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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,429
hat-trick
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hat-trick
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,429 |
Where do I start Bomber?
1. Life lessons. Life lessons are everywhere, if you take the time to look or listen. I'm more interested in kids finding their way in life and learning to navigate tough decisions. I'm most interested in MY kid finding his way. If his choice of paths at worst means he doesn't play soccer with the masses.....that isn't much of a tragedy. And it isn't selfish. Trust me...his buddies understood and supported him 100%.
2. Club direction. 10 month Academy came from USSF, not the club. This has absolutely nothing to do with club soccer hierarchy sitting around like Dr Evil plotting to expand their control.
3. Players get taught....I touched on this in point 1. Ridiculous. Parents may feel this way, in my experience kids never do. My son never ever had a HS teammate question his choice to play NC Academy. He was never called selfish or arrogant or anything of the like. They saw it as a choice and thats all it ever was.
4. Playing for HS.....for 99% of kids I agree with you. Its an awesome experience. The most fun I EVER had coaching was my last year of coaching JV boys. I had a ball and loved those guys to death. For a small minority of kids...there are better options for development The HS game is big enough to survive without that odd player or 2.
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 5,659
world cup
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world cup
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 5,659 |
Daddy,
Your defense of the USSF Academy decision is excellent and you have repeatedly gone on record saying "it's about choice" and "academy isn't for everyone". I agree. Your son made a difficult choice and never looked back, and.....it worked for him. No doubt.
My concern is that USSF Academy is "sold" as a means to advance to the national team and a method to play pro soccer either abroad or here in the US. Only a small fraction of the players will ever get to this level, where they will earn a significant check for playing pro soccer.
I have to believe that 90% of the parents and players are content with a full or partial scholarship to a D1 (or D2) program as a result of participating in Academy. True, you say that you need to play at the highest club level to get the attention of high-level college coaches.
But.....what if Academy didn't exist? How would colleges recruit their players? From the various USSF Region leagues? CASL and Disney Showcases? Surf Cup? Under this model, which existed not that long ago, kids played highly competitive club soccer AND high school soccer. And the system worked.
On the boys side, are more college coaches now singing the praises of Academy, saying "I'm glad I'm now receiving players that are better skilled and more tactically aware"?
On the girls side, I've heard D1 coaches say that they are really concerned (and frustrated) that more and more good players are now "burned out" as a result of the increases in practice, games and travel that come with playing at "the highest level".
Kids play sports because they find it fun. Eliminate the fun and soon you eliminate the kid.
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,429
hat-trick
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hat-trick
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,429 |
Quote:
Daddy,
Your defense of the USSF Academy decision is excellent and you have repeatedly gone on record saying "it's about choice" and "academy isn't for everyone". I agree. Your son made a difficult choice and never looked back, and.....it worked for him. No doubt.
My concern is that USSF Academy is "sold" as a means to advance to the national team and a method to play pro soccer either abroad or here in the US. Only a small fraction of the players will ever get to this level, where they will earn a significant check for playing pro soccer.
I have to believe that 90% of the parents and players are content with a full or partial scholarship to a D1 (or D2) program as a result of participating in Academy. True, you say that you need to play at the highest club level to get the attention of high-level college coaches.
But.....what if Academy didn't exist? How would colleges recruit their players? From the various USSF Region leagues? CASL and Disney Showcases? Surf Cup? Under this model, which existed not that long ago, kids played highly competitive club soccer AND high school soccer. And the system worked.
On the boys side, are more college coaches now singing the praises of Academy, saying "I'm glad I'm now receiving players that are better skilled and more tactically aware"?
On the girls side, I've heard D1 coaches say that they are really concerned (and frustrated) that more and more good players are now "burned out" as a result of the increases in practice, games and travel that come with playing at "the highest level".
Hurst, inside the article in the Charlotte Observer was this quote from Jay Vidovich:
"Jay Vidovich, the men’ soccer coach at Wake Forest University, said top soccer players need to be seen in as many quality games as possible. He said the academy provides a better environment to help players improve and players are more advanced than non-academy players. Vidovich said his incoming freshmen are either products of the academy or European players. “If you are looking to compete at the highest level in college, you have to be in this program,”.
The system "worked" in the past because the goal was getting to college. The fact that many colleges played an ugly and unattractive style that didn't translate outside of the American college game was either not understood or people didn't care. Academy is an attempt at changing that and moving the high level American game forward. No, we will never be Spain or Brasil. But we can move in that direction.
Identifying the best and most motivated players and getting them in a 10 month, focussed environment will yield huge benefits to the American game, in time. No......the vast majority of Academy boys will never play on a national team or on an MLS or EPL team. But more kids will be approaching that level 5-7 years from now than could have been imagined 5-7 years ago.
Academy wasn't meant to tweak the status quo. It was meant to jack it up to a new level. It may work or it may not work. It may be for some kids and it may not be for others.
But its a great improvement, IMO. Time will tell.
