Best High School programs in the States.

Discussion in 'High School' started by AguiluchoMerengue, Jan 1, 2009.

  1. FortunaDusseldorfer

    Apr 11, 2013
    Club:
    Fortuna Düsseldorf 1895
    Yeah expect how the NYC Public High School education works any kid can choose to go to any high school outside of his district that he applies MLK High School no longer exists it is made up of small separate charter schools within what is now called the MLK Educational Complex. Therefore maybe back in the old days he cheated, but as the current system works regarding NYC Public high school enrollment "making up addresses for kids" is certainly no longer applicable.
     
  2. Its_ChaseR

    Its_ChaseR New Member

    Oct 7, 2013
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Tri county high school, Michigan
     
  3. LewanBroski

    LewanBroski Member

    Apr 10, 2014
    Pasco
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Mexico
    Pasco high school Washington
     
  4. RegionIIFutbolr

    Jul 4, 2005
    Region 2
    For Soccer? SHATTUCK St Mary in Fairbo, MN.
     
  5. ThePonchat

    ThePonchat Member+

    #ProRelForUSA
    United States
    Jan 10, 2013
    I've Been Everywhere Man
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Trinity High School in Louisville, Kentucky has always been a consistently top program.

    Dayton Carroll, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, and Cleveland St. Ignatius are probably Ohio's best high school programs historically and consistently.
     
  6. soccerusa517

    soccerusa517 Member+

    Jun 23, 2009
    Ohio
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Good taste:thumbsup:
     
  7. catfish9

    catfish9 Member+

    Jul 14, 2011
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think the debate could be split, private versus public schools. Certianly the case in OH.

    I would put Olentangy School district as a whole up with St. Iggy the last few years. Olentangy Liberty lost to Iggy in Final in 2011 and then won in 2012. Add in the success that Olentangy Orange has also had in runs through State tournament recently - 2009 Semi and 2008 Quarterfinals. Granted St. Iggy won 3 titles in that span but they also have about twice as many (1080) boys as any Olentangy School (675-Liberty, 565-Orange, & 525-Old School). Combine Orange, Liberty and "Old School" Olentangy and you'd have a helluva powerhouse the last 5 years.
     
  8. ThePonchat

    ThePonchat Member+

    #ProRelForUSA
    United States
    Jan 10, 2013
    I've Been Everywhere Man
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Oh...let's not get in this public/private debate.
     
  9. jeremys_dad

    jeremys_dad Member

    NYC Football Club
    Apr 29, 2007
    The Big Easy
    Club:
    Paris Saint Germain FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    #109 jeremys_dad, Dec 13, 2014
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2014
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    NorthEast Prep school league has been dominated the last three years by Berkshire School in Sheffield Massachusetts

    No. 1 Ranked Prep Soccer Program in U.S. • 2014, 2013, 2012
    New England Class A Champions • 2014, 2013, 2012
    WNEPSSA Champions • 2013, 2012

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    Full game tapes are linked through their school site.

    Two Berkshire players and their coach played in today's East vs West NSCAA National Soccer Coaches Association of America championship
     
  10. catfish9

    catfish9 Member+

    Jul 14, 2011
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Olentangy Liberty & St. Ignatius played in state Final again this yr. with Iggy winning 2-1.
     
  11. jeremys_dad

    jeremys_dad Member

    NYC Football Club
    Apr 29, 2007
    The Big Easy
    Club:
    Paris Saint Germain FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
  12. SCSoccerGuy

    SCSoccerGuy New Member

    Apr 27, 2004
    Cayce, SC
    Club:
    Charleston
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Present and Traditionally in S.C.
    4A - Wando, J.L. Mann, Northwestern, Irmo, River Bluff, South Aiken, Lexington, Fort Mill, Riverside, Socastee, Spring Valley, Mauldin, Greenwood, Hanna, Dorman, Dutch Fork
    3A - Eastside, Brookland-Cayce, Chapin, Hilton Head Island, Myrtle Beach, Greenville, Wren, Seneca, Dreher, A.C. Flora
    2A - Bishop England, Academic Magnet, Indian Land, Waccamaw
    1A - St. Joseph's Catholic, Christ Church Episcopal
    SCISA - Cardinal Newman, Hammond, Porter-Gaud, Pinewood Prep
     
  13. UH60Blackhawk

    UH60Blackhawk Member

    Oct 5, 2013
    I think it's a tough call as many high schools do not play outside of their state, though this is changing.

