I don't think there should be a general belief that Academy level players don't benefit from HS soccer or HS coaches.
I've had two Academy players at JICHS over the last four years. In both cases I have to say I believe they benefited from their HS experience. Wando may have beaten us handily the second time we played this season, but I believe it was a great experience for my guys to be up against a team of that caliber, and to have to dig in to be a leader on and off the field. In fact, in many of our matches we were up against quality opponents who have quality coaching. I also have to say that the vast majority of the coaches I've encountered at the high school level are very good at teaching (developing) their players. They aren't coaching ACC teams, but I'd wager some of our most experienced and best high school coaches - like Savitz, Reilly, Riddlehover, Pelton, etc., and some of the "younger" coaches too (Heise, Eudy, Hiller, Tisdale) would NOT exactly crash and burn at the college level. I think it would be fun to see college coaches take on some of the teams we get at the high school level and see if they can develop them like the guys above do.
I'm also concerned that Academy soccer might veer too close to professionalism or like some higher level college program. What happens when a player gets hurt, loses his touch, burns out? Are they cast aside and forgotten in favor of someone else. Sure, it's survival of the fittest, but at the same time these are just kids afterall. What if they are late bloomers - do they ever get a chance? How cut-thoat do we want it to be?
