If your child plays sports in college when did it become clear she/he/they had a chance to make it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy D1 soccer. Was clear that was his likely path by age 12, 7th grade.

The problem is 99% of parents with 12-year old boy travel players on top teams at that she think they same. It rarely pans out.

We did not find this to be the case, but we were on a high-level team where virtually every kid had one or more very knowledgeable soccer parents (DH in my case), and the families who didn’t sought out advice from those who did. If you polled all the knowledgeable parents on the team about which kids at 12 had college potential if they kept their grades up, the results would have been at least 75% accurate. I agree that a parent who does not know the game is not going to be able to make that prediction, and kids can go in a variety of directions depending on personalities and circumstances.

NP. FWIW as a parent of a college soccer athlete, this wasn’t my experience at all. If you’d lined up the 12-year-olds on my DS’s team back then (playing at the highest possible level of play), you would not have been likely to correctly identify the kids who eventually played in college. We are in California where there is a very deep pool of soccer players, so maybe that’s the difference.

Agree. Previous person talking out their ass

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you know before adolescence or did it become more clear when they were in high school? What sport?

Playing sports in college is “making it?”

What?!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy D1 soccer. Was clear that was his likely path by age 12, 7th grade.

The problem is 99% of parents with 12-year old boy travel players on top teams at that she think they same. It rarely pans out.

We did not find this to be the case, but we were on a high-level team where virtually every kid had one or more very knowledgeable soccer parents (DH in my case), and the families who didn’t sought out advice from those who did. If you polled all the knowledgeable parents on the team about which kids at 12 had college potential if they kept their grades up, the results would have been at least 75% accurate. I agree that a parent who does not know the game is not going to be able to make that prediction, and kids can go in a variety of directions depending on personalities and circumstances.

NP. FWIW as a parent of a college soccer athlete, this wasn’t my experience at all. If you’d lined up the 12-year-olds on my DS’s team back then (playing at the highest possible level of play), you would not have been likely to correctly identify the kids who eventually played in college. We are in California where there is a very deep pool of soccer players, so maybe that’s the difference.

Agree. Previous person talking out their ass

So wrong. The other two posters are spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy D1 soccer. Was clear that was his likely path by age 12, 7th grade.

The problem is 99% of parents with 12-year old boy travel players on top teams at that she think they same. It rarely pans out.

We did not find this to be the case, but we were on a high-level team where virtually every kid had one or more very knowledgeable soccer parents (DH in my case), and the families who didn’t sought out advice from those who did. If you polled all the knowledgeable parents on the team about which kids at 12 had college potential if they kept their grades up, the results would have been at least 75% accurate. I agree that a parent who does not know the game is not going to be able to make that prediction, and kids can go in a variety of directions depending on personalities and circumstances.

Like Hampden Sydney, Christopher Newport, Randolph Macon, Mount St. Mary's to play? I have seen pretty much zero boys going to UNC, Stanford, Duke, UCLA, UVA, etc. from this area. I have been watching the commits at my kid's big Club (considered one of the best in the DMV) since 2010 and the neighboring MLSNxt Club's commits. There were a few that went over to DC United academy, but not many top colleges/programs. The girls were different, of course.

I have seen so many parents who told me their kid had 'pro potential' or would play D1 when these boys were little. Most had dropped the Club after Junior year of HS when it was apparent that wasn't panning out. I saw some families drive 1,000s upon 1,000s of miles and fly too and dump so much time and effort and to come up short. I am one of the parents you talk about-pro in the family and several D1 players (who I'm not sure would be D1 with the huge landscape and number of foreign players taking college spots today).

Where was your Club? I'd be very interested to know.

^ should be required reading for people with boys in travel soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy D1 soccer. Was clear that was his likely path by age 12, 7th grade.

The problem is 99% of parents with 12-year old boy travel players on top teams at that she think they same. It rarely pans out.

