No High School Soccer in 2012?

Discussion in 'Youth & HS Soccer' started by respecthegame, Dec 10, 2011.

  1. the Next Level

    Mar 18, 2003
    Chicago, IL

    It's the wild west out there. Stay focused on what you feel will work best for you and your player. Don't be hung up in "Academy" or "non-academy". Make sure your son plays.

    As far as the rules go, everyone is following their own rules, so you follow yours.
     
  2. rhrh

    rhrh Member

    Mar 5, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Wish we were in Europe, and I'd sell my son to the highest bidder LOL.
     
  3. y.o.n.k.o

    y.o.n.k.o Member

    Jan 12, 2010
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    So you would sell your son for money? Why?

    Just let your son decide what he wants to play..........
     
  4. rhrh

    rhrh Member

    Mar 5, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Just being facetious, and wondering "out loud" whether the European system, where young players are signed to exclusive contracts, is better than the US. Not *one* of the best soccer players in the US would be even remotely thinking about HS soccer as a choice. There is a reason why they give grammar school stats on EPL players - there are no stats for a school team past age 10!

    I do know a few players who are dealing with these kinds of decisions now, where to go in the world and when. The mere fact that most of us have to pay money for our kids to play soccer at a high level, and other countries pay talented kids to stay with them and learn soccer, is outrageous.
     
  5. soccerall

    soccerall Member

    Mar 16, 2005
    US Youth Soccer has nothing to do with the Academy program. The Academy program is run by US Soccer. US Youth Soccer and its allowing of four games in a weekend is the reason US Soccer created the Academy program.
     
  6. y.o.n.k.o

    y.o.n.k.o Member

    Jan 12, 2010
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Of course the European system is better than the US one. This is a prime example what needs to change in US. The DA is on its way towards that. Although not enough of them are free, some of them are, while others offer scholarships to their players (so they don't go to the free DAs). Maybe in your case you are unlucky to have a DA club around you that is not free and doesn't offer scholarship. It is a sad reality that we as parents have to pay for our kids to play at the highest level, more often than not.

    All youth is wondering where to go in this World and when. This is perfectly natural crossroad for late teenagers.
     
  7. SheHateMe

    SheHateMe Member

    Feb 14, 2011
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As my 17 yr old said last night during the Messi and Friends walk about.. the Eliason kid who scored twice and is the top scorer in history for Northwestern with 33 goals is probably making $130 K for GE Capital instead of $50K for MLS. He couldn't make an MLS roster and went to work armed with one of the finest educations in this country, which was a smart choice for hm.

    I'd rather watch American kids like Eliason play in the MLS than guys like Joel Linpere. When our own league doesn't help develop American players why should talented kids look for any payoff other than scholarships?
     
  8. rhrh

    rhrh Member

    Mar 5, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    He has kept trying to get into MLS. I know people who went to the Olympics, while keeping a full-time job (for example, in the sport kayaking). The opportunity is not lost, but your employer has to treat your attempts to "make it" in a sport similar to someone with a military commitment. Or think of Harris trying to peddle his book on Barney Miller while keeping his job.
     
  9. y.o.n.k.o

    y.o.n.k.o Member

    Jan 12, 2010
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    There are players in MLS making 130k too. Check out how much Logan Pause is making, basically for doing nothing (180k). Fire has 15 players making over 100k. Only a couple of them are worth it IMO. What does that say? Bad management, perhaps.

    Imagine if your 17 year old boy was offered 50k to play in MLS. Would you/he accept? How many kids of that age make 50k working anything else?

    Ok, Eliason makes 130k working for GE Capital, but that is after 4 years of college. Compare that to how much players make after 4 years in MLS. Most of them, if not all of them, make over 100k after 4 years in the league. Plus, it's one thing to make 130k working 9 to 5 and quite another making the same money playing soccer for a couple of hours a day. I bet you that Eliason would much prefer to make 130k in MLS rather than at GE.
     
  10. SheHateMe

    SheHateMe Member

    Feb 14, 2011
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    No doubt, for those that are a sure bet, it's a no brainer. For those that get into top schools via soccer and the small number that make it to the pros, it's a different call. My son won't watch MLS and thinks it's a bad league, so that's never been a goal of his. Also, learning how many good D1 schools don't even have men's soccer really took the air out of his sails a couple years ago.