    I have moved around and have seen many good programs as well as many poor programs. I am also familiar with programs such as Shattuck St. Mary.
    While Shattuck St Mary has a good program (their entire school is devoted to sports), they are a big fish in a little pond. I've seen them compete at tournaments and they are a good team, but hardly the best in the nation. Not even close.

    Being consistent as a high school team is tough. But I think any top team would have to come from:
    1. CA
    2. TX
    3. NY
    4. NJ
    5. IL
    6. MO
    7. VA

    Don't get me wrong, there are some other schools that do well. But high school soccer is, for the most part, dependent on a consistent strong club feeder system and I have not seen many schools outside these areas that can consistently get the talent from good club systems. They just don't have the population density. I'm sure it is the same in other big soccer areas, but to give an idea of what my daughter faced in NY, several teams she played against had 28 players on varsity, 28 on JV, 28 on 9th grade, and 28 on Modified A. Yes, that's 112 players in the high school system AFTER cuts. What's more these teams usually lost to Long Island teams in state's. My brother's kids attended school in VA. They had so many girls try out at their school that the first cut was "Do you play D1 club?" If you did not, with few exceptions, you were not going to be on varsity. Go to places around Dallas and if you are not an ECNL or other top club player you are not on varsity. Same with parts of CA.

    So in my eyes I would have to see consistency in a program. Not necessarily consistency as #1 in their state, but consistency as a contender in their state. They would also have to travel outside their state and consistently do well in "powerhouse" regions. Finally, I think one would need to look at how their alumni do when they move on. Again, not to slam Shattuck, but I think they would have a very, very tough time in TXS, parts of CA, NYE or other strong areas. Let them play a season in NYE where they are playing good teams every week then talk to me.
     
  14. catfish9

    catfish9 Member+

    Jul 14, 2011
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not sure I completely disagree with your top 7 but in my opinion Ohio has to be in there somewhere if not #8.

    One issue to consider are state High School rules as it relates to clubs. For instance one thing I believe is holding Ohio schools (and clubs for that matter) back is that we are not allowed to have more than 5 players on a club team that play for a high school (that includes JV teams). So once in high school, kids are forced off of a club team (often times elite teams) because too many of them attend the same school. Just saw it happen to multiple club teams in central OH this past tryout season. This certainly can have negative impact on ultimate development of those players over their high school years as they may be forced out of elite club teams and better training situations apart form their high school team. Dumb rule and certainly one small factor in DAs not even allowing kids to play on their high school team.

    That said many suburban schools located in areas with strong clubs do have high numbers at the high school levels. In central OH there are about a dozen schools who field three high school teams (varsity, JV A & JV B) Those schools can get as many as 90-100 kids trying out and only keep about 60. That means a fair amount of kids who played on decent club teams might not even make the high school program. No coincidence that those same schools are the ones who routinely advance far in state playoffs.

    We are also seeing some OH schools playing out of state and something I would like to see more of. Preseason tournaments where teams from multiple states gather to play - similar to what baseball and basketball do over holidays, would be cool. That would help facilitate these fictitious national rankings.
     
    ThePonchat repped this.
  15. Lensois

    Lensois Member

    May 19, 2004
    A couple of points--first Shattuck's whole school is not devoted to sports. While it is the most high profile part of the school--particularly hockey--it also has academic and arts programs similar to their sports programs. Bio Science, Engineering, Vocal Performance and a Pre-Conservatory program are all offered at the school and attract students from around the world.

    As far as the quality of the teams, I wonder which team you've seen play. The U-18 DA team has reached the knockout round of the DA playoffs the past three years including a trip to the final in 2013. That would be a pretty difficult HS team for most other schools to beat. The girls side is also very strong with multiple State Cup final appearances and a pretty long list of college commitments to schools such as Florida State, UNC, Central Florida, Auburn, Marquette, etc.
     
