without permission, etc)

When the NWSL average was 35k I agree that college was a better play 99% of the time. But now that the lower end is 65k things have changed and I'd put it more at college is better 85% of the time. For me the breakeven point is 100k for NWSL lower end. If this happens there will be players lined up to skip college.
 
I understand the base/minimum is nothing to be impressed with , but read this CBA .

- provided housing with no more than 2 roommates , stipend for housing if you want to find your own place
- car allowance
- solid road trip per diems for all three meals

I’m not saying they are living the life of luxury that you envision a pro athlete should be living , but this is a better deal than the vast majority of entry level jobs out of college

 
If I had a daughter that had pro potential , which I don’t , so this is easier for me to say I wouldn’t be concerned with them going pro because of potential earnings or lack there of , I’d want to know

1 . Do you really truly love the sport , because this will be your life . Are you prepared to handle soccer as a job?

2 . Are they mentally strong enough to handle the grind that is elite / professional soccer
 
I understand the base/minimum is nothing to be impressed with , but read this CBA .

- provided housing with no more than 2 roommates , stipend for housing if you want to find your own place
- car allowance
- solid road trip per diems for all three meals

I’m not saying they are living the life of luxury that you envision a pro athlete should be living , but this is a better deal than the vast majority of entry level jobs out of college


Well, housing stipend is certainly helpful to this equation and it's certainly getting better!
 
Couple of things...

- 35k per year for the lowest paid in the NWSL? No, with the newly increased salary cap it's more like 60-65k
- Stanford yearly tuition is 58,416, USD yearly tuition is 54,554, USC yearly tuition is 64,726, and Pepperdine tuition is 63,142.

What this tells me is that unless you're getting a full ride (most are not) and going to some of the most prestigious schools (most are not) college over pro doesn't make sense. (assuming your player has the ability to play professionally at an early age)

UC Irvine yearly tuition (a much more realistic school) is 13,939 in state, and 44,011 out of state.

To me it looks like playing professionally has finally become a viable option when compared to college for girls.
My bad on the salary in NWSL. However, you are totally missing that a full ride scholarship includes books room and board. It is close to $100,000 at top schools. You also are wrong on the “very few full rides”. If you are good enough to play pro at 18, you WILL get a full ride to most of the schools you want to go to. There are way more full rides at 18 than girls being invited to play pro at 18.
 
My bad on the salary in NWSL. However, you are totally missing that a full ride scholarship includes books room and board. It is close to $100,000 at top schools. You also are wrong on the “very few full rides”. If you are good enough to play pro at 18, you WILL get a full ride to most of the schools you want to go to. There are way more full rides at 18 than girls being invited to play pro at 18.
Maybe you're right.

Scholarship details aren't something parents always talk about.

If it was a full ride then yes playing in college makes sense. However if it's a 6k scholorship at a 60k per year private school then no college soccer doesn't make sense.

My sense is that there's very few full ride players and lots of partial scholorship players.
 
Maybe you're right.

Scholarship details aren't something parents always talk about.

If it was a full ride then yes playing in college makes sense. However if it's a 6k scholorship at a 60k per year private school then no college soccer doesn't make sense.

My sense is that there's very few full ride players and lots of partial scholorship players.
I would never suggest to the public that getting a full ride to college is common. I was just making a relative comparison to going pro. My view comes from my experience at Surf and the scholarships given there. Mel from Surf goes to the Wave at 16. For every “Mel” at Surf, there are 100 full ride scholarships given to Surf Players (over a period of years). Out of those 100 full rides, some will play pro but they need to develop as players in every way, strength, size, brain and vision. However context here is so important. Surf or (fill in the blank) competes at the highest national level, recruits national level players, etc. Therefore one can get a distorted sense of normal. Full rides are not normal, going pro early is rare.
 
Or Club America Cup 2024 which replaces Manchester City Cup RIP https://surfcupsports.com/2024/01/16/club-america-cup/
Surf Sports is nationally renowned for its professionalism, elite facility and event management, high-quality coaching, and, most importantly, a deep commitment to athletic development and the life-changing power of sports. Surf’s mission is to create experiences and opportunities for kids, and the organization.
 
At least he was upfront. Most coaches will listen to a parent then bench the kid for a month.

Lets look at the top 15 teams in California. Whos a product of great coaching and whos a product of collecting the best talent? If you were to knock this list down from 15 teams to 10 in terms of the best coaching how would it look? Whos has the best and who has the worst coach? Do any of these teams fall out of the top 10 all together?

Development at U14 seems to be out. Instead your kid gets stuck in a system where they flourish or fail based on the coaches tactics. Ive talked to way too many parents who's kids want to quit the sport over a BAD coach. How many of these coaches can actually look in the mirror in the morning and feel good about the damage they have done?


How things currently sit in CA :

1.) MVLA
2.) SURF
3.) KOGE
4.) EAGLES
5.) BLUES
6.) SAN JAUN
7.) LEGENDS
8.) BEACH
9.) SLAMMERS FC
10.) MUSTANGS
11.) CITY
12.) BEACH RL
13.) LAFC
14.) CRUSH
15.) FRAM
Any takers on this?
 
Any takers on this?

Doubt you'll get a top to bottom list, at least one that solid across the board input.

Most clubs collect talent.
San Juan and MVLA have two good, and very likable coaches at the 2010 age group and they do create a draw for the clubs.

Some of the clubs on this list attract talent different reasons.
I know several kids who target SD Surf because of the higher than normal recruit rate into the USYNT. MVLA has a good style of play and if you can hang with it it's worth it's worth moving there and staying..
San Juan is in Sacramento and really in the middle of no where, but they are the most competetive club in the area year over year so they draw is usually being able to play with others.
 
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