FIFA’s Russian World Cup was two years ago, a tournament that the US Men’s National Team (USMNT) failed to qualify for, albeit, through a bad-luck goal which should have been disallowed (maybe a case for the relevance of VAR? but that’s for another discussion).

The World cup qualifying campaign was consistently dogged by media outlets and the US federation complaining or having excuses about refereeing decisions and alike, this has been the first time the USMNT has failed to qualify for the FIFA world cup since Mexico 1986.

Other notable nations who have failed to qualify, England 1994 (USA World Cup, 2008 European Championship), France (World Cup 1990 Italy, World Cup 1994 USA, Holland (world cup Russia 2018, European Championships 2016, Korea World Cup 2002), can all be accused of making excuses for qualifying failures.

The Irish most certainly the hardest done by French striker Thierry Henry’s handball goal! The previous list could also be argued that the team’s qualifying path is through the much more difficult European groups (UEFA) whereas, arguably other than Oceania, the CONCACAF qualifying group is one of the easiest to progress through.

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As with most footballing (soccer) countries failing to make a major competition, (Especially if they are considered one of the top teams in the world who are expected to progress) the inevitable post-mortem as to why they failed to qualify are published by everyone who has even a slight interest in football.

In the case of the United States, many well-known players and celebrities all condemned the Pay-Per-Play or Pay-to-Play system currently in place for youth soccer, as the main hurdle or barrier for US National team’s hopes to compete with top European or South American Countries (Hope Solo [5], Ivan Ibrahimović [6]).

AYSO, one of the youth soccer organizations, has 175,000 registered players just in Southern California and the organization estimates 3.7 million kids are playing some type of soccer nationwide. If accurate, that’s like the combined population of Iceland and Uruguay, both of which qualified for the last World Cup. [2]

So what is pay per play? And why has it been blamed as a detriment to the success of the USMNT?

Pay-for-play, or pay-to-play, is the nomenclature for the current youth soccer system we have here in America. The system requires players to pay a fee to play for a team that is effectively competitive in nature. Throughout the many markets of America, these teams can be termed as, Competitive soccer, travel soccer, select soccer, and classic soccer teams. All terms refer to the same type of team, a team that has either tryouts, players scouted, or players selected to play against similarly created teams.

Pay per play fees are also as wildly contrasting as much as the color of the team’s uniforms! So why the differing costs? It’s related to each differing soccer market and how their culture was created. An article summed up the cost of youth soccer these days is outrageous.

I have worked around the USA in the youth soccer scene for the past 20 years. The past 16 years+ have been particularly within the competitive soccer scene in the North Texas region as well as South Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas.

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I work in administrative, club directing, and coaching roles as well as working with similar competing clubs staff. Each market has different school sports calendars, competitive playing calendars, a myriad of organizations, preferred State or national youth governing bodies (all youth governing bodies fall under the US Soccer Federation governing body, but each youth soccer governing body have their own by-laws that can sanction leagues and events under their banner.

Governing bodies also sanction tournaments and of course, the bread maker, registering every player, staff, and volunteer for a fee). The biggest difference between USYSA and US Club Soccer is simply in the construction of their administration. USYSA uses State Soccer Associations, and those State Soccer Organizations have member Soccer  Associations (typically identified by a city or region), US Club Soccer has a more direct association by having clubs and teams as the immediate membership.

North Texas Soccer

In North Texas, USYSA is the main governing body for recreational and competitive play. This organization known as North Texas State Soccer Association (NTSSA) have players registering for recreational soccer through a “blind” draft to create teams. Coaches are expected to play each player a minimum of 50% of total game time, players are committed to the team for a season at a time. This type of soccer can cost an individual between $60-$120 per season per athlete (The seasons are fall and spring).

Recreational associations vary in size dependent on the city population that they are within, have most if not all-volunteer board members, commissioners, coaches, and a game day or event volunteer management. In fact, most of these soccer associations only pay the city a small fee for field use, pay athlete registration once a year, pay referees and referee assignors at their posted fees.

There are a few larger associations that pay office staff and expenditures related to having an office. Soccer Associations can also register competitive teams that participate in USYSA  sanctioned leagues. Competitive soccer in North Texas is big! Just look at any given soccer complex or field and for at least 48 weeks of the year, they will be buzzing with young athletes and teams competing in leagues or tournaments.

