SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Decision Time- Club or High School

In summary; the organization that rules elite high school club soccer is making it a 10 months season. This organization is the soccer equivalent of AAU basketball. Elite high school soccer players are now faced with the choice of playing with their high school team OR playing club soccer. In the past they have been able to play both just like AAU and high school league basketball. Since its now going to be a 10 month season. Kids are being forced to skip their senior year in high school in order to be able to play elite club soccer. Its pretty sad that in order to get the best instruction in the country you most forgo your senior year.

Here is the story in this morning's Post and Courier:


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Top soccer players forced to choose between high schools, elite clubs
Jeff Hartsell Posted: Sunday, July 15, 2012 12:17 a.m.
UPDATED: Sunday, July 15, 2012 12:24 a.m. Text size: A A A


Lowcountry soccer player Christian Jablonski won’t be able to play his senior season at Wando High School due to his commitment to U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy program.
A rising senior at Wando High School, Christian Jablonski is one of the best soccer players in the state. He’s verbally committed to College of Charleston and plays for the elite S.C. United Battery Development Academy team.

Wando is one of the top high school programs in the state, with a Class AAAA state title in 2011 and a runner-up finish this year. The Development Academy squad is one of 78 in the U.S. Soccer Federation’s system, an attempt to produce world-class American players.

Wando High School



Wando High School coach Shilo Tisdale said he could lose as many as 15 players to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy due to new U.S. Soccer Federation rules. (Wade Spees/postandcourier.com)

Wando soccer player Christian Jablonski will give up his senior season with the Warriors so that he can play for the elite S.C. United Battery Development Academy team. Staff/File
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For the past three years, Jablonski has been able to play for both teams. He represented Wando during the three-month high school season while honing his skills for much of the rest of the year with the Development Academy squad.

But starting this summer, Jablonski and other top players in the Lowcountry and across the nation will have to make a choice. A new policy handed down by U.S. Soccer will make the Development Academy a nearly year-round commitment, rendering it impossible for its athletes to also play for their high schools.

Jablonski has already decided to give up his senior season at Wando in order to commit to the Development Academy’s 10-month schedule of training and matches. It’s a decision he did not reach easily.

“What hurts the most is knowing that I won’t be able to have a senior season at Wando,” Jablonski said. “It’s hard to give that up. It’s a tough decision for anybody to have to make, but especially for high school kids, to stick with a high-level academy team or represent your school.”

Fierce debate

It’s a decision that many in the youth soccer community feel high school players should not have to make. The move by U.S. Soccer — believed to be the first time a major team sport’s national organization has attempted to prevent some of its members from playing for high school teams — has sparked debate among parents and coaches, and on Internet message boards.

It would be akin to AAU basketball programs telling players not to play for their high school teams, said Kevin Heise, veteran coach at Brookland-Cayce High School and associate chairman of the S.C. High School Soccer Coaches Association.

“Right now, our leaders in youth soccer believe this is the way to go,” said Heise. “And they’ve strong-armed a lot of our states into buying into it. As a result, we might have a generation of guys who won’t have the chance to play high school soccer.”

To put the issue in perspective, there are about 400,000 boys playing high school soccer in the U.S. The 78 Development Academy teams in the U.S. Soccer system include about 4,000 players. That means the new policy impacts only one percent of boys high school soccer players.

But it’s the top one percent, and Heise said the loss of even one Development Academy player can have a huge impact on a high school team.

Some schools, such as Wando, stand to lose much more. The Warriors have at least 13 players on S.C. United’s 2012-13 roster. Other schools represented on S.C. United’s roster include James Island Charter and Bishop England, as well as Columbia-area schools Cardinal Newman, Dreher, Blythewood and Dutch Fork.

“It’s unfortunate that kids are having to make a choice between playing high school and for the academy,” said Wando coach Shilo Tisdale, who maintains that U.S. Soccer is forcing thousands of players to give up high school soccer to produce a few world-class players at the other end of the system.

Heise and Tisdale point out that while Development Academy clubs affiliated with some Major League Soccer teams are fully funded, players — or more precisely, their parents — must pay to play for others, such as S.C. United.

