Parents/Kids View of Kentucky HS Soccer

[DadofTwins]

As a parent of girls who play both HS and Club,(and committed to play college) I would love some others view on how they treat HS soccer season.

For mine, its fun...or they try to have fun

Its close to home compared to our club travel

Its with their friends, fellow students get to come watch, etc.

 

With the Ryle girls team now having 5 (I believe) on crutches due to injury during our season that will not allow them to play club.  Do other parents see HS as important? From some of the coaches demeanor during games...do they see what they are involved in as life changing?

[DadofTwins]

I'll throw in that probably the best and most highly recruited female player in NKY over the last couple of years has chosen to kick for the HS football team over playing HS soccer.

[Big Red]

Good questions.  I think there are varying viewpoints that all can be valid.  My general answer is, it depends on the situation.  High school is very communal in our area.  The kids, the parents, general spectators come out to watch, and is more often than not a very cool environment to play in front of that you don't get in club soccer.  How was the environment at the Ryle vs. Cooper game?  My guess is packed stands, cheering sections of kids, etc.  It's fun, low stress, and the overall soccer play is not the same as club. 

Also, If they weren't playing high school, wouldn't they still be playing a club fall league.  Is there less chance of them getting hurt playing club vs. high school? 

[DadofTwins]

20 minutes ago, Big Red said:

Good questions.  I think there are varying viewpoints that all can be valid.  My general answer is, it depends on the situation.  High school is very communal in our area.  The kids, the parents, general spectators come out to watch, and is more often than not a very cool environment to play in front of that you don't get in club soccer.  How was the environment at the Ryle vs. Cooper game?  My guess is packed stands, cheering sections of kids, etc.  It's fun, low stress, and the overall soccer play is not the same as club. 

Also, If they weren't playing high school, wouldn't they still be playing a club fall league.  Is there less chance of them getting hurt playing club vs. high school? 

I'd say the environment was decent, not the US Youth or ECNL national finals with the sidelines packed but not your typical parents only club game.  The crowd definitely skews younger and more fun.

Fall team here is a mash of 8th grade through senior, so is it better? meh...just different. The chance of injury is always there.

I am all for a trip to Louisville being my furthest game over a trip to Buffalo. 

 

[nees1212]

I've experienced both and have many friends dealing with it now.  

The pluses of the high school experience are playing with your classmates and playing in front of your classmates.  It's a different environment than club ball.  

The negatives of high school ball can be coaching and the style of play.  With high school sports, many coaches care about 1 thing and 1 thing only, and that is a championship at some level.  They generally don't care about the well being of the player.  Now, I'm not saying all coaches are like this, but many are.  The style of play generally differs drastically from club ball.  Sometimes it's due to the drastic difference in skills amongst the team, and the coach's old school mentality.  With the drastic difference in skill sets, the lesser skilled players generally gravitate to overly aggressive play to try to level the playing field, which can lead to injuries.  

Maybe we've just had a great club experience over the years with KingsHammer and Cincinnati DA. Any time a girl gets injured, coaches don't want them back until they're fully healthy.  They've also always put player health and development over winning.

As for other fall options, KH has an ECNL high school team for the first time this year in the NKY area.  The soccer is so much better than high school games.  Granted there are like 6 D1 girls on the team along with multiple other girls that will play college ball.  They're the only team in NKY that could give NDA a game.  Lol...

[The Double Deuce]

I agree with Nees completely, the only real plus of High School (boys & girls) is playing with and in front of your classmates.  The kids in school understand how good a kid is, which isn't the case when they are only playing DA or club, and that truly makes for a more enjoyable high school experience.  

Painting with a broad brush, I get that, but by and large, high school coaching is bad.  I think it is doubly so when the coach is a para-professional, not engaged with the kids all day, but also (unlike club) not with them for 7 or 8 months straight, traveling with them, and getting to know them.  I tend to think the relationships between kids is stronger in club, especially at MRL / ECNL level teams, because you have so many out-of-town / travel experiences where they hang out in a hotel lobby or at a restaurant and really get to know one another.  

Nees also referenced the gaps in talent, and that absolutely leads to injuries, either intentionally (because they are more physical play-level), or because they just find themselves in the wrong spots due to inexperience or just a lower soccer IQ.

[rjal]

 I would say it depends what your end game is.  Is trying to win a high school championship important? Is making memories with the kids you see in the hallways everyday important?  Is the goal to just play college soccer?  The vast majority of high school soccer players even club players will not play D1 or D2 college soccer, much less get any meaningful scholarship money for soccer.  There are approx 3955 full scholarship equivalents in D1 and D2.  Divide that by four years there are 1000 scholarships nationwide to be split over probably 3-4,000 soccer players each year.  There are 115 clubs with teams in the ECNL this season.  At 17 kids per team assuming every club has a team at each age group that is just shy of 2000 kids.  So making the assumption these kids are the best of the best, most of the scholarships are taken.  Is high school soccer where a club player is going to improve skills? No.  Is it where they will be a part of their school and community and have memories for the rest of their life sure.  For the top .1% or those that are injury prone should they skip maybe, probably.  How many on The USWNT skipped high school soccer?  I would say very few.  It just boils down to a personal decision based on that student athletes preferences and goals.  I don't think there is any one correct choice.