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In each market, competitive clubs differ wildly, in construction, operation, philosophies, cost, leagues available, paid to coach, and volunteer coaching, the list goes on. Pay per play fees for each competitive organization are heavily dependent on many factors:

• Size of the club. Some clubs are a coach or two that coach more than one team. Others have 20 or more coaches, coaching multiple teams.
• Practice fields. Try and find fields to practice on that hopefully have lights for the winter months for less than $75 an hour!
•  Some club coaches volunteer their time as they have income from a 9-5 job to pay their bills.
• Clubs born out of recreational soccer associations are typically able to use the associations’ fields for practice, recruitment, equipment (goals, etc), they are primarily volunteer-based and utilize the association’s tax filings and responsibilities each year. They are usually part of the Recreational soccer board as well.
• Mid-size clubs have probably had to build fields to practice or play games on. If they don’t have fields they certainly have to rent fields 5 days a week 48 weeks a year. Additional costs associated with keeping grass green and free from weeds, facility maintenance, lighting bills, office expenses, office staff, marketing, equipment purchases, maintenance and replacements, 3rd party liability insurance, tax filing responsibilities, tax attorneys, payroll taxes, paying coaches and the list continues.
• The very large clubs or super clubs who compete at the very top of youth soccer (Developmental Academy, DA or equivalent now) have travel, facility league standards to maintain, continual staff training commitments, are required to invest in external company technology, systems, and applications, multiple locations to play league games, etc.

So where does the club funding come from? Not from US Soccer, Not governing state-level bodies, maybe from sponsorship and partnerships but current sponsorships without reasonable ROI for the funder is no longer a viable option. Team and club budgets are therefore covered by the paying player.

As a consumer, what should be expected from a pay-per-play model?

In the biggest sense of the word, value for money. What one parent considers value for money may certainly not be for another.

• Professional coaches with sound knowledge of the game for the level that they coach at.
• Coaches that continue to improve their knowledge and understanding of the game through CPD and licensing programs.
• Clubs with easily accessible playing, coaching, and club philosophies.
• The clubs playing style clearly presented to prospective and current players, how it’s implemented and how the staff is trained and supported in coaching it.
• Clubs with a pathway for players to aspire to, playing levels that challenge players throughout their journey.
• Additional programs to satisfy players’ weaker parts of the game.
• Opportunities to gain exposure to college programs, a higher level of play, and national competitions for those teams requiring a  pathway.

So is there a pay-per-play model elsewhere in the world?

There are always indirect and direct costs associated with playing sports or other pastimes. Growing up as a kid in the UK, direct costs such as paying “subs” on a weekly basis to cover washing of the “kit” (uniforms) and usually a task for an unfortunate mum for the week (especially when our playing surfaces were more mud than grass!), player registration costs and maybe a league fee. Indirect costs include parents’ travel expenses, playing equipment, etc. Other costs for those parents that are more invested can be private skills trainers, camps, a center of excellence, and more. These expenses do not change from where I played in England to the players I coach here in Texas.

At the grassroots level in England, you’re more likely to have volunteer coaches who have full-time jobs as their main source of income. You could be lucky (as I was) and have a very good coach with past experiences as a coach and willing to donate his/her time for the players and the team.

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The single biggest issue with grassroots soccer in England is the cost for coaches to complete their coaching licenses against the income generated from actually coaching, and trying to get enough hours to meet their monthly living expenses. So many past coaches I have worked with now have a completely different vocation through needing a steady and reasonable salary.

There are opportunities for coaches starting out to work for local professional clubs within their catchment area.

This type of work is with the club’s community programs, however, the actual amount of time you can get would be after school Monday through Friday and maybe some school holidays programs. Hourly wages can be £10 ($15) an hour. 2 -3 hours a day (depending on schools or facilities having lights) 5 days a week may equate to 10-15 hours a week of work (150GBP $200) max. This isn’t a full-time job but more of an extra income gig.

In reality, the hours available can be far less in school term time, and if you’re getting 5 days a week of 3 hours, you are very lucky. Most coaches will grab a couple of hours here and there, incorporate travel to the facility, unsociable hours and you can see why it may be a side gig with hopes of developing into more.

There are full-time positions available in UK professional club academies, but you would need UEFA Youth License or UEFA B as a minimum to work, that means more community work to gain experience, more money invested in licensing that would take you a good amount of time to repay your investment.

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Having a play-for-play system in the UK as well as other countries may help in having more full-time coaches who can put more time into their coaching, personal improvement, and dedication to the teams they are coaching. Coaches who have full-time jobs working until 5 pm and then coaching by 6 pm, are they really putting the necessary time into planning and the coaching processes?

Youth clubs outside of the US have incentives to develop players. Professional clubs recruiting players from a local youth team are required to compensate that youth club for developing the player. This helps smaller clubs and youth clubs to reinvest into their coaching staff, infrastructure, and other costs involved in developing players, which, therein lies the issue with our pay per play model, Development.

Improvements in US Coaching

Coaching in America is getting better. There are clubs with dedicated departments or resources in coaching development. Clubs are dedicated to improving their facilities and equipment for safer environments for players to develop.

Infrastructure in place so that as players improve, there are suitable levels of play opportunities for them to compete in. The US Soccer Federation has recently gone through a modified game format and team age construction of teams (calendar age creation of teams, there are of course other inherent issues with these changes, but that’s also for another time).

But all of that won’t matter if we can’t develop players properly. The issue is with the need to win, the parent’s desire to win, and the need for coaches to re-sign the players the next contract year to keep a job and salary.

“A rich, white kid sport,” as former U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo explained it [6]. Speak to any youth soccer coach at any level and they will tell you that any talented player of any ethnic background is able to play in this pay-for-play model regardless of financial situation.

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Talent identification is a subject for all soccer countries and has its flaws. Players such as Dado Prso, Geoff Horsfield, and Jay DeMerrit, to name a few are examples of players falling through the talent gap at a younger age. However, players in the US not able to cover soccer fees are certainly not excluded from playing for competitive/travel teams.

It can be argued that through the process of drafting in major league sports, there is a need to attend college. With the cost of tuition in college, this could be where player numbers drop and leave Hope’s statement as the real truth to her meaning.

Implications

Here’s a story about diversity in American soccer and, I would imagine, most youth sports. A few years ago, the head of Washington Youth Soccer watched a 15-year-old girl from a lower-income community south of Seattle play in the town’s league. Her family was from Mexico.

She played soccer with her older brothers who loved soccer and had developed tremendous skills by playing with them. The girl was offered a place on an Olympic Development team competing at a tournament in Arizona and was scouted by college coaches. Her family had little money so a sponsor was found to cover the cost of the trip.[3]

The girl played brilliantly and was the center of attention by college coaches. She received plenty of offers even as a sophomore. However, on returning home her father stopped her from playing soccer. Her dad was undocumented and feared if she became a college player, the government would find out and have him deported.

The league never saw her again, thinking more in-depth about this story, there are certainly concerns if she was to continue playing.

What if she had got injured? had a concussion? broke a bone? Who was taking her to the hospital? would her parents even allow her to go to the hospital? Does she have insurance? Who will pay the bill? These events are taken for granted within middle and upper-class society, could this be an insight to Hopes’ statement?

In conclusion, is the pay-per-play model in America the reason for the USMNT’s failure at major tournament qualifiers or even at the tournament itself?

No, it’s not.

As mentioned there have been major soccer/footballing powerhouse nations that have failed to make international tournaments, England, Holland, Italy, and the list continues.

The issue isn’t the pay-per-play model, it’s how the model is funded. Parents are asked to cover the budget for the operating costs of the club which includes everything listed in the previous paragraphs. However, the clubs that we need the most help from are the same clubs that compete with local clubs. MLS club’s business models are to have youth teams, and rightly so. But, are MLS youth teams, who compete in the grassroots leagues with other local clubs, providing the right vision?

If youth MLS clubs competed in the ECNL, and DA leagues as well as the USL leagues only, and not in the local grassroots leagues I believe that the outcomes could be dramatic.

This would create a need to work with community clubs in a more positive way, collaborating with local clubs to create a players pathway to the professional club team. Ultimately, if a player was recruited to play USL for an MLS franchise from a local club, that club would be a desired destination for parents looking for a program that develops players for the next level [1].