“If it is completely free, like in MLS cities, and they are truly taking the best players in the state, I have no problem with it,” said Heise, who also coaches club soccer. “But some kids pay up to $4,000 a year to play academy soccer and are giving up four years of high school soccer.

“You have politics at work, and issues with kids who cannot pay to play. Are we truly identifying the best 18 players?”

Parents, such as Christian Jablonski’s father Richard, have seen their sons benefit from both Development Academy training, and the social and leadership skills and recognition gained in high school soccer.

“In my perfect world, the kids would be able to make one of three choices,” Richard Jablonski said. “Play for their high school or the academy, or be allowed to do both, as has been the case in previous years.

“I truly wish the adults could arrive at an accommodation that would allow the kids to do both, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Kids face divided loyalties between programs and coaches they love and respect. It’s an unfair burden to place on kids, the vast majority of whom will never play a minute for the U.S. national team.”

European model

U.S. Soccer officials argue that expanding the Development Academy system, which began in 2007, will move America closer to the youth soccer models in the rest of the world. Even under the new system, Development Academy teams will train from 200 to 260 hours per season, compared with close to 600 hours in some European countries.

“They are trying to improve the level for the elite player, that’s the goal,” said Clark Brisson, executive director of S.C. United Battery Academy. “Whether we agree on how they are going about it or not, it doesn’t really matter at this point. Culturally, I understand playing high school soccer. I enjoyed high school soccer in my career and grew up with it. It’s just something that we’ll have to see whether it works out or not.”

Brisson emphasized that S.C. United Battery Academy had “zero input” in the U.S. Soccer decision, and that the Battery Academy asked for a waiver so that its players could play for their high schools next spring. The waiver was denied, he said.

“I support all soccer,” he said. “I don’t see why the two can’t co-exist. But that’s for higher-ups to make that decision.”

The level of training at the Development Academy is difficult to replicate in high school, Heise and Tisdale admit. Christian Jablonski said that’s why he chose the academy over Wando.

“With our academy, I get a chance to be in a very professional and elite environment every day, and that’s what I love,” he said.

“I want to be in that environment all the time. I think Wando is an exception in that we have a good core of Academy guys. But some high schools don’t have that.”

Forcing a European model on scholastic sports in the U.S. is awkward at best, Heise said.

“Most of our kids aspire to go to college and succeed in the real world,” Heise said.

“The idea that all 4,000 kids are going to be pro soccer players is a farce. And some people have construed it that way, and that can be misleading to impressionable teenagers.”

Both Heise and Tisdale said the quality of high school soccer could suffer, and the balance of power in the state could shift. The Greenville area’s top club program, Carolina Elite Soccer Academy, allows its athletes to play for high school teams.

“It will impact teams for the next couple of years,” Tisdale said.

“But then like everything else that’s pretty new, the newness will wear off and people will adjust.”

Some say high school soccer will become more like high school tennis and gymnastics, where top athletes already often skip scholastic competition.

Even in sports like basketball and baseball, college recruiters pay more attention to AAU teams and travel squads than to high school games.

Meanwhile, players such as Christian Jablonski will face a new reality when the high school season rolls around next spring.

“I’ll be out supporting the team, just like the seniors who graduated did last year for us,” he said.

“The greatest thing about Wando soccer is that we are a family, and when we move on we still come out and support the guys.

“I might not be a part of the team, but we’ll all still be part of the family together.”

This piece posted from Tigernet.

7/15/12

Official article from The Post and Courier

Wando's Christian Jablonski

Top soccer players forced to choose between high schools, elite clubs
Jeff Hartsell

The article should be entitled SOME top soccer players forced to choose- if Wando stands to lose up to 15 players to academy and couldnt beat a team for the State that had ZERO academy players then it proves the point the academy has a lot of work to do-
As far as the balance of power goes it has always been in the uppoer state and that wont change-

This was in the Charlotte Observer a couple of weeks ago:

Academy wants players fulltime
New policy forces athletes to choose between high school and club competition

Elite male soccer players must choose this fall between high school and club competition. A policy established earlier this year by the U.S. Soccer Academy will not allow club players to compete for their school teams. The U.S. Soccer Federation, which oversees all of the men’s and women’s soccer programs in the U.S., introduced its developmental academy program in 2007 in partnership with the top clubs in the country. North Carolina has four clubs in the program: Charlotte Soccer Academy and North Meck Soccer Club, and Carolina Fusion (Greensboro) and Capital Area Soccer League (Raleigh). There are about 3,000 athletes nationwide in the program. Charlotte Soccer Academy and North Meck Soccer club each have academy teams for ages 15-16 and 17-18. Rosters are set at 20 players with 18 allowed to play in matches. That’s 80 athletes in the program.

Under the policy, the developmental season runs from September to June. Postseason play continues into July.
The format is similar to elite soccer programs around the world. Some academy teams in Texas and on the West Coast have gone to the 10-month schedule. The goal, some officials say, is to close the performance gap between this country and other elite soccer nations. In the past, North Carolina academy teams started play in December. Bill Finneyfrock, Providence Day School’s head soccer coach and executive director of Charlotte United Futbol Club, said the change is not needed. Charlotte United Futbol Club is an independent local organization. “High school soccer might be some of the biggest games of their lives,” he said. “It only hurts the kids,” he said. “It puts the players in the middle of two competing factions. Whether it is from the influence of a high school or college coach or the academy coach, the player could be pulled in the wrong direction.” Finneyfrock said not allowing athletes to play high school soccer will erode the fan base of the high school teams and hurt rivalries. Jeff Mercado, head soccer coach at Ardrey Kell High disagreed. “It’s about time,” he said. “It is the right decision for the game.”

Jack Miller III, a sophomore at Charlotte Catholic High School, decided to play for his high school rather than for the academy team. “We did not win a state championship last year,” Miller said. “I want to help my team compete and win a state championship this year. Plus, my education is important to me. I do very well in school but practicing four nights a week, traveling out of town for games and competing both days might hurt my school work.” He said the coaches at Charlotte Soccer Academy supported his decision.

The current N.C. High School Athletic Association season starts in August and, based on playoffs, runs into November. The academy season use to start the following month. “The teams would travel to a showcase in December,” said Brad Wylde, Charlotte Soccer Academy executive director. “We get the high school players approximately two weeks prior to the showcase. … They begin to play higher-level teams. Our players are often fatigued, out of game shape and poorly trained.” Wylde said he understood both sides. “Representing your school is important,” he said.
He said high school coaching is not up to par with developmental academy coaching.
“When these players come to us at the end of their season, they have to catch up,” he said. “We want the players all the time. This has been a cause for contention.”
Finneyfrock said “My coaches here at Providence Day School are all USSF ‘A’ licensed coaches. If we do not know what we are doing, then it’s the federation’s fault. There is rarely a high school coach not qualified to properly train and prepare the players.”
The 10-month season will allow training three or four times per week. Another advantage is the ability to play matches against high-level competition in front of college recruiters. Jay Vidovich, the men’ soccer coach at Wake Forest University, said top soccer players need to be seen in as many quality games as possible. He said the academy provides a better environment to help players improve and players are more advanced than non-academy players. Vidovich said his incoming freshmen are either products of the academy or European players. “If you are looking to compete at the highest level in college, you have to be in this program,” Wylde said. “Division I college coaches prefer the developmental showcases and national championship matches. Some lower-level Division I coaches will travel to regional soccer matches.”

Finneyfrock said academy soccer showcases do help college coaches recruit. These coaches can travel to a few central locations and see all the players instead of watching high school matches or club matches, he said.
“Being the 15th player on an academy team does not mean you will play for a major Division I soccer program,” Finneyfrock said. “Charlotte United Futbol Club has a U-18 team with as many Division I players accepting scholarship offers as North Mecklenburg Soccer, Carolina Fusion, or other academy teams. “Why can the United States product professional football players, professional basketball and baseball players and do it through high school,” he said. “We do not hear these sports saying that high school athletics are terrible.”

