SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer Academy Players Can't Play High School Soon?

Very interesting subject indeed. The way I have always looked at this and the reason I see a real benefit for some players to only play academy and not high school is that there is more soccer development momentum in the academy program. High school soccer is lots of fun for the kids and no one can discount that. The joy of competing in front of your peers week after week and enjoying the accolades in the lunch room cannot be matched by the academy experience. However, for players who are talented as the academy players generally are, the high school season for the most part is an interruption of a highly optimized training regimen that is neccessary for players to achieve their highest potential. There are a couple of reasons why this is so.
1. For high school soccer the, emphasis is on winning as opposed to development.
2. Since the academy players are generally more developed than their fellow high school players, the coach will not focus on their development needs in high school because they will have their hands full with other needy players.
3. The academy players will not be pushed in practice or in the majority of games to play at a high level because of a lack of skill in their team mates and in the opposition.

Yes we are lagging behind in soccer development when compared to europe. In europe once a kid is identified as having soccer potential, they are given a lot of structured assistance to develop that potential to its highest level. Indeed some kids drop off, that will always happen, but atleast they are given a chance to really focus their efforts on becoming a professional soccer player. For successful development, it is crucial that the soccer player masters a certain aspect of their development at each stage. By 13yrs of age, the soccer player should have sound technical skills for first touch, ball striking, passing and dribbling. By the time they are 17 they should have a good mastery of tactical play, positioning for different formations, moving, cutting off passing lanes. The successfully developed player will need so much time to master these skills at a high level. We know that these kids still need to be in school and get a good education. If they are to have any chance to compete with the international kids they need all the extra time to be focused on highly organized training.
High School soccer greatly interrupts the needed development process for academy players and significantly impacts their ability to maximize their full soccer potential by hindering sustained development.

Just a few questions. I, like Coach Pelton, am not familiar with the Academy system. I coached in the Aiken Soccer Club for a number of years before moving back to Charleston and I saw an Aiken Fire Team in the early 2000's that had some of the best youth players I have ever seen. Some went on to play at some big Division 1 schools (Furman, Kentucky). This was before the Academy concept but was the beginning of the Super Y days

Is it the goal of the academy programs to develop professional soccer players? If not, what is the goal?
If they don't make it to that level, was the program a failure?
How many players from the state of SC in the past 10-15 years have made it to a professional level?
(I see Zach Prince from Irmo playing in a part time role for the Battery.)

S.C. pros since 1995 that I know of:

Hunter Gilstrap, Lexington HS (Clemson/Charleston) -- Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Cleveland City Stars, Maritzburg United, Miami FC
Erik Ozimek, Spring Valley HS (Maryland/Davidson) -- San Jose Earthquakes, DC United, Portland Timbers, Atlanta Silverbacks, Charlotte Eagles
Zach Prince, Irmo HS (Charleston) -- Charleston Battery
Troy Lesesne, Brookland-Cayce HS (Charleston) -- Charleston Battery, Wilmington Hammerheads
John Wilson, Seneca HS (Clemson) -- Charleston Battery, Kansas City Wizards, Rochester Rhinos, DC United

I'm President of SCUtd FC Development Academy - but this is my personal opinion and not a club position:

USSF created the Development Academy after studying many youth soccer programs around the world. The aim is to develop a broader, deeper and better pool of men's soccer players from which our national teams can draw. The focus is on player development - full stop. Team performance (wins and losses) is only incidental to that focus, and not a focus in itself. The Federation is much more interested in how many players a club places in a national team pool than it is in the number of games a team or club wins.

Academy clubs are about identifying and training the best players they can find and giving them the opportunity to play a game schedule that is highly competitive and challenging each and every time. No one expects many Academy players from any particular club to make national teams or play professionally, but some will. Because they tend to be the best of the best, nearly all will play in college if they want to do so. Most colleges, particularly D1, now focus almost exclusively on the DA. Any exceptions just serve to prove the rule. All one has to do is look at the commitment lists and the clubs from which the players are coming.

In my opinion, HS soccer impedes the development of elite players. It is an interregnum of generally poor competition where even the very best teams only play a handful (if that) of competitive games in 20+ game season. That said, there are other factors (school spirit, playing with and in front of friends, etc.) worth considering. I have no idea whether those factors will carry the day in the long-run on the HS/no HS debate. For me, the question is: Is it "better" for a young man to play what amounts to an all-star game every weekend or not? I say - yes. But, reasonable minds can differ.

Thank you HappyDaddy for that explanation.
I love high school soccer and what it stands for but understand that it isn't the best competition. Wando has won our region 10 years in a row and could continue to win it for the next 10 years (it helps they have twice the student body as us but that is a different story for a different day).

Developing players is great but when does winning become important? Don't players need to learn how to win? You can't tell me that Wando kids didn't benefit more from winning 20+ they did versus playing in an academy league in which they have a .500 or losing record.
"You play to win the game" Herman Edwards. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

How much does the average kid pay to play in SCUtd FC Development Academy?

Alister,

FWIW, there was a significant period of time when Stratford's enrollment matched Wando's (pre-Cane Bay). That said, you guys were hurt by some defection to Pinewood, much as Wando basketball lost a bunch of kids to preps in the early 2000s.

The SC Academy sides generally win more than they lose. For example, both the U18 and U16 sides won versus Atlanta Fire this past weekend in Buford, GA.

The player development vs. winning discussion is a long-time conundrum for minor league baseball, where major league teams groom prospects. My opinion is, "development" comes first, but is most readily achieved in a positive, winning environment. That is, the best of both worlds.

IH:
While I agree that the Academy doesn't have "all" of the "best" players (for whatever reasons), I would argue that the sheer number of Academy-trained kids at Wando, Irmo, Cardinal Newman, Pinewood and Myrtle Beach contributed MIGHTILY to those programs' success during the recently concluded season.

For example, all 4 goals in the Class AAAA title game were scored by Academy kids, and except for Burkholder's great long throw, assisted by Academy kids.

Backscreen, you are correct about enrollment. I started at Stratford 5 years ago at the beginning of the decine in attendance and we didn't lose anything to Cane Bay that would help us. Stratford's bigger issue is not enough kids playing competative club soccer in the fall.

How long has the academy program been around?