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A knock-on effect would see more local clubs encouraging their families to watch MLS games where local players are playing, and the focus of local clubs to be more concerned with the development and not winning at all costs so they can resign the players for the next season.

To help with how the pay-per-play model is funded, MLS clubs would compensate the community club who have invested time, money, and sweat equity.

Solidarity and the courts

Unfortunately, this very item has been taken to the US courts recently by a couple of youth clubs. Those clubs saw no success in solidarity payments becoming a reality, even training compensations could help. That leaves youth clubs having to maintain their status by advertising as a winning club/team. What’s wrong with that? Well, everything.

instilling a winning attitude for young players is still important, as it’s a game and the game is measured by an outcome – more goals for one team than the other.

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But in the pay-per-play model, we have player contracts for 12 months, parents being sold on winning teams and quality leagues to play in. So what happens when the team doesn’t win? That team will certainly break up on the next contract cycle, therefore leaving the coach without a team and a job.

If winning is the main messaging then teams need to win games or face the reality of losing players, pretty simple really. Teams that communicate a dedication to player development and lose every game, may also lose their players. Who wants to lose all the time?

Alternative thought process?

Clubs who consistently produce players that get recruited by MLS clubs or equivalent will almost certainly be rewarded.

The reward will be in the form of more coaches and players wanting to be a part of the club’s success in developing players. Those clubs will be marketing that their club playing philosophy, their coaches, and programs are the ones for prospective players to join as they provide players to professional clubs on a consistent basis.

A bye product, the same club will promote their players to buy tickets to watch alumni play games, A win-win situation.

So for Ibrahimović (and others) to voice an opinion (which they are entitled to) on the cost to play here in the US, don’t truly understand the full implications.

Compensation

Ibrahimović certainly wouldn’t play for free. His agent would demand the best contract he can get from a prospective club. Would he also think about the fan who pays the ticket price to help the club pay his salary? Why not have people come to watch for free?

If we aren’t prepared to compensate coaches for their time, we can’t be expected for them to invest in themselves and be the best coach they can be. Compensation means they can afford to enroll in coaching education, ultimately helping improve the future of youth players.

Not wanting to compensate clubs who have to maintain support staff, maintain facilities, buy equipment, provide programs for community youth, and anything else it needs in order to “develop” the next generation of USMNT or USWNT players, then a change is needed, but with MLS clubs business models having youth setups as a major source of revenue and no other way of generating income for youth organizations to cover its bills, it’s not going to happen anytime soon.

So knowing that the pay-to-play system isn’t going to go away, pick your next child’s team carefully, what are you and your player’s expectations? Do you want a place where your player can develop through knowledgeable, quality coaching and support staff who invest time in their own learning? Or are you looking for a place to play competitively on a budget? Either is your definition of value for a pay-per-play system.

References
[1] The US men’s national team and the FC Dallas academy problem, Buzz Carrick, 2017
[2] Here’s how screwed up the state of US Soccer is right now, LA Times August 4, 2018, Baxter, Kevin

[3] Its only working for the white kids: America’s soccer diversity problem. The Guardian Les Carpenter 2016
[4] https://www.redbull.com/us-en/soccer-stars-who-made-the-grade-late
[5] https://www.politico.com/video/2018/07/02/hope-solo-soccer-in-america-has-become-the-rich-white-kids-sport-067000
[6] https://www.newsweek.com/zlatan-ibrahimovic-mightve-just-explained-why-usmnt-didnt-qualify-last-world-cup-1475780

Antony Penna has coached professionally for over 27 years. He has coached in the UK and USA in the professional game and the youth game. Antony holds UEFA B and USSF licenses, LaLiga licenses, Performance Analysis (IPSAS), Director of Coaching (USC), and more. He is currently the CEO and Director of Soccer Operations for Kernow Storm FC.

KSFC has teams playing in national leagues, regional leagues, and local leagues as well as winning national titles. Antony has given presentations and lectures to the El Salvadorian national team and coaching staff provides coaching training sessions for the clubs he directs and has written a coaching manual for Storm FC. He resides in Dallas, Texas home for 17 years.

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