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As far as club player = HS success. I highly doubt if you were to go back and look at the final 8 teams at 4AAAA over that past that any of them had rec players on the varsity or JV for that matter.





I'm not so sure it boils down to quite such simple terms...the level of team a person plays on (rec vs. classic vs. challenge, for example) doesn't NECESSARILY indicate the absolute ability level of the player. Of course, that's the natural way to bet--after all, players who get spots on high-level teams must have exhibited enough skill to outmatch the competition and earn those positions--but there are some excellent players out there who, due to constraints those of us who ONLY look at the world in soccer terms are sometimes unaware of, either choose not to or are unable to participate on
challenge-level teams.

I've coached U-17 and U-18 Classic teams over the last two seasons, and two of my best players on the U-18 team this past season came from last year's rec squad. They had skill, but even more, they had determination and heart, and they enjoyed what they do and put everything into the game. When it came to getting the job done on the field--and I say this with no offense to anyone on the higher-level team--I wouldn't have traded either of them for my choice of players from the challenge team.

A player who comes from a rec team with a conscientious coach (not just a space-filler) with a good attitude and a love of the game can not only arrive on a team ready to contribute, but can also be further developed into an even greater player. I think I'm very lucky to have a rec coach on my high school staff who loves the game, helps to instill that love of the game into the players, and puts his all very conscientiously into player development.

Again, I'm not saying that the AVERAGE rec player can compete ability-wise with the AVERAGE challenge player, or that the AVERAGE rec coach's training is on par with the AVERAGE high-level club trainer. What I am saying is that there are exceptions (and exceptional people) who don't fit into the convenient hierarchical pigeonholes we use to oversimplify our view of the world...so to say that there are NO "rec players" worthy of membership on final-8 AAAA teams seems a little extreme.

I've met them.

I've got good news and bad news...