According to this article an astounding 400,000 boys play high school soccer for 11,000 high schools each year in the U.S. and 4,000 or .01% of those players participate at the Academy level and I would estimate at least another 300,000 play club soccer.
There is no question in my mind that the loss of this .01% of players from high school rosters will adversely affect the quality and excitement associated with having such players involved in the high school game. Club successes for such players have always translated to their high school teams and the fans who follow their programs due to the fact that high schools support club players with excused absences for tournaments, international competition, etc.
The unquestionable facts in this equation are that non school based high level soccer currently is and must be a pay to play formula for the reasons discussed extensively in this forum over the years. Few would ever say that such a model, while highly valued by participants, will become the ultimate pathway for ALL of the most athletically gifted young men or women in the country to become soccer players at the highest level. Why? Because such a system just doesn't provide access to the millions of potential athletes found in the country. Like it or not, high school is the accepted pathway for the aspiring athlete to realize his or her collegiate and possibly professional dreams in our society across all major sports . . . other than soccer.
The delima is high school soccer is where you get the community fan base involved and it's where you have the optimum market advantage to grow the game year over year. HS soccer is what fills a stadium with thousands of fans who follow gifted players, coaches and teams for a possible State Championship title. It's no secret that club soccer is where a player gets the highest level of training for many reasons. We also know high school soccer is where the student athlete embraces the pride of representation and enjoys the personal satisfaction of experiences gained and rewards earned from playing for his/her school.
University soccer programs routinely recognize high school affiliations before club affiliations in player bios, yet they do their recruiting at the club level because of the higher level of competition. While U.S. players are in high school, European professional clubs work to bring players into their ranks by their mid teens. If a contract is not forthcoming, such a player will likely find his way into our collegiate system.
One could argue U.S. Soccer may be missing a tremendous opportunity to tap into access to the millions of athletes high school athletics offers, but how on earth would such a thing occur given the competition with football, basketball and baseball? Should this be ignored? Should U.S Soccer develop a high school coaching curriculum as a grander development scheme? Should USYSA develop a high school coaching/training curriculum? Does the decision by U.S. Soccer open an opportunity for others to standardize training across U.S. High School soccer programs in an effort to attract the millions of players who migrate into competing sports?
Objectives to grow the game should be as follows:
1) Create awareness of the game by means of putting it in front of as many people as possible
2) Put the best talent on the field to build excitement about the game in front of as many people as possible
2) Attract the most gifted athletes into the game at ages 8-12 at the lowest possible cost as often as possible
11,000 high schools provide an incredible vehicle to accomplish these goals. Can any entity create a standardized model that'll elevate the level of training within the average high school program and work to reach down to the millions of youngsters in middle school to inspire them to get into the game before they hit high school?
Nurturing such a vast market may just be the answer to exploding the game in this country.
