Coaches may indeed be divided and egos do abound but I don't think that is the problem here.
We've already argued the merits of a longer training season for the academy so there is no need to belabour that.
Life is about making tough choices. Many of these lead to a singular choice. At some point they or their parents choose what High School to go to, they only attend that High School. They eventually choose what college to go to and simply attend that one school. They will finally get a job and if it is a full-time job that provides sufficient remuneration, that will be the only job they do.
Let the kids make a choice. If they really want to pursue playing soccer at a high level and see the opportunity provided by the Academy system as that vehicle then the choice to commit should not be painful. However if they feel that community and social aspects of High School soccer are of extreme importance to their development, then more power to them as they take that route.
The number of players affected here pales in comparison to those who are not impacted. In South Carolina, it is about 40 kids that are sprinkled across how many schools? Let's not forget that there are still strong players playing club soccer that would still be able to participate in High School soccer. The number of non-academy club players dwarfs the number of academy players by atleast a 10 to 1 ratio.
Even if academy players stop playing high school soccer the impact to the High School game as a whole will be minimal. Yes there will be teams that will be impacted more than others. However there are decent players who will rise up to fill the void created by the departing academy players.
