SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Have Club Soccer commitments gone to far for our kids?

As far as losing 25+ players, to be blunt, if there heart isn't in it, they don't need to play. It is costly to travel and it is not fair to those whose #1 love is soccer. Playing with a team of no subs or 1 or 2 in which all kids are there because they want to be is way more fun than playing with people who don't care. Small pool means more playing time and more individual attention at training.

Just asking hard questions so we can make a decision re our family member. Here's my next question. I was told and I could be wrong, that d1 and d2 college soccer programs on the girls side only have 12 scholarships available for rosters that are 25-30 players. If these numbers are correct. It seems like scholarship money is spread a little thin for girls college soccer. I was told girls college basketball has 15 scholarships available for an 18 person roster. It seems like college scholarship dollars are more plentiful for basketball than soccer. Are these numbers correct? Is it safe to say no high school girls soccer player is going to get a full athletic scholarship in soccer?

letme: maybe your club doesn't have the negatives that I've heard about the big club in the upstate. Maybe we should look into your club. Which one is it?

gbd, I'm having a hard time following just what it is you are trying to say...you seem to have some sort of adgenda. But I can not figure out what it is.

If you are truly wanting to know about commitment level time and cost ect... here it is in a nut shell.

Like everything else in life it is what you make of if. It can be as time consuming and costly as you want it to be. It is all about what the individual player wants to get out of the experience. It is not about what club they play for, every club in SC offers programs that will get a player to the level they desire.

POP: So your saying if your child fully commits to a club (money and effort) the club can guarantee your child playing D1 college soccer and getting scholarship money? What clubs would you recomend to put her in this situation and what clubs would you stay aeay from because their just trying to make a buck.

gbd: to play D1 college soccer there are several avenues that should be followed:

1. Play Region III Premier (whichever club holds those 2-3 spots in your kid's age group) and / or ECNL

2. Play ODP

3. Go to camps...clubs do not get the kids scholarships...they provide an avenue to be showcased

I should have listed this first: make sure it is your child's desire is to play D1! This is the most important thing to consider!

gdb: No one can guarantee anything when it comes to scholarships or even playing D1 and I never said or implied that they could!!! Anyone who has their child playing solely because they are expecting their child to get a scholarship is doing it for the wrong reason.

I'm still a little confused about where you are going with this. You started this thread and asked if people thought the commitments for club soccer were hurting the high school experience. Now you are asking which sport (basketball or soccer) should a child play to have the best shot at a scholarship.

I can tell you from experience that contrary to the popular belief on this forum you DO NOT have to play R3PL, ECNL, USSFDA, ODP to be offered a scholarship to play in college. My daughter that graduated this past year was actively recruited and offered scholarship money by 2 colleges (one private, one D1). My daughter did not play ODP and was only on a R3PL team one year, she played her last 2 years in the SCSCL and on her school team. Ironically, after 14 years of playing soccer she decided she was finished. She is not going to play in college and is not going to either one of the schools that offered soccer money.

As a side note - Both colleges applied the lottery money, academic money and any other monies they could dig up before they made any sort of athletic offer. In total is was enough to cover the cost at either school. I throw that out there to point out the importance of the academics not just the athletics.

The best advice I could give is let the child decide!

SoccerPOP is right; if you're just trying to figure out how to get money for college, soccer and any sport is NOT the way to do it. The way to do that is to do well in school and earn academic money because there is a hundred times more academic financial aid available than there will ever be athletic.

And again, you can make whatever you want of soccer; whether it's playing at the highest level because you think it's fun, but won't go for it, or if you're playing Challenge League because there's not a PL team close by and you do want to play in college. You can make it work and still have a life and do a whole lot of stuff outside if you do it correctly.

Kids should play because they're having fun and enjoying it, not because it's to get money or please their parents or pad a CV.

However, you seem to want a specific answer as to what to do regarding this family member, so here's as specific as I can be:
Talk to the coaches to get an average on how many games the player will participate in throughout the season. Then sit down with the child and lay it out for them and be clear about approximately how many games will be played and how much work will go into playing during the year. Lay out continued expectations regarding grades and responsibilities that continue despite the playing time--and not in a mean or scary way that intends to frighten them into a decision either.

Then ask the PLAYER what SHE wants to do and let her do it.

If she's U18, it sounds like she's probably a senior. It may be her last year to hang out with fellow players and teammates and play this competitively and it's a year she should enjoy as much as possible while still working hard. She's almost an adult; almost out of the home and having to take care of herself at college. I think she's probably ready to sit down and decide whether or not this CESA team is one SHE wants to play for, not one her family thinks she should.