High School Soccer - Love It, Hate It, or Somewhere in Between?

[stick1]

I also think any team sport is physical so I'm not trying to say you are a wuzz for playing it at all. It is crazy to compare it to football though.

[ram2003]

I used to be anti-soccer because a lot of the guys I knew that played it were jerks, but once I started playing football I became better than them and they knew it. But seriously, I don't really have a problem with it. I never went to any games, and I would rather play than watch it any day (despite all the running), but I don't think it's as lame as I used to.

[rockmom]

I like soccer, but I like watching team sports that require skill and stamina, are exciting and get me on the edge of my seat. So, I don't see how someone can hate watching soccer, but sit all day and watch golf on TV. :confused:

[Uncle Jed]

Soccer is a game I can only watch when I know someone playing personally. I can watch high school football, baseball, and basketball even if I don't know any of the kids. I would probably feel different about the sport if I was exposed to it as a kid.

[Gunner11]

I'll take a beating for this but I like it. Great sport for kids, teaches teamwork, stamina, cardio, gets them outside off their behinds, agility, and conditioning. I don't find it boring, I think there is an excitement to it found in enjoying the intricacies of the game. The attitude that it is somehow a sport for wimps is also perplexing; soccer is a swift and violent sport in many ways, and on average the soccer player is in far better condition than the football player. Now, all that having been said I'll choose football and baseball every day of the week, but it does not diminish my appreciation (shared worldwide) for futbol.

 

 

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No beatings here. I do not think that most soccer people expect everyone to love our game. Just respect it, that is all.

[saint4]

It can be exciting at times, in the right game and right atmosphere.

[Original Rookie]

:thumb:

 

No beatings here. I do not think that most soccer people expect everyone to love our game. Just respect it, that is all.

 

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[Original Rookie]

There are some great soccer players that could be great football players I've seen first hand. Of the schools I've been at a good 80+% of the kids are kids that couldn't hack it at football and played soccer. I'm not saying it's bad but I've seen it first hand at some of the better soccer schools in the state.

 

Not trying to pick a fight, but that is just an absurd, unfactual statement.

[MJAlltheWay24]

There are some great soccer players that could be great football players I've seen first hand. Of the schools I've been at a good 80+% of the kids are kids that couldn't hack it at football and played soccer. I'm not saying it's bad but I've seen it first hand at some of the better soccer schools in the state.

 

Funny thing is...lots of kids in middle and high school are far to out of shape to hack it on a soccer field, so they have to play a sport like football.

[ladiesbballcoach]

I'll take a beating for this but I like it. Great sport for kids, teaches teamwork, stamina, cardio, gets them outside off their behinds, agility, and conditioning. I don't find it boring, I think there is an excitement to it found in enjoying the intricacies of the game. The attitude that it is somehow a sport for wimps is also perplexing; soccer is a swift and violent sport in many ways, and on average the soccer player is in far better condition than the football player. Now, all that having been said I'll choose football and baseball every day of the week, but it does not diminish my appreciation (shared worldwide) for futbol.

 

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[Habib]

Not trying to pick a fight, but that is just an absurd, unfactual statement.

 

Agreed. I played football but I don't think I would be much use in soccer.

[MJAlltheWay24]

This will be a continous argument that will probably never end as long as it is being argued in the United States, lol.

[Eaglebooster77]

I know that we've debated the merits of soccer several times on BGP. I would like this thread to focus specifically on high school soccer.

PS - putting this in general discussion so maybe more folks will see.

 

I think this statement sums up most people's feelings on soccer.

[gold sunrise]

I appreciate soccer. Not one of my favorites like basketball and golf.....just know more about those sports. Great sport here at GRC. We were State runnerups last year....got beat by St. X.

[4chs]

It's a great subject for photography, and I appreciate it mostly because of that. I can get into a really good game through that angle, but it also makes the 8-0 blowouts that much more unbearable.

 

At larger schools such as WC and BG, it doesn't necessarily draw athletes away from football. The numbers are deep enough in the student body to cover it.

 

But at Class 3A and below, it certainly does in that many of the faster kids opt for soccer instead of football (not really many starting spots for slow kids in soccer), thinning out the overall football team speed. I've seen football coaches watch soccer games and drift off into a happy trance wondering how much more varied their offense could be if they had the speed on their roster that is right in front of them, yet unavailable.

 

This also happens in the case of those fast kids (and sometimes ADD-types) who may prefer a much less structured and hyper-competitive environment than football's boot camp atmosphere. This also probably is what drew them to (drove them toward?) youth league soccer's more freewheeling environment in the first place.

 

In many of the kids' cases, they may have played baseball, football, basketball and soccer in their youth league days, but one day they noticed overbearing dad was easier to deal with on the soccer field because he didn't play the sport, and didn't know jack about it, and as a result the personal coaching was kept to a minimum.

 

High school soccer does afford kids more opportunities to further their career at the college level. But just like most every other sport, the dirty little secret is that only the ultra-elite get full rides. Mom and dad are still gonna end up writing a hefty check for college so the kid can play at Cumberlands or Campbellsville, when they thought that's why they spent a mint on hotel rooms and gas carting the kid around to select tournaments for all those years.

 

A pretty accurate assessment.:thumb: