How many high school soccer players DON'T play travel?

[Anonymous]

Had a good discussion with a parent who said the only player on his son's high school varsity team who didn't play travel was only a freshman and only played rec soccer. How often does this happen?

[Anonymous]

I don't have the roster in front of me but I can't think of many kids on the HS teams I'm familiar with that didn't either do travel or some sort of academy program. I guess it would depend on the HS. A smaller school like George Mason in FC may be more likely than a school like Yorktown in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

From MS on it seemed like most kids were travel players - there are always those kids who can jump into any sport and be a super star.

My son quit travel soccer after MS because of other commitments but he played rec soccer in HS. It was great fun because almost all the kids were former travel players who just didn't have the time but still wanted to play.

[Anonymous]

Probably depends on the HS. At some HS in this area pretty much every sports team's roster is comprised of travel players. At some schools plenty of travel players don't even make the team because there is so much high level competition. At other schools it is not nearly as intense.

[Anonymous]

At ours they were almost all travel players or former academy players. By 11th grade some kids had quit travel because of the time commitment. Mine quit club soccer after the fall season in 11th grade (brutal doing both, and his team played in NCSL div 1 and didn't take a season off). While part of the issue was level of skill in rec vs travel, another big part was level of competition. Playing in a competitive league makes a difference.

[Anonymous]

It happens occasionally. A few years back I saw three boys from the same rec team make their HS team in NOVA. They were coached in rec from U8-U14 by a former college player. All three kids were very big and very fast.

[Anonymous]

I quit travel my Freshmen spring, when I made Varsity that year.

My HS won State Championship the same year. I had played travel since 10 and was spent. It was very competitive team with huge commitment.

[Anonymous]

My son plays travel only by choice. The club starts tournaments in August and done a Memorial Day.

I do know of a high school and club that use the Same field where the high school uses that clubs players regardless of ability of others.

[Anonymous]

Can't think of any at my kids' MoCo high school, and that includes JV. There were well over 100 boys trying out for HS soccer last Fall.