I need a scholarship
pAs the head coaches look at the budget for their Competitive Club/one thing stands out very clear-the amount of money given to scholarship players! Without doubt some players could not play Competitive soccer, if they had to pay the fees which can range from $1200-$2000 per year, plus travel and hotel costs.However,no Head –Coach can avoid noticing blatant abuse of the scholarship programs within their Club /p pOver the years I have had many parents ask for a scholarship for their child, even though they can obviously afford to pay the fees /p pSome situations are annoying and unbelievable./p pIn one situation the parent apologised for not attending a parent- meeting as he was in surgery for 10 hours-then asked for a scholarship .I mentioned how well he looked after 10 hours of surgery, only two days earlier.He pointed out that he was not the patient,but was in fact the brain surgeon who had performed the operation.He then proceeded to ask for a scholarship for his daughter.Stunned, I asked him why he needed it He replied that he saw the scholarship information and “it seemed like a good deal”./p pRecently we received a request for a scholarship from a family of five, who had just arrived back from a two week trip to Europe!/p pOften we see Scholarship players wearing $200 cleats,expensive pro club shirts and designer clothes and travel to LA to watch the Galaxy and David Beckham-OBVIOUSLY THEY ALSO WEAR HIS $70 SHIRT/p pThe”business” side of the scholarship “underworld” is both fascinating and sad.Young players being offered to the highest bidder(also depending on the level of the team). In some cases it is a given that some players are “always scholarship’” –without their parents even pretending financial hardship./p pWith the economy producing more genuine families in need of financial help, with their soccer fees, the day has arrived when all Clubs will now have to honestly deal with this rampant abuse of their Club income,supporting bogus scholarship players as a matter of expedience/p pI welcome your comments and experiences/p pJeff Illingworth/p
