Dude you are so right! Our kids must go to the same Chicago area high school! About half the school’s soccer coaches are club coaches from one club. They are worse than worthless. I don’t know why they are at the high school except to take up space. They look upon their high school job as an extension of their club job. One of the coaches, who is the head coach of one of the grade level teams, will literally not talk to any player who does not play for his club – I have seen it myself. At least the other club coaches at the school make a pretense that they are coaching all the kids. The worse club coach is a former player at the high school who played at a low level college. Although in his mid-twenties, he still acts like a spoiled adolescent. The best coaches in the program are the teachers. They have a clear objective in their coaching methods and are adults of good character and personal integrity. The club coaches are the complete opposite of this. This opinion comes from a person who has never been a teacher but used to be a club coach.
It really is funny when I read all you parents posts concerning the topic of HS soccer. Yes I did use the term PARENTS for all of you. When are you going to stop letting your club coaches act like kings? When if you do have a coach in High school that doesn't have the experience set up a meeting with your AD. You blame other high school players for injuring your poor soccer stars when they go play in high school. Do you know what that sounds like when a soccer player/coach or athlete reads that? You sound like someone who has never been an athlete in your life. I will leave you with this--Your kids would never play college soccer without their high schools!!!!!!!!!!! But they can play college soccer without their clubs! Your high school is your community not your club team! Your high school is where your friends-Your kids friends are and also the teachers who are educating them to be accepted into the college of their choice. Club is a money making business--Why not support your high school like you support an outside business!
My players are too young for this to be much of an issue--yet--but I will say a few things: 1. In my area, club soccer is a much more effective pipeline to college soccer, if that's what your player wants. 2. Friendships don't just occur at school or in your community. Don't disregard friendships that develop via club soccer--they happen all the time. 3. While playing club soccer is a better pipeline to college soccer than HS soccer, you are right that you can't play college soccer without high school. Academics are flat out the most important thing. So, players can do without high school soccer, but not high school itself. 4. This whole debate is silly.
The point is that this kids should be taught to support their high school! Teach them the right things in life. You do not need to play club year round too play college soccer.
I don't see why they can't support their school in other ways. In my area it is more of a benefit to play for a strong club than to play the very poor high school game. I don't hear too many people arguing that Olympic gymnasts should support their school by skipping the private training to join the high school gymnastics squad. If any athlete wants to be one of the best, they must seek out the best training/competition.
Tell me what the player is going to miss in not playing club for 3 months a year. Don't tell me what your club coach says but what you think... I bet you that McDonald's thinks that eating a Big Mac a week is a great thing for everyone to do. If you want to play college soccer learn to play for your school by starting off in high school.. There is no reason not to play high school soccer. You can say whatever you want but playing away from your club for 3 months cannot hurt you as a player. Do you pay the club for those 3 months$$$$$$$$$$$
To abuse your already bad analogy, what harm is there in someone sticking to a healthy diet and then eating nothing but Big Macs for only '3 months a year' because all your friends eat there?
Faster learn to read and comprehend. The club coaches are telling you that you need to stick to playing club because its best for..Just as McDonalds would tell you eating Big Macs is the way to go! Does that help you? Way too many good things happen for the player that plays high school soccer! Leadership--Representation-New coaching good or bad-Playing out of your comfort zone- Playing with new players -Playing with less skilled players- on and on and they are all good! Maybe 1 % of your states soccer population would have a solid reason not to play and that would be National team call-ups.
Some club coaches may tell you to skip it in their own interests, but that is your fault for being at a club with those coaches to begin with. Unfortunately, many high school coaches do not know what they are doing and don't do anything to help a player even maintain their soccer skills. I practice my U9 Rec team at a field adjacent to our high school teams freshman practice. The girls spend the entire time running or standing in line for shooting or other drills. My U9 team spends more time on the ball during 1/2 the practice time. If my daughter spends three months not touching a ball, how will that help her, it will cause her skills to regress. I have no issue with helping to support your school and every kid should do that, but I don't think it should come at the expense of your personal athletic success.
Though on sabbatical from the Bodine School of Ciphering, I'll try to keep up. HS soccer in general offers many things, but seldom does it involve improvement of the game for the dedicated club player. There's plenty of opportunity for poorly trained officials to 'let the kids play' resulting in season ending injury, or as I saw recently, soccer career ending injury. The acceptance of handling the ball, and poor quality officiating in general, especially in the girl's game, is appalling. Kids, and parents, for the most part don't get to choose either their high school or the coach. Switching back and forth between varying coaching styles is difficult for a mature player, much less a teenager. Upsides do include, as you mention, opportunity to display leadership because of often significantly higher technical skill from the club player, but I have seen just as often teams where the proficient player is excluded from the HS cliques. This happens more among girls at this age, as the boys tend to be less cliquish, and will generally acknowledge, even if grudgingly, that they simply got beaten in the play by the better player, and move to the next play. For girls, where the HS coach is supportive, a good opportunity occurs in getting to practice with the boy's team, and even play on that team in scrimmages. This provides the better player a good opportunity to develop controlled physicalness, to learn how to play against a physically better player by use of technique and positioning, which they may not get quite as much in their club play. That said, the quality of play in most HS programs is noticeably below the club play, and if solid club play does exist during the high school season for your kid, it will probably be of less risk and give better soccer training.