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 261
corner kick
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corner kick
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 261 |
Reading the article, it says the Wando player will be attending college of charleston on a soccer scholarship. you would think his parents and himself would realize he's already achieved the highest reward you could ever get out of the sport of soccer in the usa, and that's a college education with a portion (most of the time) or all of it paid for because he's a good soccer player. I just don't see the upside of soccer for anyone after high school unless it gets them a college scholarship. What else can they achieve in this country in soccer. I don't see where he's going to benefit from 10 months of training with an academy team his senior year of high school, when he's attending the college of charleston the following year. Can't he achieve higher soccer goals at the college of charleston? Or does nobody go and watch mens college soccer?
What should open some parents eyes is that in baseball, football, and basketball you can play on a club team, AAU, or train if your a football player and still participate on high school teams and they don't interfere with each other. Does soccer suck so bad in the usa that usa clubs and academy's need to deprive youths from their high school years,some of the best times of their lives or are academy's and clubs just after your wallet.
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 263
Corner Kick
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Corner Kick
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 263 |
It's amazing that the three major sports in this country, football, basketball and baseball seem to survive with their athletes competing in high school sports.
How do they do it?
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,062
brace
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brace
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,062 |
Without taking sides, a few points worth noting:
1) One reason why it's easier for "other sports" to avoid the high school vs. Academy/club/AAU conflict is the consistency of high school schedules regionally and nationwide. Not so for soccer. There are fall, winter and spring schedules, depending on the state. Even a 4-month Academy schedule will conflict with SOME high school season SOMEWHERE.
2) U.S. Soccer is encouraging academies to reduce fees, and enhance "scholarship" opportunities. SCUBDA fees for 2012-13 are half those of previous years.
3) High school soccer is not free. Parents pay for uniforms, coaching stipends (through booster clubs), game tickets, food, drinks, etc. The total cost runs in the $500 range (for 3.5 months).
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 146
Goal Kick
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Goal Kick
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 146 |
IF I'M A COACH OF A HIGH SCHOOL TEAM AND HAVE A PLAYER BEING FORCED TO CHOOSE; I'M PUTTING HIM ON MY ROSTER AND SAY SHOW UP WHEN YOU CAN. NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE ME THE TOTAL INFLEXABILITY OF COACHES WITH TWO SPORT STUDENTS.SCIENTISTS LOOKING FOR THE GOD PARTICLE CAN STOP. ITS IN MOST OF THE COACHES BUTTS.
I KNOW ITS BETTER FOR PLAYERS TO PARTICIPATE IN A 10 MONTH ACADEMY WHEN IT COMES TO FUTURE COLLEGE OPPORTUNITIES BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE BLACKMAIL AND FEAR MONGERING
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,062
brace
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brace
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,062 |
I would reinforce the comments about college recruiters. Over the last 3 seasons, I've watched approximately 90 high school matches. I can count on two hands the number of times I've seen college coaches at those games, and THEN, it was clearly to monitor kids who had already committed.
Conversely, during the recent Academy playoffs in Dallas, I saw dozens of coaches, with a minimum of 5-10 schools represented at each match.
Guess what I'm saying is, Academy is NOT done at the expense of the traditional "American" college/education model. In fact, practically speaking, it generally supports and serves that model.
The concepts are not mutually exclusive.
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 2,256 Likes: 2
Coach
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Coach
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 2,256 Likes: 2 |
Quote:
3) High school soccer is not free. Parents pay for uniforms, coaching stipends (through booster clubs), game tickets, food, drinks, etc. The total cost runs in the $500 range (for 3.5 months).
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I can only speak definitively for the two schools where I have coached, but in those cases, coaching stipends certainly have not come from parents/booster clubs. Uniforms have been primarily bought through the school athletic department budget and have been supplemented by booster club general funds and team fundraising through the booster club. In no case has there been a mandatory player/parent fee for uniforms (or anything else, for that matter); players are responsible for acquiring cleats and shinguards but all other items of uniform, equipment and transportation are provided by the school, and in no case do coaches receive money for services rendered from parents or the booster club with the exception of approved (with receipt) booster club reimbursement for expenses incurred.
The other expenses--tickets, food and drink, etc.--are optional according to the parents' ability/willingness to support their players and the team; some contribute a lot, some a little, each according to their means, so you can't really say there is any set "cost" for high school soccer that is comparable to club/Academy fees and there is no inclusion/exclusion of players based on ability to pay fees to the school or booster club.
I realize that other school programs may operate on very different models, but that's how we do things here in Berkeley County.
I've got good news and bad news...
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 261
corner kick
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corner kick
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 261 |
i think this post started out that a wando soccer player had to make a decision about playing hs or academy. why would the wando family care about a college coach coming to watch their son play at an academy event when he's already committed to the college of charleston?
$500 cost for hs soccer... I don't think so. my child played 4 years in hs went to the state finals 3x (4 extra games a year)it was maybe $200-$250 a year. Our hs football program revenue supported soccer. they let us know that our freshman year, by saying "YOU WILL WORK THE CONCESSION STAND AT FOOTBALL GAMES". my child played in front of more people in high school than i've ever seen at a college soccer (D1, D2) or club game (Disney, State, Regionals). i just don't get what some parents expect to achieve for their child by pushing the hell out of them for 10 months of soccer a year. Heck Major League Baseball is only 7 months, NFL 6 months. And yet your asking a HS kid to commit to 10 months of soccer. WOW!
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