When did you know your DC was college or pro material?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not me, but a friend growing up was Clarence Goodson who played on the US national team. He wasn’t even the best player on our high school team if memory serves me. Like he played varsity soccer and was on a very competitive club team, but he wasn’t the best player on either. So, who knows, basically.

The player who was the star fizzled out after college I think.

I just googled him. He may not have been the best but he was one of the best so not entirely an overcoming the odds story. Went on to play at UMD before the MLS draft.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All these stories about overcoming issues and a kid ends up playing college.

Are there any similar stories for those who become pro players? Or are those who go pro pretty much the kids who were recognized as talented from the beginning?

There are similar stories. I mean there are famous ones like Matt Turner who endured making a mistake that became nationally televised as the Number 1 pick in the “Not Top 10” in 2013 (which he has described as nearly driving him from soccer). He didn’t even start soccer until high school, though of course keepers are different.

But there are also less famous examples. My kid playing college now knows some kids who have gone on to play pro. They are a mix of identified early and not identified early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All these stories about overcoming issues and a kid ends up playing college.

Are there any similar stories for those who become pro players? Or are those who go pro pretty much the kids who were recognized as talented from the beginning?

Check out Chris Richards’ (USMNT defender) path: At 16, he didn’t make FC Dallas Academy. A year later, at 17, he makes it. 7-8 months after that, gets signed to a pro contract w/ FC Dallas. A few months later, he is loaned to Bayern. He went from cut from FC Dallas Academy to playing in a Bayern-PSG friendly in under 2 years. Spent a couple of years in Bayern’s system and Bayern transferred him to Crystal Palace for 12M Euros last year, and he is on a 5 year contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these stories about overcoming issues and a kid ends up playing college.

Are there any similar stories for those who become pro players? Or are those who go pro pretty much the kids who were recognized as talented from the beginning?

There are similar stories. I mean there are famous ones like Matt Turner who endured making a mistake that became nationally televised as the Number 1 pick in the “Not Top 10” in 2013 (which he has described as nearly driving him from soccer). He didn’t even start soccer until high school, though of course keepers are different.

But there are also less famous examples. My kid playing college now knows some kids who have gone on to play pro. They are a mix of identified early and not identified early.

DP. Matt Turner’s story is amazing, but keep in mind goal keepers are in their own category. Their playing careers are much longer (often well into their 30s and many into their 40s).

Most of the pro players we know were identified early, though for college players it’s a mix.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not me, but a friend growing up was Clarence Goodson who played on the US national team. He wasn’t even the best player on our high school team if memory serves me. Like he played varsity soccer and was on a very competitive club team, but he wasn’t the best player on either. So, who knows, basically.

The player who was the star fizzled out after college I think.

I just googled him. He may not have been the best but he was one of the best so not entirely an overcoming the odds story. Went on to play at UMD before the MLS draft.

Yeah I didn’t mean to imply he overcame odds or anything. Was that what OP wanted? I just meant, he was a good player in high school but not even the best on the team. But ended up most successful , so, in answer to her question, probably no one really thought he would be successful professionally until he was already in college

[Anonymous]

My guess is that there are a lot of college players who weren’t identified early and had to fight for their spots, and then a lesser percentage of pro players in that category. But it’s hard to say.

One thing is that their actual history doesn’t tell you whether they were identified by the club or not, because a lot of these kids fight their way up to MLSNext and ECNL for their last year or two before college but are by no means actually identified. However their soccer resumes show “identification” and of course the clubs claim all successes.

My kid was actually somewhat annoyed his club proudly announced his commitment and bragged about the recruitment since they had so little to do with it.

[Anonymous]

A few friends I grew up with played for the national team, not the USA-- and we could tell from a young age that they will make it. A few of these players could have gotten big contracts if they only had the opportunity. Between them and football (American) players who I taught in HS who went pro. I would say you know when you see your child treating his age group like kids. Meaning not only running around them but understanding the game to a level that allows them to dominate his age group and make it seems totally unfair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that there are a lot of college players who weren’t identified early and had to fight for their spots, and then a lesser percentage of pro players in that category. But it’s hard to say.

One thing is that their actual history doesn’t tell you whether they were identified by the club or not, because a lot of these kids fight their way up to MLSNext and ECNL for their last year or two before college but are by no means actually identified. However their soccer resumes show “identification” and of course the clubs claim all successes.

My kid was actually somewhat annoyed his club proudly announced his commitment and bragged about the recruitment since they had so little to do with it.

My brother was in the top 5 in the country (decades ago) and he did not allow the club to claim/announce him as one of theirs. They were complete d@cks to him. My son didn’t let the high school coach be in his signing pic. He got screwed over so royally by the HS coaches and only played one year. They then wanted the smiling signing photo with him. They had absolutely zero to do with it and caused him a lot of pain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew when my child told me he was going to play in college. DC was 9 or 10 at the time, on a fourth-tier team, routinely overlooked by coaches, and candidly looked like a baby deer on ice on the field. The reason I knew is that I saw what the coaches did not: that DC was and is one of the hardest-working kids I’ve ever known, and is profoundly goal-oriented. I knew by age 9 that DC would accomplish what he wanted.

And he did. DC did drills on his own every day. He spent hours in the backyard. He asked for extra training outside of the club (we learned early on never to trust the clubs) and focused hard in those sessions. He never asked to skip practice once. He lifted weights even though he hated doing it. He ignored taunts from teammates, coaches that targeted him because he was a weaker player, and many, many games where he was suited up but played maybe ten minutes max, or not at all. He switched teams multiple times as a kid, at his own volition, just slowly moving up and up the system. He ended up at MLSNext/ECNL level but even there didn’t trust the coaches (wise decision) and put in many hours of his own time contacting colleges. Those college coaches evaluated him on his own merits (they don’t trust the clubs either, as it turns out), and he had several good college offers. Now he’s a starter.

DCUM is convinced that if your kid isn’t a superstar by 9 you might as well give up. It’s ridiculous. My kid had more and better offers than the first team players we knew at U10. But focus, hard work, grit and tenacity are absolutely required.

This is a very inspiring story. Thanks for sharing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ worse are the kids that do have that talent and show it but for whatever reason—politics, a-hole coach, coach quitting mid season, etc they continually get the shaft.

My kid got hosed so much and whenever the planets aligned (great coach, great teammates) something would inevitably happen- the club folds, the coach disagrees with top mgmt and leaves, etc. that it made me absolutely despise the sport and we are a house with a former parent pro player.

I kept my hatred of the people in the sport to myself and my kid never wanted to stop playing because he truly lived the game, but psychologically the shenanigans and adults behaving badly takes a bit of a toll on a young kid.

It worked out for him in that college coaches were waaaaaayyyyy more kind and constructive and praiseful during recruiting than we ever saw with about 90% of club coaches and don’t get me started on the HS coach.

This is eerily similar to my daughter's experience (except the former pro player part, lol).

DD started travel soccer the year before the age group switch to birth year and BOY was that a game changer. All of a sudden she went from U9 to U11, missing an entire year of trave experience (at least on paper).

It was not a fun road between the politics of our club gaining ECNL status a few years back, coaches, club politics, favoritism, and other things that would make most people just walk away.

Fastforward to today, being scouted by D1 and D3 schools, her experience made her a stronger player that knows what she's looking for with the college recruitment process. And to be honest, a lot of college recruiting is all about players marketing themselves to college coaches.

If you haven't, pick up the book "Looking for a Full Ride" by Coach Renee Lopez - highly recommend if your player is serious about wanting to play college ball.

[Anonymous]

Had a good feeling pre-puberty. Knew it after she went through puberty.