TDS has actually started their list of Top Players in the Class of 2018.....really? Many of these kids are born in year 2000 and have not even started HS yet. Didn't most people think it was stunning when a 2017 committed at the beginning of this school year? Now we have a 2018 list of 8th graders. TDS sells subscriptions and ads, parents buy into "elite this" and "premier that" and this alphabet soup is just getting crazier. I actually feel bad for the uneducated parents out there who end up in this tornado of youth soccer. Do they realize they are now spending their kids future college scholarship dollars on youth soccer??? A family playing in one of these absurd national leagues now NEEDS a scholarship just to hope they break even on their kids youth soccer expenses! Crazy. But hey, the leagues, tournaments, club directors and coaches, ID camp operators......are all happy to cash their checks. I don't begrudge anyone in those categories, there's a market out there to exploit, but I'm pretty sure college women's soccer was pretty good and the US was competing for Women's World Cups BEFORE we started bleeding these families of all their money and frequent flyer miles. Youth soccer is getting in it's own way now in the US when it comes to any real "developmental" goals and it's alarming. Have a nice day.
I get that its the exception and not the rule, but the 20K I have spent on 3 years of ECNL translated into a scholarship that will be worth over 200K Pretty damn good investment if you ask me. Therefor, calling it an "absurd national league" is probably a bit overboard. About 75% of the kids playing ECNL are going to play Collegiate soccer at some level. Most D1 on some sort of scholarship. The ones I feel sorry for are the kids who play mid level club, still travel to tournaments, still pay $5k a year and their kid has NO chance. The quality of player development in ECNL is ten times what was available 5 years ago
... A family playing in one of these absurd national leagues now NEEDS a scholarship just to hope they break even on their kids youth soccer expenses! ... Certainly for some, but for most - not really. My experience is that most families are well enough off that the cost of playing in the ECNL does not does not equate with the amount of scholarship $s needed to offset the costs of playing in the league. Kids play in this league because it gives top players the best opportunity to play the best competition possible. The fact that good showcase matchups for U15s and 16s regularly draw 60 college acouts kind of speaks to the quality of the league. Most of these kids also want to play D1 soccer. I would argue that the ECNL is the best possible league to prepare for the next level. Nothing absurd that. As far as rankings go, I do find them a bit misleading at best. I personally know of a highly 'ranked' kid who isn't even a top ten player on her team let alone the entire country.
As far as the 2018 Kentucky commit, I believe there are some circumstances that make sense for this to happen.
The concept of a National League in the US for youth soccer is absurd and that can be debated if you want. Think we've argued that here somewhere else. So could the question "are US youth players really developing?" in this new system. about college - The same number of scholarships are going out the door with out without any particular league. The ecnl was just a way for the clubs to control their own competitions and increase their power/prestige/budgets. The ecnl, the DA etc. just helps decide who gets the money. It's a good 'platform' as they like to say but not at all perfect. Huge chunks of the US don't have these teams nearby. It is where very many, if not most, of the best players are playing, but ironically, these expensive leagues are filled with families who have plenty of capacity to pay for college. I don't know if anyone other than the MLS Academies, are really keeping costs down. (It's my hope the women's pro teams get involved soon in a more formal way and with money). As was mentioned, the best player on a good regional club team in usys might get the same offers as a lower level player in the ecnl, that was a 'ranked' player on a 'ranked' team. Good college coaches know to look in the right places but the 'prestige' of the ecnl and da experience has a lot of weight, as did ODP and does in many places. Plus the events are often well run and coaches like their jobs to be easier. So, we are missing tons of good kids and giving lots of the college money to those that don't need it......great stuff.
I agree with Eddie K. There are two completely different issues involved with the sea change wrought 5 years ago by US Club Soccer and the creating of the ECNL One issue is actual development of players. The other issue is prestige, greed, and ego.
Unbelievable that TopDrawer has a 2018 list. So unnecessary. And maybe, MAYBE of those top 150 2018s will actually be top players once they actually get to college. This is a way for them drive up interest and get people all roiled up for a non-revenue generating sport so kids can get pressured into making an uneducated decision and then transfer to another school or quit the sport altogether. Shameful on TDS. Let these kids be kids. And I remember Anson from the New York Times article stating how this has hurt his program badly as scholarship $ is wasted on kids that make early commitments and then they don't pan out. These college coaches can complain all they want but if you make offers to kids this early then deal with consequences of your asinine method.
Can you believe Sophia Smith is ranked the #3 forward in the nation in the rich class of 2o18? That is insane. She's good, but not that good. She should be ranked about the #9 forward in her class. She does have a high ceiling as she grows another 8 inches. http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-player-profile/sophia-smith/pid-57539
Thank you for demonstrating one of the consequences of early recruiting. I'm sure TDS will take her off their VERY public list if they ask. Where do you think people should make comments and criticism of those on the list? IMHO, I don't think the comments referred to reach the level of "dragging down" but again, crazy that kids not even in HS are being listed, promoted, or discussed at all.
Found this article from a couple of years back from the Georgetown's Dave Nolan. http://www.soccerwire.com/news/coll...nolan-pulls-no-punches-on-college-recruiting/ Very good read - and has seemed to be no better two years on (probably worse). Spot on in the statement ... "there’s about 25 blue-chip players every year. And after that, player 26 through player 126, there’s not much to choose between them, in my opinion. And it’s usually intangibles that you don’t get to know until after you’ve worked with somebody or spend time around them, or you watch them over a prolonged period of time. That’s recruitment. Everyone can look at the great players on the field here and say, “Oh, she’s a great player.” But it’s the other kids, it’s the other kids, they need more time to show what they can do, what they have. Because everyone can pick out the top 25."
I was only being sarcastic, relax, all good. I haven't even seen her play or didn't even know who she was until this thread was posted, lol. I was only mocking Top Drawer for their assessment on junior high age talent (pre high school). And to make for it, here's a short video just for you Glove Stinks.
Sorry WPS Didn't see the Sacrasm. Little close to home for me I guess, but now that you point it out its pretty funny. And I am well versed in the Soccer girl probs...and yes...the gloves do stink
It's the risk you take. You have to be objective about your child's talent and chances if you're going to invest in a position on one of these ECNL teams. If they have the talent, it might well be worth it. In addition, it's important that the child is a good student. It will broaden interest in her and increase your chances of getting a significant scholarship. Once the interested parties know they're vying for a kid who has choices, the offers tend to go up if she has a commensurate level of soccer talent. The two go hand in hand. My older daughter played for an ECNL team her last two years (it was new then; the club probably would have applied earlier if it were available) and she ended up getting a scholarship for a D1 private school that would have cost us $200,000+. It was worth it. We're planning on moving our younger daughter to an ECNL club starting in her U13 year. It will be expensive but she appears to have the soccer talent to go somewhere. Now to make sure her grades are top notch to increase the likelihood we'll get a good return on our investment. Sounds cold and calculated, but ultimately we'd bail on the whole thing if she weren't interested in playing.
Well said...The interesting thing is that the cost is not significantly different than a club team that plays showcase tournaments. The travel is similar, the dues are pretty much the same, but the exposure at ECNL events is 100 times more than these regional showcase events. Key thing is keeping your DDs talent in perspective..Way too many parents that think their kid is Alex Morgan
The other key thing is keeping in the forefront that soccer is a game and games, for children, are to be played for fun. As soon as a kid feels pressure to play, and indeed to excel, because she must win a college scholarship, some of the game part goes away. Too often, I hear an athlete say, "I really can't do that, even though I want to, because I have to play my sport all the time so I can get a college scholarship."
