Drats!!!!!!!!!! Once again I spent a good 30 mins preparing a masterpiece reply to this issue. I go to post it and it says the form is no longer available....everything lost..
It must be the HS soccer Gods conspiring against me!! But I will post this article that went with my fabulous epistle.
Soccer clubs provide assists
Teams help players improve their skills
By ANTHONY WITRADO
awitrado@journalsentinel.comPosted: Aug. 5, 2006
Soccer is the pioneer.
People in the sport were among the first to develop club programs outside of schools. They were meant to give kids, from 8 to 18 years old in most cases, a chance to play once their school seasons ended.
Sports like basketball and volleyball followed and now have club programs more nationally renowned than those of some high schools. Today, club soccer is that kind of beast. Like the sports it preceded, playing outside of school has become an important part of kids' soccer lives, especially once they are high school age.
"From our end, it has been really important for the kids in our program," says Pete Knezic, coaching director for FC Milwaukee, one of the state's best club programs. "We go to some of the premier events, and there will be hundreds of college coaches on the sidelines. That is the big selling point for those tournaments."
And the allure of club soccer.
At the inception of this phenomenon, playing away from a school team might have been a nice way to stay sharp during the off-season. Now the emphasis has dramatically changed.
College scholarships are at stake.
Wisconsin Youth Soccer state director of leagues David Flanagan says "for the top-level player, 95 percent" of their recruitment happens during the club season. Flanagan, who had been an assistant varsity coach at Oconomowoc, has been a club coach for 16 years.
"Very few Division I coaches come to high school games because they are not seeing the competition," he says. "The big difference is in high school soccer, every coach is hiding two or three players (in the lineup) who may not be at that level. On club, you have 11 strong players and four or five subs, with no drop-off."
That plateau of talent at club showcases and tournaments, like in basketball and volleyball, is what draws college coaches. It is much more appetizing to make a single trip to see hundreds of players with next-level talent than to make several trips to see a handful of recruitable players.
Youth soccer Web sites even send out e-mails or post national tournament schedules to help college coaches plan their whirlwind tours.
The Wisconsin Youth Soccer state leagues consist of 14 games, with Premier and First divisions. The bottom two teams of the Premier division fall to the First and are replaced by the First division's top two teams, similar to European leagues. Most club seasons in Wisconsin for the elite teams last about 60 games, including leagues and tournaments.
Many clubs in Wisconsin still push kids to play at their high school since club teams shut down during the school season. However, that is not the case on the East and West coasts, where some players skip their high school season because their club commitments are year-round, according to Marti Coan, the Midwest high school girls representative for the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. She also was the girls coach at Oshkosh North for 12 years.
A major criticism of club basketball is the lack of quality coaching. The thought is the best coaches are at high schools, not on the club circuit.
The opposite is true in soccer, where club coaches are required by the United States Soccer Federation to be educated and licensed according to the level they coach at.
"Club soccer is definitely getting stronger than high school soccer because of the education and licensing," Coan says. "The better coaching is coming from club, because high schools don't require anything of their coaches."
Says Flanagan: "We're trying to teach these guys to be better prepared to deal with the complexities of soccer, fitness and even nutrition. It's a constant upgrade. We teach them that we're working with the whole kid, not a part of them."
Also unlike most club basketball teams, players usually have to pay to play club soccer, a cost that can be more than $1,000 a year for the teams that travel most - basketball teams are typically fully sponsored. There are fund-raisers, sponsors and boosters to help absorb the costs, and scholarships are available for players who qualify.
That allows players from different income brackets and backgrounds to compete against the best.
"The best players are playing with club teams against suitable competition," Flanagan says. "You're seeing what kids can do against players that are some of the best in the country."
From the Aug. 6, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel