Now that we’ve had a day to poke fun at US soccer fans after their team’s miserable failure to qualify for the World Cup, let’s talk about the serious threat that led to the debacle: elitism in sports.
More than one expert pointed out yesterday that Team USA was not a collection of the “best of the best” but rather the “best of those whose parents could afford to put them through the increasingly expensive ‘elite’ soccer training programs”. In other words, the men on Team USA are the kids that didn’t play with their friends from school on a local team–but rather were on the “elite travel team”. And they went to the “elite soccer camp” during the summer. And they were enrolled in the “elite fitness program” during the winter–featuring specialized training and “elite coaching”. All of which is very expensive.
But soccer is not alone in this. Baseball too has moved to a division between the “elite” and the “recreational”. You can see that bifurcation right here in Oshkosh, with Oshkosh Youth Baseball focusing exclusively on the “traveling team” of “all stars”–each of whom has to come up with the cash to pay for uniforms, diamond rentals, equipment and tournament entry fees–with the YMCA running the actual day-to-day leagues for the kids who can’t afford to be “elite”. And as they age, those that can afford it go to hitting camps, or pitching camps, or fielding camps–not to mention winter throwing programs and private “hitting leagues” at indoor batting facilities.
The next time you are watching a major league baseball game, check out the composition of the teams. You’ll notice a dwindling number of African-American players from urban backgrounds–because baseball is all but dead in cities–and those with a talent for the game are shut out from the “elite” programs cater to the kids in the suburbs. If Hank Aaron or Willie Mays were kids today, there would be no chance they would ever make it to “The Show”.
Individual sports are the worst for “elitism”. All American tennis pros now come from the “academy system”–where they go to school at warm-weather-based “tennis schools” with private tutors for academic work–and personal coaches for tennis training. Serena and Venus Williams grew up playing on public courts in Compton, California and were coached by their dad. They will likely be the last American players to take that route. Youth golfers sign up with swing coaches and short game coaches and mental coaches before they even get to high school–and they play only against other “elite” talent in the American Junior Golf Association circuit–with hefty membership and tournament fees that weed out a lot of potential competition. The closure of municipal golf facilities like Lakeshore here in Oshkosh provide even fewer entryways to the game for those who parents don’t belong to the country club.
Basketball is also guilty of “elitism”–but the lower-economic-class kid still has a chance at success because the “sneaker culture” is helping to fund the “elite camps” and the “elite travel teams” with the hope that the next generation of stars will wear their brand. (Which has led to the latest recruiting scandal in college hoops). But you still see the best playing only with and against each other during the off-season–instead of with the teammates they will have in high school during the winter.
Being the weakest of our sports, the collapse of US men’s soccer should serve as the “canary in the mineshaft” for the effect “pay to play” is having on our sports infrastructure.
