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[QUOTE="Forza Azzurri, post: 4724347, member: 1452"]
At least on the boys' soccer side, you now have the MLS teams with the resources to have their academy teams not charge players who make it. - ie. the European model.

So, it is getting better on the boys' side.

Unfortunately, the pro teams on the girls side still don't have the financial wherewithal to do this so it is all still pay-to-play.

What pay-to-play "academies" do on the boys and girls side is have multiple teams in each age group.  The fees paid by the parents of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th etc. teams allow them to provide scholarships to some players on the top team who, otherwise, could not afford it.

So, if your kid is offered a spot on a lower team, usually accompanied by some type of vague promise such as, "Periodically, he\she can practice with the first team; maybe with another year of seasoning your son\daughter will be ready for the first team." etc., I would turn it down.

But it is amazing how parents love the fact that their kid plays on the 4th team for PDA (a high-powered girls pay-for-play academy in New Jersey has has produced multiple national team players over the years) just so they can say their kid plays for PDA when all they are is a checkbook to subsidize the first team.
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