College Club Soccer

portero- - -

i play at a Div 1 school that has an established tradition. our club team has also had some recognition after making it to nationals last year. the level of play of the club team is very similar to that of the local Div 3 schools. the club team has 5 of it's starters from players who were cut from the varsity team and other players that had oportunities to play in lower divisions but chose not to. the biggest difference is fitness. they train twice a week as compared to most ncaa teams that train 5 times a week. the club team also has more time and less consequences for participation in social events (parties, bars, clubs, etc.) which also effects fitness. my roomate plays for the club team. we play soccer together ofter, his skills are not much below an average Div 1 player, but he does not run or lift weights so would struggle in a full 90 against a fit opposition.

as far as travel his league was a group of about 10 schools from 3 states. they made it to nationals which was in florida so cross country.

money-- they get some money from the school. i think enough to pay for uniforms and training equiptment. travel, hotels, meals, etc is all out of pocket.

 

My older son plays club collegiate, and you are correct that travel and training costs are on the player. His team trains three times a week, and they do now and then do weight training. Many of the players on the team were either on the D1 team who had been cut or were injured and unfortunately those injuries took too long and they were replaced or the injuries were too severe to play D1 again. All of them played in high-level club teams at one time or another growing up, and they did very well this year by going to the state final. They do tend to party/socialize more than a committed D1 player, but I've seen them play a few times and they have their moments of brilliance and do take it seriously when in season. I think my son paid $200 for the season to play.

For those who may have a difficult time-consuming major and still love the game, this is the way to go. And you can't beat the friendships made and representing your school.

 

Just about any large state school, or any large school in general that doesn't have a D1 program (and some even that do have a program) has the capacity to put together a good club. It comes down to whether or not there is some type of non-student individual or organization willing to put in the time and effort to raise money and keep things going. Believe me, playing for strong, well organized club team is every bit as good as playing for any other level of college soccer besides the top tier of fully funded D1 programs.

First of all, the "extra" money you spend to play typically comes back to you when you consider the cost of going to a small private school is thousands more than playing at a state school (most good clubs will need $200+ from players; if they don't need that much it means either they are unambitious and probably not much more than slightly more organized intramural team, or they are exceptional fundraisers. If the former is true, that's probably going to be a bad experience, if the latter, it could be a great experience because it demonstrates good organization and commitment that will make all aspects of participation meaningful).

As for the level of play, as has been mentioned club players do not do the same physical training and achieve the same level of fitness that varsity teams do (but in all honesty, many professional teams across the world do not have the same level of fitness as American college teams). But there are bound to be several very talented players (ex-D1 players now in grad school, ex-pros who've gone back to school etc.) and plenty of good quality players around them so that the level is high at a large school.

I don't know anything about Arizona's club, but most of the best club teams are at schools like Arizona, larger public schools with no D1 program in the area. Find out who the coach is, what the team does for fundraising (this will tell you a lot about how well they are organized) and look at their records and opponents. If they do a fair amount of traveling and have a good record, it is most likely the kind of program that will give you a great experience.

Also, I do know of at least one professional player, Justin Braun of Chivas USA, who last year was playing for a club team at Salt Lake Community College, just to answer your question.

 

there is no affiliation between the varsity and club team. i support the club team though because of the ex- varisty players that i am still good friends with play, and they support us as they used to be on the team. there is no real promotion/relegation between the varsity and club though. to play at my school you must be recruited because there are no tryouts or walk ons from the campus.


as far as fitness. . . our keepers are held to the same standards as the rest of the team. . . this does not mean i agree with it or that it helps them in matches. . . 2 of our 3 keepers consistently make the cooper test (2 miles/12 minutes) and are just as fit as a lot of the field players

 

I believe he played in 2-3 tournaments. One was late summer. Overnight travel was around 3-4 times. Yes, $200 was all he had to pay which included uniform, registration. Travel was the burden of the player, but they always carpooled, had four guys to a room, etc. to help defray costs.

Go to this website and it will help you look at how California Collegiate Club Soccer works. One would assume it's probably similar to the system in Arizona.

http://www.geocities.com/californiaclubsoccer/

P.S. I have a niece at ASU playing volleyball. Good school!

 

What I meant was that a bad club would be similar to a "competitive intramural" team. The level of play will be very rugged, you'll show up for games without enough players, and you'll get crushed when you go to play the good clubs. It doesn't even mean there are bad players, just that if it's not well organized, college students tend to turn it into just something to do on the weekend at their convenience instead of trying to build a good soccer team. I'd be surprised if Arizona didn't have a pretty decent club. If they are at the very least well organized with committed leadership, it should be worth your time. If not, I would suggest looking at the local amateur leagues for good clubs. You can find a high level of soccer in those clubs as well.

 

We compete in Midwest Alliance Soccer conference. Which is very competitive. It depends on team you choose. Most big school teams have 4 to 5 varsity players. Playing for team is lot of fun and at same time competitive as well.

Check out our team www.emuclubsoccer.com

 

At this point we have only one.

 

I believe Shalrie Joseph played club soccer at Bryant and Stratton before he transferred to St. John's.

There are nearly a dozen guys who played at a Community College and now are in MLS, so you can get there through club ball, junior college or D3.

 

For what it's worth, club teams get no mention on official athletics websites of universities (or, if they do, it is a link to a page set up and operated by the team). There may be exceptions, but this is by far the situation at the majority of schools.

Some school newspapers cover club teams really well, while others ignore them. I have rarely seen a club team mentioned in a city newspaper.

But, from what I've seen, being a member of a club team can be more fun than being a member of a varsity team and you have a good balance between intense games and having fun off the field. You have more freedom (i.e. free time) than a Division I student-athlete and you don't have coaches who can be extremely demanding. Now there are obviously many benefits to being a varsity athlete in college, but there are negatives to it too.