Most Americans have grown up playing sports. Boys and girls of all ages play in these absurdly large complexes while the parents sit on the side and watch. Movies and television shows have created entire plots and stories around these events. However, everything has a dark side, and that includes this seemingly harmless childhood event. As professional athletes continue to become richer and more influential, more children want to become them. This is where the greedy and arrogant "elite" programs come into play.
These programs charge outrageous fees just for the child to practice. According to Joel Powell, a writer for the website, Science of Sport, found that the average elite program for one child was around $1,472. Some programs that are for the most "elite" soccer players are around $10,000. Most Americans simply cannot afford to send their child away to play a sport at these absurd prices. Families are constantly struggling with prices going up in value and they feel like they are being left behind. The high costs contribute to a 'pay-to-play' issue, which limits access for underprivileged youth. The current pay-to-play system set up within United States youth soccer undermines the ability of players from underprivileged backgrounds with pay walls that prohibit them from playing at higher levels or institutions.
After all, Trump and his MAGA followers do not care about the average American family. They care about helping corporations make more money than seeing our children flourish. To add insult to injury, most of these people that are being hurt by the costs of these programs are not the rich white kids who can play with their parent's money. It is the disenfranchised and underprivileged children of color who struggle with this burden.
These underprivileged children are unable to break through this barrier placed in front of them. Of course, all of it is due to the money. Greed and corruption have once again led to the marginalization of struggling families often with minority backgrounds. These groups of people are also not often from the United States and had to work very hard just to get to this country. In return, this country tries to push them down and continue to marginalize them.
A meritocracy is needed to make sure that these children all get placed on an even playing field. This would mean children are making these elite teams by their skill rather than how big their parents' checkbooks are. This distancing between those with and without money is continuing to show itself, and a study done on children with underprivileged backgrounds proves the danger. This study published in the Journal of Adolescence claims,
Adolescents with refugee backgrounds often face social and economic barriers to participation, with research finding that sporting environments don't always fit the needs of these youth.
This idea that these environments continue to deepen socioeconomic issues in America exemplify that the programs must be changed. Nobody, especially people living in a first world country, should ever have these barriers in their way.
The other side of this equation always loves to bring up the costs of these programs having a reason behind it. Coaches' salaries and facilities are coming increasingly more expensive with these programs every year. In fact, Aspen Institute notices these increases forcing children to quit the programs as more children are no longer able to afford them. This is particularly seen in black communities where 35% of black children are playing sports now. However, these increases are continuing to become more unrealistic for an average American family as wage increases continue to be relatively flat.
Of course, there are ways to fix these failing programs seen in the United States. The problem is attributed to one major area: the systems of how to move up the skill ladder. The United States does not watch or play soccer as much as the rest of the world, yet we are the only nation facing this problem. Despite what the greedy Republicans say, this nation has a lot to learn from other nations of the world especially when it comes to being equitable.
This problem seems unique to the United States; this suggests other nations might have a solution to this problem. Every nation has a poorer population; yet our nation is the only one, in the western world, that does not try to help. To look at countries most similar to the United States, countries in Europe is the best place to look. Europe is where youth soccer thrives, and this is where the best players in the world are produced. Many of these players came from even worse conditions than many of the disenfranchised colored children in the United States. The only difference is how the systems were set up.
Our system is set up in a way where children must go through a club program, otherwise known as an "elite" program to get recognition. This involves the insane price hikes that greedy business owners and club managers continue to force onto American families who can barely afford to put food on the table. This leads to a natural weed out where some of the most skilled players are forced to quit the game before they could show their true skill.
The European system, on the other hand, sees the children as investments into the future. Rather than twist the arm of the families, these programs will help the parents by enrolling their children into their football academies. According to BBC Sport, these academies offer a structured lifestyle to ensure that the children are learning and growing in both the sport and the classroom. These academies also offer scholarships to many children to help their parents deal with any difficulties that may hinder the child's advancement. When the child grows up, the academy can then help the child get a contract with a professional team that then gets both the child and the football academy money.
As you can see, there is a big difference between the American system and the European system. Of course, any attempt to change this might results in push back from the glorified American managers who only see these children as a profit. This needs to be changed. The country needs to follow the rest of the world for once, and it must follow a more European style of training the youth to help disenfranchised children continue to grow. All though soccer is largely impacted by this pay-to-play system, golf, basketball, and tennis also see children struggle with the pay-to-play system.
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