Now my opinion ... Everything that follows has a caveat.... That all involved have the development of the player as the most important issue to help them achieve their best.
1- College coaches will seldom attend HS games to evaluate players. The most obvious exception is the Palmetto cup where the field and quality is such that allows the LOCAL schools to recruit.
2- The only time a college coach will attend a HS game is to physically see a player they already have interest on based on club/ODP.
3-The ODP process in SC (and very likely elsewhere) is broken. I will expand further below.
4- Club performance and level of play will attract college coaches at certain locations. These will be tournaments such as Score at the shore, Raleigh Shootout, Disney Showcase, Jefferson Cup, Dallas cup, etc. and most state cup games.
Here is the problem...
SC plays its club season during College season. Therefore coaches cannot attend ragular season games. HS level is not the same as club (except for a few programs)Therefore it does not indicate competitiveness.
If Johnny/Sally is a real good player but plays in a mediocre to low team, you are virtually guaranteed not to be seen or heard off as you will not be able to attend any of the high level tourneys and most likely will not be at state cup.
So the team you play on is important.
The team you play on will be good if the coach is a good coach and attracts/developes the better players.
Therefore the coach is important.
And the team will be invited (make no mistake on the word invited) to play in the high level tourneys only if the coach has connections or the Club has recognition.
Therefore the club you play in is somewhat important.
So what we know
1-HS games are not where you will be “FOUND”. Unless by Local D2 school, maybe.
2-You should get into the best team with a good coach. The club it belongs to is somewhat secondary.
3-During HS season your school should attend a quality soccer tournament, for a final look.
4-BUT nothing should take away from having to market yourself aggressively… You must make it a point to be on the radar screen. PLUS grades, grades, grades. If you have a 1.0 it won't matter to colleges if you are Pele. On the other hand you should have an agent and be playing MLS/Europe instead.
This brings us to the next point – Camps & ODP
Camps are great for recruiting opportunities, but you must get into the right camp in the right session… for example the senior elite camps at Clemson, Furman and USC. Here you will have the opportunity to be showcased to many college coaches (not just that school) in an individual level… both a good thing and a bad thing. Key question do you need to go every year? Probably not, the key year is summer to summer of your Junior year (Girls may extend into senior year). If by this time you are not somewhat known, you probably never will.
ODP – as far as I am concerned ODP is broken. Here in SC and elsewhere, although the size of the participating population will impact the program. In my opinion I would like it better if instead of tryouts, players were invited to participate in the program (US CLUB SOCCER SUPER Y)… How do you do this?
1-The clubs should have a vested interest in the program; to date not many clubs do (think pro club vs national team issues – injuries, etc.). How do you have the club buy in? The coaches in an age group have to select the best 3 players for the opposing team after every game. The youth coaches know who these players are. A coordinator for the age group is selected to compile and discuss with the coaches the selection, for example Finotti is selected to coordinate the U15 boys.
2-As the season progresses, a list is generated from which an invitation will be extended to come to camp. There would only be a cost for registration, the additional fees should be from sponsorship opportunities.
3-SCYSA should centralize training, with the logical location being Columbia as the state central location. This requires fields or an arrangement with a local club.
4-The team is assigned the coordinating coach and a College coach for all training.
Now in a perfect world this would work, however there should be some rules in place that clearly define recruiting do’s and do not’s that affect the coaches from the clubs.
There is basically no way to eliminate the political perception of the program for one simple reason. Whether it is try-outs or invitation the fact is, it is someone’s opinion -similar to judging high dives or ice skating at the Olympics – not everyone will agree. But what everyone will agree on is that the selection process was done over a period of time in which Johnny/Sally had ample time to show his/hers stuff.
The cost is minimal and it would very likely identify the top players.
Lastly there should be showcase programs were teams come together and play each other in front of a large number of college coaches (similar to the Fayetteville friendlies).
The cost should be field usage and referees nothing else.
