Spring. Time for soccer tryouts. If you haven't been involved in competitive club soccer, you may be shocked to learn that normal everyday people undergo a Jekyll and Hyde transformation into a Machiavellian Jerry McGuire at this time of the year.
"In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."― Friedrich Nietzsche
Kids as young as 10 years old try out to make "the cut" and be on a team. If they make the cut, then their parents will fork out up to a few thousand dollars to join that team. If the kid doesn't make the cut, or if they don't make the team their parents feel they should make, then it's often off to another club.
As an armchair anthropologist, I've often wondered at the root of this behavior. Is it a college scholarship? The chance to turn pro? Just the desire to do "what's best" for the kids?
In the case of a scholarship, the math simply doesn't work. If you just saved the fees from dues and tournaments and invested in a college savings plan, the total reward over the course of an 8 year playing career would be much greater than the average scholarship offering. Not to mention, there are countless stories of kids that were in fact good enough to get a scholarship, but declined it because they were sick of playing soccer year round the decade prior. There's a reason college coaches recruit multi-sport athletes.
The chance to turn pro? Go to a big tournament where there's a soccer culture. Let's say Dallas. If your kid isn't clearly the best player on the entire field at the tournament, the odds are not in your favor.
Is it the "do what's best"? TBD...
