HS Soccer is borderline unwatchable

[Anonymous]

My question is why good club players get sucked in to this terrible style of play? Almost every girl on our HS team plays ECNL/GA/RL. They don't play this style when playing club, yet they get to HS and the way they play would get them benched at any of their clubs.

And the parents are just as bad, as mentioned above. Someone shoots off balance from 30y out and they all applaud. That ball has a less than 3% chance of going in. All she did was turn the ball over.

[Anonymous]

Oh not borderline!!! It's god awful.

Our private HS thinks it's the greatest thing ever and it is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad.

My kids wanted to love it and all, but after sophomore year they went all in MLS Next and quit HS. IT was so frustrating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will acknowledge that HS sports are a great way to engage with your community and school friends. My rant is solely focused on the coaches and style of play I've seen over the last 4 years. My son has been on a high-level team for a reputable club in the area and will be moving onto college soccer this fall. I come to every game to support him and the school, but I find myself biting my tongue every game watching what appears to be a foot volley game. The build-up is virtually the same with every school they have played.

CB gets the ball at the 15-yard line, takes a touch, and punts it 30 yards to a forward guarded by 2 defenders. The opposing team wins the ball, and makes a pass to the outside back, 2 touches later he sends the pass 30 yards to a sprinting winger who beats the back line and dribbles 20 yards where he's met with endline. Goal kick, rinse and repeat.

If it wasn't bad enough, I hear the coaches congratulate the players for a good run. WHAT! They didn't look up, they didn't serve the ball to the 2 open players in the box, and lost possession of the ball. I use to laugh at the club coaches who complained about HS soccer and their attempts to convince kids not to do it. I'm with them, it's hard to watch and it teaches too many bad habits. I get it, it's just for fun...but can't fun be doing it right. I don't see the AAU BBall players changing their style of play in HS.

Parents! Stop promoting this garbage. Good kick!...um no it wasn't. He just booted it to the other defender and loss possession because he doesn't know how to build or at least be on target with the long ball. Good shot! Nope, it was 10 feet wide and 40 ft high which means his technique was bad. Foul! Nope again, that was called a tackle. The opponent did fall down, but that does not mean it was a foul!

Thank god I'm done with HS sports now that he's graduating.

AT our HS it's because they pick kids that don't play high level club. And the parents are knowledgable/didn't play themselves and often it isn't a 'first' sport. It's this weird alternative universe where the ECNL/MLSnext kids ride the bench or don't make varsity while the big ball kickers and zero tactical or technical skill are in. But, hey, they can still win because the competition is soooo bad. So, there you have it.

[Anonymous]

^aren't knowledgeable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will acknowledge that HS sports are a great way to engage with your community and school friends. My rant is solely focused on the coaches and style of play I've seen over the last 4 years. My son has been on a high-level team for a reputable club in the area and will be moving onto college soccer this fall. I come to every game to support him and the school, but I find myself biting my tongue every game watching what appears to be a foot volley game. The build-up is virtually the same with every school they have played.

CB gets the ball at the 15-yard line, takes a touch, and punts it 30 yards to a forward guarded by 2 defenders. The opposing team wins the ball, and makes a pass to the outside back, 2 touches later he sends the pass 30 yards to a sprinting winger who beats the back line and dribbles 20 yards where he's met with endline. Goal kick, rinse and repeat.

If it wasn't bad enough, I hear the coaches congratulate the players for a good run. WHAT! They didn't look up, they didn't serve the ball to the 2 open players in the box, and lost possession of the ball. I use to laugh at the club coaches who complained about HS soccer and their attempts to convince kids not to do it. I'm with them, it's hard to watch and it teaches too many bad habits. I get it, it's just for fun...but can't fun be doing it right. I don't see the AAU BBall players changing their style of play in HS.

Parents! Stop promoting this garbage. Good kick!...um no it wasn't. He just booted it to the other defender and loss possession because he doesn't know how to build or at least be on target with the long ball. Good shot! Nope, it was 10 feet wide and 40 ft high which means his technique was bad. Foul! Nope again, that was called a tackle. The opponent did fall down, but that does not mean it was a foul!

