SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer IMG

Do you really need to send a player to a soccer institute like IMG in order for her to be successful? Can high quality players be developed through normal club and HS avenues or does one truly have to sacrifice family and childhood friends to truly make it?

Guess that depends on your definition of success...the majority seem to reach a level they're more than satisfied with in their "natural" environment. I'd like to hope that the players, though, have that choice rather than just being "sent off"...that has such a Soviet ring to it...

Jr:
NO, you can be successful in SC by sending your daughter to CESA, and taking advantage of all they have to offer. My daughter trains and plays with CESA every chance she gets.

Coach Chass:
My daughter likes the Soviet lifestyle.

Are kids ready for a college atmosphere at 15 years of age? I have no doubt whatsoever that their skill level improves. The success rate of such academies speaks for itself...but at what cost? Is a combined HS/45 minute club drive not enough for kids hoping to reach the college ranks? Birthday parties, prom, and homecoming are out the window all for some more intense training and the hope we produce more Marta's on US soil. Where do we draw the line?

If she likes it, then it's not so Soviet!

Soviet is more like, "You vill report to the trainink grounds at 0600 for your reconditionink. Your family unt friends are dead to you now. All you do now is for the glory of your comrades unt the Motherland."

*insert long, poignant close-up of the girl looking wistfully backwards at her home and the memories of lost childhood as the train pulls slowly but inexorably away from the station.*

Dale Jr:
An academy like IMG is very similar to sending a child to a prep or boarding school. The average child that attends a boarding school does extremely well in college and even better in life.

Again, I agree...an academy like IMG is very similar to sending a child to boarding school.

SF, agreed. However, sending a kid away to a school merely to get better at soccer seems...a little dramatic. I guess my topic is debating: Why send a kid 10 hours away from family and childhood friends when all that they need is within one hour?

I'd compare the social skills in a largely scaled down model to that of a home schooled child. Nothing wrong with home schooling whatsoever. They excel in academics and other areas requiring above average IQ's. I just don't think they could hold a conversation with my neighbor's public school kid as well as other "mainstream" children. What do you talk about when you're around normal kids at church or in your neighborhood when all you do is eat, sleep, and breathe soccer?

True, a quality club with a quality trainer are prime ingredients to becoming successful. A kid who wants to excel must take it a step further; individual soccer training coupled with individual physical training in addition to club training gives a kid an opportunity to become exceptional and separate themselves from mediocrity. High school or club ball alone "won't get it".

And, really it all starts with a kid's desire - if a kid wants to do it, there won't be any "sacrifices" as they become an exceptional soccer player...