I have to disagree with the bolded part. I'm a swim parent, never ever thought about swimming competitively but am actively engaged as are most of the other swim parents.deadbq03 said:
I think you're right on as far as development is concerned. I suppose where I'm coming from is that soccer is a popular option at age 6, but many of the parents are disengaged because it's not a sport that they're as familiar with as other sports. I'd focus the super young rec leagues on having a fun family experience. Shoot there's a lot of moms out there who did play soccer... take advantage of that and have mom-son rec opportunities where the little boys get to play with their mommies. I think something needs to be done to drum up enthusiasm from parents. Grow popularity of the sport and then yes, as the cream rises to the top we desperately need a consistent development strategy.
I don't know about soccer clubs but I do know that USA Swimming have accreditation levels for clubs that meet certain standards. On top of that, almost all the clubs have USA Swimming accredited coaches coaching at all levels, even those at 6 and under. I think it's much cheaper to get basic coaching accreditation in swimming than soccer.
I don't know about cost for soccer clubs but for swim clubs it's not too exorbitant.
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