"Heise and Tisdale point out that while Development Academy clubs affiliated with some Major League Soccer teams are fully funded, players — or more precisely, their parents — must pay to play for others, such as S.C. United.

“If it is completely free, like in MLS cities, and they are truly taking the best players in the state, I have no problem with it,” said Heise, who also coaches club soccer. “But some kids pay up to $4,000 a year to play academy soccer and are giving up four years of high school soccer.

“You have politics at work, and issues with kids who cannot pay to play. Are we truly identifying the best 18 players?”

There are several arguments here that I don't understand. Perhaps one of the coaches quoted could explain.....

I've heard many arguments over the last year about the value of HS soccer. Why is that value diminished if Academy were free? Some people pay for their kids to play Academy and a 10 month season is depriving them of an opportunity? People who don't pay for Academy.....its reasonable to miss HS?

Is the value of playing HS soccer or not really linked to the cost of Academy soccer?

Secondly.....politics at play? Why is that even relevant? I hear people talk all the time about the politics of club soccer. The politics of HS soccer. The politics of an all state team or the politics of a CLash of the Carolina team. The politics of ODP. The politics of making a region team.

Politics are an unfortunate fact of life. Sometimes they are the boogums in the shadows of our imagination. Sometimes they unfortunately exist and reward less deserving kids at the expense of more deserving kids.

But politics is an absolute non-issue in this debate. It is no more, or less a factor than in other formats of elite sport.

Context, perspective, and self interest are amazing attributes in this debate. Good people with opinions 180 degrees apart.

In the Charlotte article......Frock is the EDOC of Charlotte United and the head coach at Providence Day. All of his public words on the topic are, for lack of a better word, negative....concerning the Academy. My son was/is a 93 who played for Charlotte United at u14...this was also the first year of Academy.

One of our players...left in early November to go to one of the new Academy teams in Charlotte. Frock got the parents of my sons team together after a game at Ramblewood park......and talked about Academy. Basically his take was....so few kids play colleg soccer or pro soccer that its a waste of time and money to chase a dream that won';t be there.

Then there's Jeff Mercado.....who is a longtime coach at Charlotte Soccer Club, now CSA. An Academy club. Jeff is also a teacher and head boys coach and head girls coach at Ardrey Kell HS in suburban South Charlotte. His teams compete for State championships every year on both sides of HS and he will lose 4-6 Academy players. Frock will also lose a couple.

For me personally.....to accept an argument I have to understand the persons context, perspective, and self interest. I'm not saying that everyone is driven exclusively by them......but its pretty hard to ignore them also.

In the Charleston article...the specter of politics was raised. To ignore the role of politics in where folks stand on this debate, is simply ludicrous, IMO. A coach losing very talented kids who form the core of his team will have a different perspective than a parent or a coach from a team with none. To assume otherwise is just not very likely.

Doesn't make them wrong or right.

its the typical money grab from parents who overindulge their little peles & the yth club soccer coaches would be foolish to not take advantage of those easy marks considering the state of todays parents.
our parents should punch us in the face.

a fool & his money are soon parted....

& btw, if high school really gave a crap, they would drop the stupid football designated regions & schedule better.
$hame on all the adults $crewing up yth $occer.

How about the life lesson, "it's all about me".

That where I see Club Soccer going. It's all about the Club and their desire to wrap you up year round, and guess what, they get more of your money.

The players get taught, it's OK to abandon your former teammates, because it's all about you and of course us (the Club).

Hey player, if you're good enough to be playing at the highest level, don't worry, your college and other opportunities will be forthcoming.

My advice, play for your high school, these are great years, you can't do it over.

"Hey player, if you're good enough to be playing at the highest level, don't worry, your college and other opportunities will be forthcoming."

Fools gold advice.

The reality is.......90% if not more of recruiting contacts that my son and his teammates/friends got came out of his participation in "Elite" events. Disney, Academy Showcases, etc.

Truthfully, if you play on a SCSCL team your odds of being recruited to play at a D1 level aren't very good. Not impossible, but not very good. If you aspire to play at a D1 level you better be at event like the above, or have a really good "in" somewhere. To tell a kid otherwise is foolish or worse.