So you are telling me that in 3 months she is going to go from an Elite player to a AYSO player?? In 3 months your daughter will play in approx 18 games. In those 18 games she will be playing against girls at all levels of the game.If I guess you are from Illinois lets remember National level players have played in your state for their high schools.. If your daughter is going to decline that much in 3 months I question her skill and work ethic. I would also question her desire. I know many coaches from your state who coach high school and you have a lot of good ones on both the girls and boys side. I think you are on the train of anti high school just because its the popular thing to bash. I would challenge you to not fall into the ego driven club coaches self interest argument not to play.
You've gone from arguing that HS soccer provides more reward than risk to insulting someone's daughter because he disagrees with you about the value of that venue.
I would then guess that you are anti-club because you have been told something by a club coach that you do not want to hear. There may be many good high school coaches, but I can't choose those for my daughter without moving to a new area. I could care less what the club coaches tell me, I have played for most of my life and have coached at both the rec and travel level. I will choose what is best for my child, regardless of what a third party tells me. If high school is the best choice, so be it, but why would I rule out club if that is a better option?
Please--In no way did I insult her daughter. In the case that she played and then dropped from an elite player to an ayso player,i SAID i WOULD QUESTION HER AS A PLAYER. Since that has not happened I in no way insulted her. I will insult you for trying to stir up something that in no way is an issue.
no one said that the level of play is the same. in fact some of the best club teams can beat college teams. Mayb then they should not play college and stick with club play! There is no added risk.
Um, this is where your argument goes wrong. Most college coaches I know don't recruit from HS but club only. My daughter (class of 2012) has 6 D3 offers and 2 D2 offers on the table right now, as well as interest from a few D1 schools, and she does not play HS soccer, never has. I agree that HS soccer has a social aspect and allows that sense of community but to say that you won't play college soccer without their high schools is completely wrong. Sorry.
Please answer me on how your daughter would play college soccer without high school? Unless she is home schooled?? Please don't take this the wrong way but D2 and 3 are full of high school multi sport players. So the second part of me saying you can play college without club is true also!
If you're talking about HS per se, then no, one can't go to college without HS. If you're talking HS soccer then yes, most definitely, one can go to college and play soccer without HS. When was the last time you watched a really good D3 or D2 college game? I would concede that some there are some D3 colleges where a marginal club player could play but for most, if not all, of the contending teams in the NCAA tournament this would not be true.
I did not put my kid in soccer to support high school. It's not my job to build their program. I'm here to ensure my kid grows at a pace she is happy with. If that turns out to be high school then so be it. That said there are far more scouts at Super Y and such then any high school - so I am not sure where you are on about with some of your statements.
As a coach (very small club) I can say that everyone of my U12/U13 girls who decided to also play on our Junior High team ended up coming back to practice with their collective heads up their ass. Furthermore my best player parents refused to continue to travel - and went back to Rec soccer where she is just kicking rollers (not even more then 5 feet) as a sweeper - and more often to the other team. To put that into perspective, my 3rd best player went off to another club and is playing up an age and in the second most competitive level (IWSL A/B). My point is that a good player - even a great player can be turned into crap with poor coaches - or at best, a lack of consistant training.
I never said they would becomne an AYSO player, I only stated that they could not maintain their skills. I think you need to go watch a few high school games and then watch some high level club games. The game is completely different. You argument that high school is needed is sort of silly, obviously our children need to attend some form of schooling to advance to a higher level of schooling. I have yet to hear of anyone that dropped not only high school soccer, but high school altogether in order to play club soccer
D3 Wheaton College---One of the best D3 schools year in and out-Look at one of their captains-ALL STATE Basketball and soccer in high school! Thats a total of 8 months of high school a year. So why would you say its not true?? This was the only player i clicked on-My first try! http://athletics.wheaton.edu/roster.aspx?rp_id=2240&path=wsoccer
well I know you have worked with very average players. How many high school age players have you worked with? How many years of working with these players has given you the knowledge to state that above comment?
If your child has goals of being a student athlete in college they need to gain that experience in high school. There are many kids playing club over high school because they don't have the grades. Club is best for competition/development and college recruiting exposure. No one is arguing that or has. The point is playing for your high school is a great experience and prepares your kid to become a student athlete!