We did not find this to be the case, but we were on a high-level team where virtually every kid had one or more very knowledgeable soccer parents (DH in my case), and the families who didn’t sought out advice from those who did. If you polled all the knowledgeable parents on the team about which kids at 12 had college potential if they kept their grades up, the results would have been at least 75% accurate. I agree that a parent who does not know the game is not going to be able to make that prediction, and kids can go in a variety of directions depending on personalities and circumstances.

Like Hampden Sydney, Christopher Newport, Randolph Macon, Mount St. Mary's to play? I have seen pretty much zero boys going to UNC, Stanford, Duke, UCLA, UVA, etc. from this area. I have been watching the commits at my kid's big Club (considered one of the best in the DMV) since 2010 and the neighboring MLSNxt Club's commits. There were a few that went over to DC United academy, but not many top colleges/programs. The girls were different, of course.

I have seen so many parents who told me their kid had 'pro potential' or would play D1 when these boys were little. Most had dropped the Club after Junior year of HS when it was apparent that wasn't panning out. I saw some families drive 1,000s upon 1,000s of miles and fly too and dump so much time and effort and to come up short. I am one of the parents you talk about-pro in the family and several D1 players (who I'm not sure would be D1 with the huge landscape and number of foreign players taking college spots today).

Where was your Club? I'd be very interested to know.

^ should be required reading for people with boys in travel soccer.

Boys soccer only

[Anonymous]

Very few go on to play college sports, and you must ask- do you even want your kid to play college sports? Do they realize what a tremendous sacrifice it is? What they will miss out on, and how punishing it will be?

[Anonymous]

Honestly, why does it matter?

If your kid excels at a sport by age XX, that doesn't mean they will continue to - so much can happen in terms of relative growth, change of interests, injury at all ages.

Let your kids play the sports they want as long as they want. If there is true talent and commitment, you don't need to invest in a club or AAU - just have them excel on their school teams. You can certainly enjoy watching them play and give them extra opportunities if you can afford to and if they really want more playing time.

But, I would never set up an expectation that they will become a recruited athlete. Too many uncontrollable variables.

[Anonymous]

DS is playing D1 golf at Ivy. He was playing competitive tennis and golf until the age of thirteen when he decided to play golf exclusively. He was an average student in HS, 3.4 GPA with 1240 on SAT, but he ranked around 20th in AJGA so one of the Ivies took him.

[Anonymous]

No one really knows until junior year of high school. Before then, it’s just a guess. Overuse injuries, puberty/growth, dedication to the sport, talent, other talent in your area, what coaches need a certain year. There are so many factors that are unknowns before then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy D1 soccer. Was clear that was his likely path by age 12, 7th grade.

The problem is 99% of parents with 12-year old boy travel players on top teams at that she think they same. It rarely pans out.

We did not find this to be the case, but we were on a high-level team where virtually every kid had one or more very knowledgeable soccer parents (DH in my case), and the families who didn’t sought out advice from those who did. If you polled all the knowledgeable parents on the team about which kids at 12 had college potential if they kept their grades up, the results would have been at least 75% accurate. I agree that a parent who does not know the game is not going to be able to make that prediction, and kids can go in a variety of directions depending on personalities and circumstances.

Like Hampden Sydney, Christopher Newport, Randolph Macon, Mount St. Mary's to play? I have seen pretty much zero boys going to UNC, Stanford, Duke, UCLA, UVA, etc. from this area. I have been watching the commits at my kid's big Club (considered one of the best in the DMV) since 2010 and the neighboring MLSNxt Club's commits. There were a few that went over to DC United academy, but not many top colleges/programs. The girls were different, of course.

I have seen so many parents who told me their kid had 'pro potential' or would play D1 when these boys were little. Most had dropped the Club after Junior year of HS when it was apparent that wasn't panning out. I saw some families drive 1,000s upon 1,000s of miles and fly too and dump so much time and effort and to come up short. I am one of the parents you talk about-pro in the family and several D1 players (who I'm not sure would be D1 with the huge landscape and number of foreign players taking college spots today).

