Someone mentioned racism in picking players, that a Hispanic player "would not be picked for varsity no matter their skill level". The reverse is true in my mostly white town; Hispanics are picked over much better white kids regularly, to a ridiculous degree. The best scorer, by far, on the freshman and JV teams the past two years was not called up, yet 5 or 6 other players were. All are either Hispanic or have brothers who played for, or with, the coach. Doesn't really matter about being called up when the coach does not play beyond 15 players in a game, and there are 30 on the roster. Even the most egregious for-pay academies clarify the roles of different players.
My son said, "I have not had 1 game all season where I was 100% because I got hurt playing high school ball" Too many HS practices (which are not much more than scrimmages), too many games and not enough time for muscles to recover, too many "players" who specialize in hacking and fouling (and not much else) doesn't help his overall game. 2 seasons varsity and he is done with HS ball.
Currently 64 travel teams are competing in the USYS National League in NC. These are teams whose players played in High School and currently play at the highest Non-Academy level. My son is on one of the teams. He (and a lot of his team mates) decided not to try out for the Academy since they have a great HS coach, they thoroughly enjoy the HS soccer season, and since they have quite a good travel coach and team. They may not end up in D1 schools with big scholarships but will find a D1 2 or 3 school where they will thrive. Recently, at one of the night HS games, two of my sons ex-team mates, who currently play at the local Academy, came to me and cried on my shoulder and said "how can they not let us play HS soccer during the best years of our lives". These were kids whose parents pressurized them to go the DA route; they would never have done so themselves and I am sure they will have major issues later on in life. More about the USYS National League here: http://tournaments.usyouthsoccer.org/events/2012-2013-National-League/
I would say if they are crying on someones shoulder at this age they already have problems. But honestly I find your post - specifically the end to be embelished.
It looks to me that the USYS league has even more travel than most academy teams. In our region, there were two "below academy" leagues that get a lot of top teams, and one combined into the other: EDP (Eastern Development Program): http://edpsoccer.org/tier2/tier2.php?page=26 is now a "division" of the National Premier League: http://www.nationalpremierleagues.com/Clubs/index_E.html But at this point, HS soccer sux in our area, and many kids who can play it and do don't take it seriously because they don't want to get hurt. The main quality to be on a HS varsity team is to a) be a senior or b) be taller and bigger, by a lot, than the average HS student. My son's HS varsity team is miserable, and would be beaten up by any various top 20 U14 teams in our area. I still don't get if academies allow other sports - that if technically a player can do fall football, winter wrestling, and spring baseball, and still do academy soccer. The only sanctions I see are for players actually doing HS soccer - other HS sports seem to be fair game. My kid does track while he does winter and spring soccer, and it works out fine as long as the track coach is on board. JV level track is near the fastest soccer players on the best U16B teams in our state.
I couldn't help but laugh at the bolded part. Are you serious? They will have major issues later in life because they didn't play HS soccer?! What issues, can you be more specific?
can someone explain to me what is a competitive U 7 academy. And then possibly give me a name of one. I would love to see it in action. I would also love to see its curriculum for competitive 6 year olds.