    All goes back to the argument you've made before about teams having residency for the kids they want to develop, and having everyone else in the club system and the college experience, with the occasional standouts getting signed out of college.
     
  11. Virginian

    Virginian Member

    Sep 23, 1999
    Denver, Co
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Fact: some 18 yr old kids aren't ready for the pro ranks by the time they graduate from high school. College actually allows them to develop mentally and physically.

    What fascinates me is the idea that you have to give up college completely to be a professional athlete. Many players take classes in-season and go to school full-time in the off-season. MLS also pays for university if you bypass college for the pros via the Generation Adidas program. Regarding the player from Northwestern who bypassed the potential 50k MLS salary for a $100k+ salary in the financial sector, who's to say that he couldn't get that same 100K+ job AFTER playing in MLS for 3-5 years. Your diploma doesn't exactly go away...

    I am of the opinion that true talent will be recognized- eventually. Players like Onyewu and Dempsey have made good careers in soccer and both attended university. We found them, albeit later than a european club might have found them. But for those guys who went to college, there is the Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley's of the world whose talent was recognized early on, were groomed during their HS years in soccer-specific environment and they have had successful careers as well. All four have contributed to our USMNT's success.

    Heck, Neven Subotic was found playing in a park in Florida and he was in the champions league final this year.

    If you have the talent and you have the drive, you will eventually break through. Sometimes it takes longer, but I believe you'll be found. What I think goes without saying is that many parents think their kid is better than he really is and instills this belief in them that they can be a professional player. In truth, very few kids will have the talent to be an elite level athlete. A friend of mine was a strength and conditioning coach for a D1 school who had basketball and soccer national champions, and he told me that every one of the players on these teams were some kind of athletic freak of nature with tremendous strength, stamina or both. All of them had a specific mental drive to succeed as well.
     
    SheHateMe repped this.
  12. SheHateMe

    SheHateMe Member

    Feb 14, 2011
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The mental drive is the key. Lou Holtz used to say he wasn't much of a motivator, he just recruited motivated players.
     
  13. jeremys_dad

    jeremys_dad Member

    NYC Football Club
    Apr 29, 2007
    The Big Easy
    Club:
    Paris Saint Germain FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Pretty hard to break into UEFA after squandering ones final four years of training playing "Colonial" School ball with unlimited subs in an atmosphere of mediocrity.

    It seems in a world view that there is scant time for opportunity to play real futbol. There is plenty of time later to go to school.

    Perhaps when more players realize this, our country can start being contentious.

    There could be a lot said for those enhanced development aspects fostered with coaches and refs who not only played, but who's fathers and grandfathers also played. People with licenses who studied hard at coaching schools for years.
     
  14. jeremys_dad

    jeremys_dad Member

    NYC Football Club
    Apr 29, 2007
    The Big Easy
    Club:
    Paris Saint Germain FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    BTW.... It's not about the $XXX K
    It's about the beautiful game.
     
  15. y.o.n.k.o

    y.o.n.k.o Member

    Jan 12, 2010
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    "Sure bet"? Who is "sure bet"? Kids who get into top schools via soccer with a full scholarship, that's a different call IMO too. But how many are those? Not many. At some point it comes down to pursuing your dream and if that "dream" is to play professional soccer, then take a chance.

    What is your son's goal? I'm also not too impressed with the quality of MLS, but I have to admit that lately a caught a couple of games accidentally (over couple of beers with friends) and I saw some improvement in the quality of play. Therefore, I would suggest your son try to watch some games, especially now when there is no European Leagues going on.


    I'm glad you remember the point I made.
     
  16. y.o.n.k.o

    y.o.n.k.o Member

    Jan 12, 2010
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    I agree that some 18 year olds aren't ready for the pros, but I disagree that college soccer will prepare them for it. That's where reserve league could be useful.

    Bold part: I've made that point many times before. Why can't young players play as pros and still go to college?



    Onyewu is nothing special, Dempsey is, but he developed a lot and became what he is today after he went to England. Imagine if Dempsey skipped college and went straight to the pros, then after a couple of years went to England.


    He is a rare case of someone young going to Europe and developing into the player he is today. It didn't work out so well for others, especially Donovan.



    You are right about most of the things here, except that parents put the bug in their kid's ear that they can be professional player. Actually they don't, they push them for college.
     