Where was your Club? I'd be very interested to know.

^ should be required reading for people with boys in travel soccer.

+1 I don't think people realize how different things are for girls and boys. On the boys side, maybe a player a year from this area goes to a high level college team. On the girls side plenty go every year and a girl getting minutes on a good ECNL or GA team can play at least DIII if they choose to do so

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USMNT goalie didn’t start playing until he was 16.

I doubt he never played a sport until 16, most athletes are multi sport

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one really knows until junior year of high school. Before then, it’s just a guess. Overuse injuries, puberty/growth, dedication to the sport, talent, other talent in your area, what coaches need a certain year. There are so many factors that are unknowns before then.

Girls have hit puberty earlier and you know who will have size and athleticism well before junior year. Which girls get ACL injuries at the wrong time is the biggest wild card

[Anonymous]

Very early .. elementary school, but here’s the thing he didn’t grow as a teen. Then it was like it would not happen.

He had to walk on now he is on a top 10 D 1 team and a top 20 player.

It wasn’t about being athletic it was about him being so passionate about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USMNT goalie didn’t start playing until he was 16.

I doubt he never played a sport until 16, most athletes are multi sport

If they're talking about Turner, he was a basketball player who wasn't tall enough to play basketball at a higher level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy D1 soccer. Was clear that was his likely path by age 12, 7th grade.

The problem is 99% of parents with 12-year old boy travel players on top teams at that she think they same. It rarely pans out.

We did not find this to be the case, but we were on a high-level team where virtually every kid had one or more very knowledgeable soccer parents (DH in my case), and the families who didn’t sought out advice from those who did. If you polled all the knowledgeable parents on the team about which kids at 12 had college potential if they kept their grades up, the results would have been at least 75% accurate. I agree that a parent who does not know the game is not going to be able to make that prediction, and kids can go in a variety of directions depending on personalities and circumstances.

NP. FWIW as a parent of a college soccer athlete, this wasn’t my experience at all. If you’d lined up the 12-year-olds on my DS’s team back then (playing at the highest possible level of play), you would not have been likely to correctly identify the kids who eventually played in college. We are in California where there is a very deep pool of soccer players, so maybe that’s the difference.

Agree. Previous person talking out their ass

So wrong. The other two posters are spot on.

I’m the PP from California who said that if had you lined up the 12-year-olds on my son’s top-level team (and the teams beneath his), you could not have correctly identified the college players. I think that is the truth for soccer, at least for California where there is a very deep pool of players. BUT I also agree with the person who started her post talking about Hampstead. That person is exactly correct about just how few men’s college players come out of MLSNext and ECNL. There are almost none at the D1 level. A few more do go to very good D3 schools, but they get in on academics first and then soccer.

And the numbers will decline further because of the transfer portal change. Kids who made it onto D1 teams as HS seniors prior to 2021 probably wouldn’t make it on now, and they might never even see the field in all their years because the spot they thought they had back in 2020 is now going to a junior transfer. Meanwhile, the top D1 soccer teams spend the majority of their time recruiting internationally. They get the kids who didn’t quite make it at, say, Ajax and at 22 want to come to the US to get an education and extend their soccer career.

I think anyone who says they can identify the college player at 12 is pretty delusional, with the exception of spotting the kids who are good enough at 12 that they won’t even go to college but will go straight to Europe or the MLS. Those kids are few and far between. Anyone in soccer who talks about how their 12-year-old will play D1 is almost certainly fooling themselves.

Just to put some color on this: this year for men’s U19, both NorCal and SoCal ECNL leagues are generally recognized as having, on average, the better teams in California. They regularly beat MLSNext teams both in and out of California, though not the best MLSNext teams. And yet, out of ALL teams in ECNL in California (which has some of the highest quality soccer in the US), there will probably be about 20-30 kids total who commit to a D1 program as freshmen.