In my last blog, I outlined how the lack of an organized parent voice – association – participating in high-level organizing and league deliberations and policy determinations is a problem, and likely to get worse as private equity and other commercial interests are looking to get involved. Gaining real influence is not about being louder on the sideline. It is about building structures that give parents an ongoing, legitimate say in how youth soccer operates and how commercial forces are balanced with child development.
A stronger parent voice would include 1/Formal roles in governance, with parents elected to seats on club boards, league or association committees, and advisory groups, with clear voting rights and defined responsibilities—not just “parent reps” with no actual power. 2/Clear standards for transparency and fairness. Shared expectations around cost disclosure (including travel and mandatory extras), refund policies, playing‑time philosophy by age, multi‑sport flexibility, and communication norms are key so growth incentives do not eclipse what is best for kids. 4/Organized input, not isolated complaints – mechanisms like parent councils and chapters—where feedback is collected, prioritized, and presented as a unified perspective, rather than as individual grievances that are easy to ignore. 5/Representation across all levels of the game, which means parents from recreational, travel, school, and high‑performance environments, from different regions and backgrounds, helping shape decisions about access, calendars, and pathways—not just those in the highest‑priced tiers.
Without these kinds of structures, parent feedback tends to show up as noise: email threads, post‑game frustration, or social media complaints. That is easy for well‑capitalized organizations to outmaneuver, especially when they are focused on scaling a business model in a booming market.
How parents can build more voice now
Even without a national structure, parents can start building power and representation in practical ways:
Organize at the club level
Parents can propose a formal Parent Advisory Council with written responsibilities: regular meetings with club leadership, review of major policy changes, and a path to escalate issues to the board. The goal is to make it part of the club’s standing governance, not a one‑off listening session.
- Ask for transparency as a baseline, not a favor
- Parents can collectively ask clubs to publish full‑season cost estimates (including typical travel), refund policies, and clear descriptions of what is and is not mandatory. When multiple families ask consistently and respectfully, it is harder for any operator—nonprofit or private‑equity‑backed—to brush it off.
- Seek representation, not just access
- It’s one thing to have a Q&A with the director; it is another to have parent representatives in the room when decisions are made. Parents can advocate for voting board seats reserved for parents who are not coaches or club employees, with term limits and conflict‑of‑interest rules.
- Connect across teams and clubs
- Many families face the same issues in isolation. Creating informal networks—email groups, regional parent meetups, online communities—allows parents to compare experiences, identify patterns, and start to act collectively rather than individually.
These steps are not about running training sessions or picking formations. Coaches and technical directors should lead on soccer methodology. But parents can and should influence how that methodology is delivered, funded, and balanced with family life in a marketplace that is only getting more complex and commercial.
The role a parents’ nonprofit association could play
Organizing parents at a local level by definition suggests scattered efforts, a “bottom up” approach, which is a heavy lift, would be a long-term trend, with impact somewhat limited since it would be at a local level. We’d encourage parents to look at this in their communities, but at the same time, there is a strong case for a dedicated, independent, national nonprofit association for soccer parents. A “top down” approach, and of course the two are not mutually exclusive and in fact would create natural synergies.
A national parents association could:
- Represent parents in national conversations
Serve as a recognized stakeholder when governing bodies, leagues, and large commercial operators set policies on cost, access, travel, safety, and development pathways. As private equity consolidates control in some parts of youth sports, a parent association can be the counterweight that consistently asks, “Is this good for children and families?”
- Create a Parent Bill of Rights in Youth Soccer
Articulate a clear set of expectations around transparency, fairness, and communication—something parents can point to when evaluating programs or advocating for changes.
- Develop standards and a voluntary “seal” for clubs
Offer a set of parent‑aligned standards (on cost disclosure, travel loads, multi‑sport policies, grievance processes, etc.) and recognize clubs that meet them. Over time, this becomes a market signal: parents look for the seal, and both nonprofit and for‑profit clubs have an incentive to earn it.
- Run independent surveys and publish data
Collect nationwide data on what families experience—true costs, travel, satisfaction, burnout, and equity issues—and publish it in ways that media, policymakers, and soccer leaders can use. Data is especially important in counterbalancing investor narratives that focus on growth metrics without fully accounting for family impact.
- Support local parent chapters
Provide tools and templates for parents to organize locally: how to start a club‑level parent council, how to approach a board, and how to structure constructive advocacy on issues like travel expectations or tryout policies.
The key is independence. A parents’ association must exist for families first, not as an arm of any single league, governing body, or commercial operator. It should collaborate widely, but its credibility depends on being able to praise good actors, critique bad practices, and propose reforms across the landscape—including where private equity and corporate consolidation are reshaping the business of youth sports.
How a for‑profit and a nonprofit could work together
We have been thinking about whether this is an area we should get involved in. A national nonprofit needs visibility, expertise, and infrastructure to get off the ground—and this is where a for‑profit platform like U.S. Soccer Parent can play a catalytic role. U.S. Soccer Parent already exists to inform and equip parents, building an audience that cares deeply about these questions. That puts it on a parallel path with what a parents’ association would want to achieve, just with a different legal and business structure.
There are ways to synergize:
- A nonprofit association could focus on membership, standards, research, and advocacy.
- U.S. Soccer Parent could focus on content, education, storytelling, and tools that help parents and clubs implement parent‑aligned standards.
- Clear boundaries and transparency about roles would allow both to support the same mission from different angles: one as a voice and representative body, the other as a media and education platform.
In a youth sports world where serious money and sophisticated investors are increasingly shaping the field, parents cannot stay forever on the sidelines of governance. U.S. Soccer Parent can become a catalyst—helping families see themselves not just as customers of a youth soccer industry, but as a community of stakeholders with shared interests and the potential to organize. The more parents recognize their collective power, the more realistic it becomes to build the structures that finally give them a true seat at the table, and to help ensure that as the business of youth sports grows, it grows in service of children and families rather than at their expense.
What do you think?
Do you believe a national soccer parent association would be a good idea? Is it something you would like to see U.S. Soccer Parent try to organize? Please let us know.
Ron Stitt
Co-Founder, U.S. Soccer Parent
2 Responses
I’m interested in this, always asking myself why is to expensive any soccer club and they don’t even care about the kids they just care about money, why?
Thanks Carolina. This is just “thinking out loud” at this stage, but on the radar now. We are still focused on getting U.S. Soccer Parent up and running as a business, but I definitely am thinking about circling back to a non-profit association component at some point. It feels necessary.