Thank god I'm done with HS sports now that he's graduating.

I fully agree! Your American football vocabulary is throwing me off, but the message I agree with. Maybe some Americans do get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HS. The coaches benches the club players and plays kick ball with athletes. Any type of shorter build out gets yelled at. And if a pass gets broken up ….the kid is benched for not kicking it down the field. Cant wait for it to be over.

OP here, my son learned the hard way he couldn't play the same in HS as he does in club. He was benched because his passes were not always going forward, and he was told he missed goal-scoring opportunities and needed more air under the ball.

Parent bashing team/coach because kid gets benched. Sounds typical of any level of soccer.

He was benched for a game and has started every game since. He was a freshman at the time, I understand it can be hard to keep up.

[Anonymous]

Are practices as bad as the games? I’m wondering if the kids who play high level club ball get anything out of the practices or if the whole thing is a wash

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are practices as bad as the games? I’m wondering if the kids who play high level club ball get anything out of the practices or if the whole thing is a wash

My kids play Fall HS---but have to play ECNL at the same time.

I can say that the kids that come back after solely doing HS have declined in ability each season. The games/showcases are always a disaster in the spring.

It might get a kid to play more physical, but that's the only benefit. And there are a helluva lot more injuries.

[Anonymous]

What happened to high school soccer? My husband played in one of the FCPS high schools back in the 90s and he talks about how good hs teams were back then. ODP was a big deal back then too. is it just because all the clubs took over? When did this all start? In the early 2000s?
Is it just because people realized club soccer was where the money was at? Sad since I would have loved for my son to play hs school soccer but reading all these stories makes me think it’s not a good idea.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is convinced that HS soccer has made her lose skill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What happened to high school soccer? My husband played in one of the FCPS high schools back in the 90s and he talks about how good hs teams were back then. ODP was a big deal back then too. is it just because all the clubs took over? When did this all start? In the early 2000s?
Is it just because people realized club soccer was where the money was at? Sad since I would have loved for my son to play hs school soccer but reading all these stories makes me think it’s not a good idea.

All boys used to play it. You had all the usmnt and former US pros playing HS.

Now the best boys are at MLS academies and in MLS Next. They don’t play high school.

[Anonymous]

HS soccer is definitely hard to watch when you have 3 kids whose club coaches emphasize possession. I will say there are some really good athletes with a ton of foot speed, but they just kick the ball down field. I have seen corner kicks that were kicked so hard they land past the opposite corner. Shots on goal that put Justin Tucker to shame. I don't care how hard and high you can kick the ball, it's not impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happened to high school soccer? My husband played in one of the FCPS high schools back in the 90s and he talks about how good hs teams were back then. ODP was a big deal back then too. is it just because all the clubs took over? When did this all start? In the early 2000s?
Is it just because people realized club soccer was where the money was at? Sad since I would have loved for my son to play hs school soccer but reading all these stories makes me think it’s not a good idea.

All boys used to play it. You had all the usmnt and former US pros playing HS.

Now the best boys are at MLS academies and in MLS Next. They don’t play high school.

Yes. I played HS soccer with Mia Hamm. So true for the girls too.

[Anonymous]

The problem comes in early years. American coaches want to please parents - pleasing parents means making any activity ‘fun’

My kid was trained in my home country (Germany). There is no wish for soccer training to be ‘fun.’ It is a Teutonic and highly skilled trade that takes years to refine.

Americans have little to no technical skill. That’s what I see - sure a lot of pure athleticism but to what end? Speed and endurance are necessary part of game but without technical proficiency you have your average American high school soccer game. Unwatchable.

[Anonymous]

HS sports should really only be for the average non club playing kid to play on a team.
The fact that you all are here complaining about a high school extracurricular is pretty obnoxious. Not to mention taking away the opportunity for kids who don’t have other options to play. You guys are pathetic.