  16. UH60Blackhawk

    UH60Blackhawk Member

    Oct 5, 2013
    #116 UH60Blackhawk, Jul 16, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2015
    I saw the girl's team. Again, I am not saying they are a bad team and I know they have sent many girls to good programs. But if you are going to talk about great high school programs you have to talk about schools that play against tough teams every season year in and year out. If you look at some states such as Texas and California it is very hard for schools to be repeat champs and it is much more competitive than being the state champ in MN. I've seen JV teams from some of these states that would probably beat Shattuck teams, and unlike Shattuck the coaches at these schools only have them for about 3 months. Frankly, if they were in one of the states I listed they would probably barely be a speck on the landscape. Again, I've seen schools from CA, TX, NY, NJ and VA where every varsity/JV player is either ECNL or from a top D1 club. Shattuck is not a bad program, but they are a big fish in a little pond.
     
    england66 repped this.
  17. UH60Blackhawk

    UH60Blackhawk Member

    Oct 5, 2013
    #117 UH60Blackhawk, Jul 16, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2015
    I know I've seen some good programs from OH, MI and other states, but we are talking about programs that perform year after year in states with high density of good programs. Also I think state rules play into it and if states are going to be dumb with their rules then they get penalized.
    As I posted above, I don't think we can talk about number of state cups. Making it to the state finals in a state like AK is different from making it to the state finals in a state like CA.

    It's kind of like a lacrosse team from say TN saying they are the best in the nation because they won their state lacrosse title several years in a row. Send this team up to MD or LI and they would be sent home with their tail between their legs.
     
  18. ThePonchat

    ThePonchat Member+

    #ProRelForUSA
    United States
    Jan 10, 2013
    I've Been Everywhere Man
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I definitely agree that Ohio is in there. For me, recruiting and talking with college coaches, Ohio is one of the first areas that is mentioned when talking soccer.

    Just to note, Ohio isn't the only state that has this "50% rule" or whatever anyone wants to call it for club/HS. It impacts several other areas. It also impacts other sports (basketball, is most noted in this).
     
  19. UH60Blackhawk

    UH60Blackhawk Member

    Oct 5, 2013
    I think the discussion of players coming out of a state is related to "best high school program in the country", but just an aspect of it. Again, what I wrote was not to say that some states don't have some good clubs- and it is the clubs that contribute to colleges as college coaches could care less about high school soccer. I think one must also look at the depth of the field of high school teams, which is why I think I would put TX , CA and other high-density states up there as the first states where I would look for a school to award the honor of "Best High School Program in the States". One must also look at state rules. How can you compare a high school in Ohio where only 50% of the players can be club to other states where, as I mentioned, you probably aren't even going to be on JV unless you are a D1/ECNL player or a very strong D2 player in many programs. Some of these programs have JV teams that could give a run for the state championship in another state.
     
  20. tkpeterson12

    tkpeterson12 Member

    Mar 21, 2013
    Indiana
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Just for clarity, the rule is most likely to be from a single club team not just club soccer players in general.
     
  21. UH60Blackhawk

    UH60Blackhawk Member

    Oct 5, 2013
    Still, that can be tough in some areas. I think I understand what they are trying to do. I've seen where HS coaches try to influence which club his/her players play for. "Play for my club or you won't make varsity."
     
  22. tkpeterson12

    tkpeterson12 Member

    Mar 21, 2013
    Indiana
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Wasn't trying to negate your point, just clarifying
     
  23. UH60Blackhawk

    UH60Blackhawk Member

    Oct 5, 2013
    I understand.
     
  24. catfish9

    catfish9 Member+

    Jul 14, 2011
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You are correct - I left out a few words. It's not more than 5 players from any one club team can play for a high school. Which is really dumb since we have 3 team at our high school. In OH the rule (no more than 50% of starting team- rounded down) applies to all sports and I suspect was instituted because of AAU basketball (now that's a corrupt system!). But with club soccer being so big (bigger/better than High School) I could easily see some shananigans happening with coaches/teams.
     
  25. Lensois

    Lensois Member

    May 19, 2004
    Very interesting. Curious which Shattuck teams you've seen and where exactly. I take it you left out the boys because it doesn't support argument.
     

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