SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums SCHSSCA Utilizing High Schools More for Player Development - NSCAA Soccer Journal

After reading the May/June edition of Soccer Journal, produced by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, I wanted to share Southern Methodist University's men's coach Schellas Hyndman's article entitled, "British Invasion -- Influx of English academies should be a call to arms for the U.S.".

quote:

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In every other mainstream sport in the U.S., high schools are considered a major part of player development. We may be missing a great opportunity by not utilizing them more in our sport.

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"One possible area, which often is overlooked in our country, is high school soccer. If we look at the situation from the outside, the high schools provide a load of resources that are not being utilized. Our high school coaches see the players every day, often have good facilities and have many resources funded by state and local taxes. In every other mainstream sport in the U.S., high schools are considered a major part of player development. We may be missing a great opportunity by not utilizing them more in our sport.

In manny cities youngsters do not play high school soccer and concentrate only on their club teams. With the resources at a school's disposal, we may be denying a great opportunity to our players. If we can support and educate the high school coach, this could be a good area for players to get a daily training program. The NSCAA is committed to educating coaches on how to train teams and players. High school coaches are one area that we are striving to serve more professionally. We believe that as we help these coaches, we could see a direct reflection of their improvement in their players."

I would love to see some comments about Hyndman's article and also encourage all soccer coaches in South Carolina to join the NSCAA.

SO TRUE.............

Careers for coaches and players are built in the highschools. And if development of players both PHYSICALLY and technically is taken up by the coaches at this level, the sport will undoutedly benefit on all levels.

Clubs are great for further technical and tactical development but the missing piece is that colleges cannot recruit from clubs (Note, I didn't say players couldn't be discovered)

For functional and sports related physical development in the midstate, I know one particular organization that has worked with many of the coaches from other sports and has done some excellent work, especially in terms of the physical development of female athletes.

>> [DDF] Clubs are great for further technical and tactical development but the missing piece is that colleges cannot recruit from clubs (Note, I didn't say players couldn't be discovered)<<

Could you explain a bit more of what you mean by this -- I'm confused by the "from" reference. How is a player recruited "from" anywhere? Where do players get recruited "from" who don't play in high school?

I'm not challenging you on this, I'm simply trying to understand.

CHICO,

Not taken as a challenge <smile>

First let me try and answer this question:
Where do players get recruited "from" who don't play in high school?

As noted in previous post, I dind't say that they couldn't be noticed or discovered through the club process, many have. What I attempted to communicate "probably not clearly" is that before playing in college all student athletes must be eligible academically, and that process can only be varified through the education system. (A little different for those home schooled but the process is generally the same)

As we know colleges cannot "leagally" talk to an athlete about attending their school and joining there team until they are Juniors. This does not mean they cannot talk to the athlete, give tips, or encouragement in other settings, but they have guidlines that must be followed. It just means that they cannot walk up to a freshman and or a sophmore who plays in high school or on a club team and say hey, we are interested in you and want to talk more about you about joining our program.

There are a number of websites that address this but these are some good definitions to start in your search engine.

Frequently-Asked Questions on
Recruiting Definitions

Contact period - permissible for authorized athletic department staff members to make in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations.

Dead period - not permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on- or off-campus or permit official or unofficial visits.

Evaluation period - permissible for authorized athletics department staff to be involved in
off-campus activities to assess academic qualifications and playing abililties. No in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts with a prospect are permitted.

Quiet period - permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts only on the member institution's campus.

Detailed information about recruiting is available in the online edition of the NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete.


I often here athletes and parents talk about speaking with college recruiters in their first two years in highschool or before. In my travels and work with all sports, I know that most coaches and recruiters are very very careful about what they say to athletes and their parents in these years because it is a big downer for that school, if even the wrong perception is given. Therefore, I wanted to note, that highschools, and highschool coaches could play a mayjor role during that period where athletes are often left with allot of questions. As far as development, I think the clubs are a great avenue, but also feel like the coach from SMU, I believe we are not taking advantage of all of the resources avaiable at the highschools like other sports do in the country. As for physical development in general, I believe most highschool programs lack in this area and that is not a hit on the coach or the program just see too many athlete's, especially females come out of highschool with great skill, and or technical ability (all sports) and about 2-3 years behind in their overall physical development.

DDF: Thanks, I think I understand where you're coming from. Your perspective is that players are recruited "from high schools" because that's where they get their high school grades [with the exception, as you note, of home schooled children.] I had just never thought of players being recruited "from" anywhere [except maybe their parents, since parents tend to be the ones who pay less money if athletic/academic scholarships are offered ] before but rather by a process that included all athletic/academic achievement. In any case, thanks for a different perspective on this.

[P.S. Unfortunately, I am too well acquainted with the horrific NCAA recruiting rules. An eighth grader can work out with a college team but the day she starts ninth grade she can't if a coach is there -- pretty ridiculous.]

Kyle: To your main point. As a parent, what frustrates me the most about high school is the seemingly impenetrable labrynth of bureacracy that exists for someone trying to figure out a way to help the high school promote soccer. Last year, I started this thread concerning trying to take the baby step of trying to help get soccer added as a "paired PE activity" at Lexington High School; I ended up being defeated and skulked away.

I don't think that there's any doubt that Coach Hyndman is correct, and would further posit that there are untapped resources available to soccer coaches and AD's from many parents of players; but trying to figure out how to connect points A and B is almost impossible in my experience.

Chico - At Brookland-Cayce HS we started an Advanced Soccer Class last year as an alternative P.E. credit.

The intent was to have all "soccer players" in the class, and 75% of the class was comprised of boys/girls soccer players from the high school teams, but the other 25% were kids just put in there to have something to do. Needless to say, they did not cotton to three days of lifting per week + conditioning and weren't particularly interested in the cultural side of the game that I had fun teaching and sharing with the students.

The class was assigned to a PE teacher, but I gave up my planning block three times a week in order to provide this course. Unless your HS coach is PE certified, it can be difficult convincing your administration to offer this course, but in my case it worked out well and I'm pursuing the opportunity for an enhanced class next school year with the possibility of teaching "out of field" for one course.

The class was an excellent addition and we covered everything from the evolution of the game to the role of youth soccer in America, to the different leagues offered around the world. It was truly an educational experience. The students would tell you that there was "too much running/conditioning" but it sure beat having to come in before/after school in the fall to address this component of our program. True, not all players had the opportunity to take the class, but enough did to make it worthwhile.

The added bonus though (in retrospect) was the development that occurred with some of our female players as a result of competing with the boys on a regular basis. I really believe that it helped their mental approach as much as anything.

In short (to a lengthy response), find a HS certified coach to take on this responsibility and encourage your players to ask for this opportunity and you may be able to add a class at your school.