  17. kennie

    kennie Member

    Mar 4, 2005
    I am surprised no one is bringing up Lambo. Went pro after HS and now is a kicker for Texas A&M. A few years behind his old club teammates as far as a collegiate graduation date - but got to do both, just a little out of the normal order.
     
  18. jeremys_dad

    jeremys_dad Member

    NYC Football Club
    Apr 29, 2007
    The Big Easy
    Club:
    Paris Saint Germain FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Internet mentoring programs with high school diplomas are accepted at many colleges, which in turn have promising offerings for degrees obtained primarily through online work. Even Ivy's are getting in on low residency/no residency options. Academics at some Euro Academy seem pretty "last on the list" a few hours a week.
     
  19. rhrh

    rhrh Member

    Mar 5, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    My son's HS team is playing St. Benedict's, a private high school team that includes kids recruited for Man U (trialing during holiday break maybe?) and many on the local MLS academy team. St. Benedict's is ranked in the top five HS teams in the nation regularly, and just had an international tournament with pro academies from Europe and other parts of the world. The town's HS team has enough trouble beating public high schools, and they are playing against a team with more than half of the players being recruited for professional soccer?

    It seems something is out of balance, with the HS waiver system.
     
  20. jeremys_dad

    jeremys_dad Member

    NYC Football Club
    Apr 29, 2007
    The Big Easy
    Club:
    Paris Saint Germain FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Pro Soccer? Really think those kids parents would allow them to not attend college?

    Our kid plays prep league, but their team is U-15's. Don't know yet if they have a fixture with Saint B's... this whole show is new to me.

    Anyhow consider your coach fortunate to get a fixture against a team of ass kickers. Taste of reality is not always easy to come by. Kids old club had to travel far and wide to get beat on. Adversity is a tool not a punishment.
     
  21. rhrh

    rhrh Member

    Mar 5, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    I teach college. The most dedicated and best students are those who are at least 20 years old as freshman, and even better if a little older. Very few of those who decide to enter college above the age 30 misunderstand what the commitment is.

    You will NOT be giving up college if you pursue pro soccer. You will give up NCAA soccer, but that's nothing compared to pro soccer (even semi-pro in many cases). You will just be delaying it. There is a student at my school pursuing a PhD who has no legs above the knee. Nothing is stopping him from his education.

    Oh, and the game was embarrassing, because SBP just threw out scrubs and messed around for 40 minutes, then scored 5 goals in 15 minutes in the second half and sat back. At one point in the first half, they let a forward go from the top of the box to the side of the net and take a shot so the SBP goalie could get some work. SBP has several players my son has played with and against, so he was laughing (he was cut from HS, not good enough to play with posers).
     
  22. bajanyankee

    bajanyankee Member

    Sep 29, 2009
    Maryland
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    I don't understand - are they poseurs or are they players? If they can play then why the animosity?
     
  23. waltlantz

    waltlantz Member

    Jul 6, 2010
    Well you say that......
     
  24. waltlantz

    waltlantz Member

    Jul 6, 2010
    Something tells me that even though high and higher level talent will diminish through the college ranks, it's not going to out and out fade. It will still have it's place, similar to the dynamic college hockey has in the U.S. Ditto for high school soccer.

    However, scholastic soccer needs to evolve to match the international game. I hold no delusions of scholastic soccer being a breeding ground for top level talent (though I still think it CAN work with reform), but I just think it's one more tool to spread the game to new audiences. Scholastic sports have a place in this country, and they always will. Might as well use it to your advantage if you're US Soccer.
     
  25. rhrh

    rhrh Member

    Mar 5, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    I guess it depends on what you define a player as. I would define kids who play soccer because they don't play football and they don't do XC, but they should do a sport, as posers. I would say kids that don't play any club soccer as posers; you just can't get the hours in.

    And waltlantz, HS soccer cannot be anything without standards set. Is there a youth soccer coaching license required to coach HS soccer? Not in my state. Is this all we have, a seminar?

    http://www.nscaa.com/education/courses/high-school

    "No testing in the High School Diploma"

    No one in their right mind, in any sport, would consider HS as necessary for success in their sport. There are top-level amateurs (Olympians for example) in other sports who play for their HS, and in college, but in both cases, the point is NOT training, they always train elsewhere for many more hours. The point is social, to play for their school as some kind of "payback". In the US, there just isn't enough bang for the buck to have even average licensed coaches as the HS soccer coach.
     

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