The US Soccer “Pay-To-Play” System: An SDSU Athlete Perspective

Monday, July 1, the United States Men’s National Team fell to Uruguay in the group stage of Copa America 2024, knocking them out of the tournament. Viewers looked to point fingers at several things in hopes of finding the cause of the problem.

Was it coach Gregg Berhalter? Was it the lack of experience within the squad? Had their progress since last year’s World Cup simply plateaued?

It was a mix of factors that contributed to the disappointment of a performance the team put on, prompting the question of whether or not the US possesses a talent pool that could help restore the program’s competitiveness—the root of the cause: the pay-to-play system plaguing American soil.

The pay-to-play model of U.S. soccer creates a billion-dollar industry, so it’s not surprising that there is an aggressive push to apply it every year and test their limits. A 2022 report by the Aspen Institute’s State of Play states that soccer parents pay an average of $1,188 a season per child, and usually kids play fall and spring ball every year.

“From my experience top clubs will raise their prices from year to year knowing people stay and pay it because of the promise for exposure that they deliver,” San Diego State women’s goalkeeper Taryn Grobbel said.

According to MLS Multiplex, only 11% of youth registered in clubs are from households that make less than $25,000 a year. On the other hand, over a third of the kids registered are from families that make over $100,000 a year.

“I think a lot of the systems in the U.S. tend to be structured towards short-term profit as opposed to developing the long-term – that’s what’s wrong with the U.S. as opposed to international soccer. It’s targeted towards making a profit in the short-term and having kids pay to play while in the long run, kids will fizzle out because they don’t have the funds to maintain that,” SDSU men’s soccer goalkeeper Djibril Doumbia said.

Kids looking to play soccer at the highest level in America are forced to make unnecessary sacrifices to get the exposure of college coaches and professional scouts. Hard work and talent only get you so far under the pay-to-play model. The harsh reality is if you can’t afford the registration fees, travel expenses and extra training, you might as well kiss your dreams goodbye.

“I have had teammates have to juggle playing competitive soccer and a job just so that they afford the costs of being on a competitive team,” SDSU women’s forward Logan Nidy said. “My parents always worked hard so that I could play competitive soccer growing up. However, this prevents us from going on vacations as a whole family. Soccer became our vacation.”

“It was spare change for most boys whose parents had a good job, but for my family, it was not an easy task,” SDSU men’s defender Israel Carrillo said. “Luckily they were able to set up a plan and payments were done every month or so. We struggled but always managed. It stopped at the U-17 level where everything there was paid for, which was a huge relief as my parents were still paying the U-13 and U-15 payments at that time.”

There is a clear contrast between the experiences of playing youth club soccer in America and in other countries where financial issues aren’t as prominent.