SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer Burnout from High School to College Soccer

I just found out that one of my former players quit her women's college soccer team a few weeks ago, during the spring season (I'll keep everything anonymous for purposes of objectivity).

In the 8 years that I coached varsity high school soccer in SC, I had 4 girls sign Letters of Intent to play D-II College Soccer. 1 girl quit the first week of pre-season, one girl played for three seasons (and for two different coaches), one girl quit before the season even started during her freshman year but decided to play her sophomore season, and the latest girl quit during the spring of her Freshman season (after being 2nd on the team in scoring).
NONE of the four girls that I coached played all four years at their respective school.

How common is this among female soccer players who decide to play in college?

It happens a lot at D-II. I've known several girls playing at that level that only last a year or two. The commitment to practice, conditioning, etc is much more than they were used to in high school and in most clubs.

Also, some decide there's a lot more to be interested in than sports.

It happens a lot at D-1 too. My daughter's team had 5 freshman already quit before the spring season- 2 of them were starters on opening day. The college game is so demanding- it can start being a grind and very little fun

What is the burnout rate in U16-U17 Club years. It seems the last couple of years quite a number in these age groups stop playing Club.

I think socioeconomic factors play a large role as well. Some girls come from a lower class environment, and many of their college teammates are middle or upper class. I think this mindset affects females at the collegiate level far more than males.

I also think that what club you play for may affect some girls' decisions to quit college soccer, mainly because they feel like they don't belong. If a girl stays in SC and plays college soccer, and didn't play for CESA, CUFC, or Bridge (or basically played for a smaller club), she can sometimes be ostracized by peers who played club together and know each other.

I agree with the fact that there is A LOT more for kids to be interested in at college, but I disagree that D-II requires more commitment. I think at the D-II level it is harder to kids to get up for rivalries when they are playing against schools they've never heard of, and players they don't know from a hill of beans.

Of girls I played with, at least 4 went and started for or had lots of playing time on DI teams...I'm pretty sure only 1 stuck through all four years of college and most quit within 1.5 years of play. There were several girls who stuck it out in D2 or lower leagues.

Senior year in high school and freshman year of college is really where your priorities make a sharp change and you're more interested in exploring the world/college than practicing/lifting/conditioning every day, sometimes twice a day, for a limited number of games. And depending on practice times, it can seriously affect what majors/classes you choose (it's possible to make things work, just way harder). I couldn't even play club soccer in college because I had science labs in the afternoon and would have missed multiple practices each week. It gets really hard to justify running/lifting all spring and having crazy practice schedules when you see what everyone else is getting to do around you.

I knew one of the major reasons I decided not to play in college, despite multiple offers, was because I didn't want to be practicing way more than I would be playing...I just wasn't that interested in two-a-days or running/ball work for hours on end. Course, I also knew I wanted to go to med school, but I knew I could play pickup, club, or local adult ball and just show up and play or scrimmage, which is what I loved about soccer.

Good post.. Do you think club teams should not play year round to eliminate burnout? My daughter was extremely burned out playing year round. When she moved to another club that only played half the year she seemed to be more into it and have more energy.

I think year round club drains kids that would otherwise "love" soccer.

My player that just quit her college team said that she was beginning to HATE the game because it had become nothing but conditioning, weightlifting, etc. Kids need soccer to be fun.

When I was in high school, our Challenge Club season in the fall ran concurrently with the Aiken Rec. League's soccer season. I could play against Hungryneck and CMSA on the weekend, and then play 1 or 2 lighthearted games with/against kids I grew up with, and we could all talk about the games at school. The fact that Aiken had leagues all the way through the U-18 age group allowed me to compete at the highest level available (back in the mid 90s that was Challenge) and also play simply for fun against people I knew.

Kids today have NO rec option anywhere in the upstate. Not a true, $45 dollar, low key, rec at least.

Adding that element back into kids lives would put a lot of the joy back in soccer, rather than make it so structured like it has become today.