my2cents wrote:

starbuck wrote:

my2cents wrote:Can't coach fast either.

I agree. That's the thing. I don't believe athleticism and size are really the primary ingredient in youth club soccer, especially locally, but in school sports and certainly college, those things become primary. That's one of the great advantages and benefits to the club soccer offering. It's open to a wider population of players. I do see the day, however, as soccer becomes more popular, that it begins to be like the others.

I think that is very dependent on where one lives. Anyone can try out for high school sports. Anyone with money can try out for club. That excludes a lot of talented players. Soccer will not become more popular and become like the others until the higher echelon is not so exclusionary. A player can be recruited for all major sports from high school play. Not so for soccer.

Again, I agree. I think most understand that club soccer provides a vehicle for alot of players that might not be in the "higher echelon" in terms of school sports. It provides a way for them to learn all the positive lessons that can be taught through sports, team spirit, and sportsmanship. That's a good thing in my opinion. When, and if, soccer becomes more popular and the "money" piece that you mention is taken away from club soccer, there would be a displacement of players (and coaches if the money was gone) that would be very significant and tremendously bad for the population it serves. It's better to have the pay-to-play club sports and keep them separate from school sports. Otherwise, they would just utilize the same population group and exclude a large number. As far as college recruiting, there are probably enough of them in the country outside of D1 to fit most of the kids who want to play, but, once it gets popular, all bets are off. Colleges will look to recruit that "higher echelon" athlete.

I've always said that scholastic (high school and college) soccer legitimizes and otherwise gives soccer credibility.

But it is the club system that develops players.

Both systems need each other.

Bottom line though is that soccer needs to become more integrated into the schools. That means that high school and even middle school soccer have to be promoted and otherwise lobbied for....heavily.

It's the only way to grow the game. Soccer needs to be part of every school's PE curriculum. That will make an impact.

That's why these petty turf wars between club and high school soccer need to stop.

It only hurts the sport in the end.

Every kid, no matter how good they are should experience at least a couple of years of experiencing high school soccer. While the level of play may not always be that high, you can't tell me a freshman or sophomore won't benefit developmentally by competing with and against junior and senior aged players.

The only justification for not playing (high school) is if a kid is actually rostered and playing for a professional club.

So, we're talking about, what, 15-20 kids max that fall into that category?

omega striker wrote:

Laimport wrote:I've always said that scholastic (high school and college) soccer legitimizes and otherwise gives soccer credibility.

But it is the club system that develops players.

Both systems need each other.

Bottom line though is that soccer needs to become more integrated into the schools. That means that high school and even middle school soccer have to be promoted and otherwise lobbied for....heavily.

It's the only way to grow the game. Soccer needs to be part of every school's PE curriculum. That will make an impact.

That's why these petty turf wars between club and high school soccer need to stop.

It only hurts the sport in the end.

Every kid, no matter how good they are should experience at least a couple of years of experiencing high school soccer. While the level of play may not always be that high, you can't tell me a freshman or sophomore won't benefit developmentally by competing with and against junior and senior aged players.

The only justification for not playing (high school) is if a kid is actually rostered and playing for a professional club.

So, we're talking about, what, 15-20 kids max that fall into that category?

I think the main reason for being so cautious in HS soccer is the high risk factor of non skilled/experienced kids against more seasoned players?

I agree. I think by the time my kids get to HS soccer they will be too good and skilled to play against the unwashed masses and the riff raff that steps onto the HS fields.

omega striker wrote:

Laimport wrote:I've always said that scholastic (high school and college) soccer legitimizes and otherwise gives soccer credibility.

But it is the club system that develops players.

Both systems need each other.

Bottom line though is that soccer needs to become more integrated into the schools. That means that high school and even middle school soccer have to be promoted and otherwise lobbied for....heavily.

It's the only way to grow the game. Soccer needs to be part of every school's PE curriculum. That will make an impact.

That's why these petty turf wars between club and high school soccer need to stop.

It only hurts the sport in the end.

Every kid, no matter how good they are should experience at least a couple of years of experiencing high school soccer. While the level of play may not always be that high, you can't tell me a freshman or sophomore won't benefit developmentally by competing with and against junior and senior aged players.

The only justification for not playing (high school) is if a kid is actually rostered and playing for a professional club.

So, we're talking about, what, 15-20 kids max that fall into that category?

I think the main reason for being so cautious in HS soccer is the high risk factor of non skilled/experienced kids against more seasoned players?

It's two fold . The kids don't have the skills so they run around "Hacking & slid tackling". There are also very few qualified coaches.

Running wrote:

omega striker wrote:

Laimport wrote:I've always said that scholastic (high school and college) soccer legitimizes and otherwise gives soccer credibility.

But it is the club system that develops players.

Both systems need each other.

Bottom line though is that soccer needs to become more integrated into the schools. That means that high school and even middle school soccer have to be promoted and otherwise lobbied for....heavily.

It's the only way to grow the game. Soccer needs to be part of every school's PE curriculum. That will make an impact.

That's why these petty turf wars between club and high school soccer need to stop.

It only hurts the sport in the end.

Every kid, no matter how good they are should experience at least a couple of years of experiencing high school soccer. While the level of play may not always be that high, you can't tell me a freshman or sophomore won't benefit developmentally by competing with and against junior and senior aged players.

The only justification for not playing (high school) is if a kid is actually rostered and playing for a professional club.

So, we're talking about, what, 15-20 kids max that fall into that category?

I think the main reason for being so cautious in HS soccer is the high risk factor of non skilled/experienced kids against more seasoned players?

I agree. I think by the time my kids get to HS soccer they will be too good and skilled to play against the unwashed masses and the riff raff that steps onto the HS fields.

I think you're on to something here....

Soccerinsanity wrote:And why should the boys be allowed to have fun playing with their friends? Oh yeah, this is serious stuff, not a game!

And why should they be allowed to be the big athletic stud at their school? Did the football coaches pay the soccer people to not allow them to play? So they can recruit them to their sport?

You've touched a nerve on here now.....here we go......

Ibystander wrote:

scrdad wrote:

Ibystander wrote: I'd take the bigger kid also, IF all things were equal. That's not what most of us are disputing. It's when the less talented bigger kid is chosen over the smaller, more technically skilled one that gets people in a tizzy. If given a choice, I'd also choose tall, dark, handsome, and rich guy over the short, dark, handsome, rich guy.

Still looking for a woman that prefers average height, pasty white, meh, and middle class!

I'll take pasty white for $5 million. One can always invest in a sun bed, or hang around with that little Dynamo kid and hope his tan rubs off on ya.

If i could bottle that up and sell it, $5 million may be in my future!!!!