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I don't think anyone will question the importance of a high school education, but I'm not sure the same can be said about high school soccer. Apparently the tide has been shifting towards emphasizing club play and development leagues.

Let's talk about high school soccer

Please...
It amazes me how few of the other US sports that compete at international levels insist on the narrow-minded stance that high school play gets in the way. Imagine telling basketball players that high school play is a detriment to their development. Yet, our US basketball, baseball and volleyball teams, to name a few, compete quite well internationally. Again, we are side-stepping the real problem in the development of our US soccer youth. That is that we identify youth soccer players according to the size of mamma’s purse and not talent. Our ID programs price kids out of participation. I was recently at a regional ODP camp and I can honestly say that few, if any, players in our age group were athletic and technical! But, they could all afford the trip.

This is what I was saying in my post on the club side. US Soccer has basically, implicitly or not, given the old up-yours to high school soccer and high school coaches every where. Luckily I can use my dual citizenship to pull for the Dutch, but I feel sorry for the rest of you guys.

The irony is that sure, in other countries 15 and 16 year olds play ten month season. So do 19 and 20 year olds. But the USSF is too chicken to take on the length of the college season. I've always felt, based on observations of youth teams in Europe, that players from the States were very close to their equal. But the gap opens when, worldwide, 18-19 year olds go pro and play 10 month seasons, while in the states we have college.

IF USSF is serious about improving the national pool, it needs to encourage players not only to quit high school, but to forego college as well. It needs to provide agents to the DA players and get them jobs in some of the better world leagues after they graduate from high school. Until then, it's all sound and fury.

In my opinion High School works for football, baseball, and basketball... yes. Most of those successful programs have kids playing year round, plus

Football in the upstate have dedicated weight training classes blocked out for the last period of the day...football players only
they have dedicated strength coaches...
they have 100,000 coaches...
they get fired if they do not win enough...
they want to win football games... if you do not believe me read the Palmetto football sight and all the talk about firing coach Brown at SHS... with an 8-3 record

how many high school soccer programs can be described in this way?

how many european clubs could be described in that way?
Probably more the later than the former.

We know what to do, but will not do it for a soccer team, across the US as a whole... until then we are toast.

Which raises the question...do we really want to turn high school soccer into a cutthroat, survival-of-the-fittest environment, or should high school soccer be a balance of competition, player development, character development, and a complement to overall education, and let those elite who seek the first description have their other options without our complaint?

I will reiterate my "shades of gray" argument. While I see your point, allow me to say that many Academy kids aren't cutthroat or "elite." They're normal kids, who love representing their schools as part of a virtual year-round schedule that includes BOTH high school and Academy soccer. There's nothing inherently good or bad about EITHER level of competition, and the BLEND does many kids a world of good.

Indeed, though many Academy gurus look down on high school soccer, they might do better to assure the cleanliness of their own houses first. Over the last few years, I've had the opportunity to observe Academy "done right" and "done wrong" by dozens of programs at venues across the country. Not all Academy soccer is great, or elite, or even particularly good.

At the same time, I have seen top-level high-school sides that would be competitive versus Academy sides, and, at the other end of the spectrum, some brutally bad high school sides, loosely "coached" by football assistants looking for nothing more than an out-of-season coaching stipend. THAT'S the strongest case for Academy exclusivity, and I can't deny it happens.

For the most part though, Academy kids in this state come from competitive high school programs, and I don't think that's a coincidence. You can argue the chicken-and-egg of it, but I suspect that's MOSTLY because strong high school sides have broader access to kids who have been raised in the game from a fairly young age. BEFORE Academy, that is. The Academy tends to recruit more-or-less "made" players. I have not seen our Academy identify a pure athlete and attempt to "coach" him into soccer. Nor am I totally convinced that all Academy sides even attempt to fulfill the "development" mandate. In some instances, Academy soccer bears a depressing resemblance to AAU basketball, where kids (and coaches) are essentially showcasing themselves to college programs.

So, Coach, in response to your question, you (and your Academy counterparts) SHOULD have the kids' best interests at heart. I believe you do. I hope you do. I can't say the same for everyone in the ongoing discussion, many of whom have a financial interest in the outcome.

I just wish the USSF would look at the current structure that exists and realize high school soccer is established as part of American culture, 99.999% of kids go to high school at some point, what can then be done to work with high school coaches and make high school soccer better. I think that's a shame.

Hey, Todd,

I'm with you, and I think you've made some great posts with insights into this issue. I don't think it's the Academy kids themselves who are forcing these choices at all. Mine was in response to the previous post about the demand to win and coaches with 8-3 seasons getting fired...that is not an environment I'd like to see in high school soccer just to satisfy someone's idea of what it takes to be "competitive"...I think there is a balance point where we can provide a lot of benefit to players of multiple levels, both on and off the field. I think the Academy can support that and still develop competitive players as well. And I think it's awfully tough to be the young people who get caught in the crossfire of two sides who don't seem to want to cooperate.

I agree completely with you, Will. And thank you for your kind words.

All: sorry for the confusion... my post was more about resources, and a system not a cut throat thing.