Well said. It's a simplification of course but I think there are only so many 'miles' available to any particular soccer player in a physiological and even psychological measure. The narrative that it "feels like a job" seems more and more common in this era of 12 month training and cross country events in the name of 'development' and 'exposure'. Just makes you wonder who is really thinking in the best interests of the player. It should be the parents of course but many get brainwashed by the 'elite this' and 'premier that' alphabet soup of youth soccer. More training must be better right? More competition, more events, more travel, and more money spent must be better for soccer players right? It wasn't long ago that smart soccer people were preaching the '1 meaningful game per week' model with 2/3 good training sessions in between as the ideal developmental best practice. Now, many of our kids clubs have it reversed. They often play 2-3 games in a weekend with no training in between and they are lucky if the head coach conducts all their weekday practices because they are off training 2-3 other teams. US Soccer decided to intervene on the men's side with the DA but that has taken on a life of its own now as well. I bet you'll see the MLS academies separate soon from the DA and do their own thing, and if teams like Denmark keep putting 5 goals on our WNT, US Soccer may do much more on the women's side soon too (besides just fire the coach).
A recent experience I had as a tennis coach at the high school level relates to this. One of our main rivals has an excellent #1 player at the "big school" state level -- but in high school tennis, "excellent" has a limited meaning since no ultimate world class tennis player plays high school tennis. This girl's high school coach -- who is very knowledgeable -- told her parents she probably would have the best experience in college not playing DI tennis. This is an assessment with which I completely agreed -- having coached HS tennis for nearly 20 years and having a bunch of players who played college tennis from DI to DIII. Her parents' response: "We've worked far too hard for her not to play DI tennis." The more parents invest in time and money, the harder it is for them to think only about what would be best for their daughter and the harder is it for them to create a home environment in which their daughter is fully free to do what she really wants; and the harder it is for her parents to know whether they are being good parents or are fulfilling their own unconscious desires. There's no easy answer to this. Parents want to do what is best for their daughters. But, they also have their own wants and desires. Working this through and making good parent and daughter decisions is a challenge.
I re-read the comments from Dave Nolan. Sec123, I like that you point out the section where he states it's easy to see the top 25 players, but players 26-125 have little difference intially and takes time to see these differences. But my favorite part of the read was this where he states TDS is also playing into the hands of the problem of early recruitment: DN: And no disrespect, but it’s guys like you two [referring to your correspondent and ESPNHS writer Sheldon Shealer, also present] and your websites that foster that environment, with your rankings and your reporting on it, and you’re part of the problem, to be honest. Shealer: [chuckling] It was happening before. DN: Oh, it does, but you’re part of the problem. And I’m not sure if it’s ever going to change, because it’s now out of the box and it’s never going to go back. Well said Nolan. And now TDS has a 2018 player rankings out and it will only make this even worse. This has become a stupid process with the parents, kids, club coaches, and most of all college coaches to blame, and also a publication like TDS.
Next year at this same time....they put them out bvefore the incoming freshman class. I understand everyones consternation to the timing but at the same time, I believe it should be stated that there are many College Coaches willing to sit through multiple games at showcases to promote their interest in many of these players. Yes, it is sad that this is happening so early, but don't blame the kids
I once knew a 13 year old youth/club soccer player that looked like she was 19. Some girls develop really early, but it was extremely disturbing to see this girl being promoted so much already. She looks like she's 10. http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-player-profile/sophia-smith/pid-57539 However, Fergi Fenwick is a SPECTACULAR prospect in the Class of 2037. Yes, the time machine still works. 1.21 Gigawatts is easy to attain, even 1.21 Terawatts these days.
Have you noticed that Sophia Smith and her parents are handling the process more prudently and carefully than just about any other top-rated TDS 2018 player. It's January 2016 and she has yet to commit to any school.
I agree with you regarding ranking and recruiting pre-high school players - it's a negative for the sport and the kids. However, this phenomena is not limited to women's soccer. In women's volleyball the same thing is happening and it's not the fault of websites like TDS and PrepVolleyball, in my opinion. The trend is being caused by college recruiters who are going after younger and younger kids so they could compete with the powerhouse programs (like North Carolina and Penn State women's volleyball - these programs used to get the best recruits because their talent was almost guaranteed because of maturation). My point is that I don't blame websites like TDS and PrepVolleyball.com, for the early recruiting. I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of college recruiters who are driving the market, so to speak. The recruiters are pushing for such rankings to be made (i.e., demand driving supply) and sites like TDS are producing them so they can sell more subscriptions.