HS Soccer is borderline unwatchable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of good players who choose not to play high school which means the teams take a next man/woman up approach. At some point the quality of play will suffer. But I think the HS soccer culture is WAY better than the club culture. I don’t see nearly the level of clickiness as I do on club teams.

Knowing that some travel kids do play HS, how do players do both? Does HS let miss some practices? Would think at some point the practices would overlap so would have conflict or would have HS games when should be doing travel practice or travel tournament during HS games, but so see some kids doing both. How?

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately club soccer and with that, the player’s development, takes the hit. On the girls side, even for elite teams, club pretty much shuts down during HS season - no meaningful practices or limited to no games because of HS team demanding practice and game schedule. Players who don’t play HS have to fend for themselves with individual training and pickup games. The rest come back in terrible form in the winter and work to get back to a competitive level so they can perform in the spring. Because of the disruption and the poor quality, HS is hurting young people’s soccer development in this country. Because ‘for fun’?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One high school has mostly sophomores on the varsity, and could be contending for state championship as these guys get 3 years of varsity play, but the coach is considered weak. The team has a freshman who was in MLSNext, and a sophomore who played(plays?) for a European national team.

Is this the same person who posted that they have a large strapping son who plays HS soccer as his 3rd sport and uses his “superior athleticism” to “kick n’ run” over the little club twats who can’t keep up cause their fancy “dance” moves are just too slow?

And apparently one of the club midgets so throughly crushed by this mythical American beast of a teenage athlete was… a European national team player?

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[Anonymous]

This post is hilarious. I would almost ask the OP to reach out to the FCPS people in charge of soccer programs in the county and ask them if they can improve the overall quality of play among high school teams and why they feel it needs to be changed.. That would be absolutely hilarious.

[Anonymous]

If there is any problem in high school soccer it is simply that the kids haven't played together a long time. I don't believe there is but part of the issue with large teams on high school is just that the season is short.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When we moved to Fairfax County, Virginia, I was shocked to learn that middle schools in FCPS do not have sports programs as they do in every other place I've lived. I grew up in a fairly lower-class public school system but we ALWAYS had sports programs -- I guess FCPS wastes their billions dollars of funding on other things!

In an age where childhood obesity is a persistent problem, and parents are struggling to keep screen-time under control, not offering a low-cost, convenient way for kids to experience all of the physical, emotional, and mental benefits that come with competitive sports is a shame.

So what do you expect when the kids reach high school? Hint: expect ugly soccer lol.

That said, the private school leagues are fun to watch -- schools like Gonzaga, Heights, Good Counsel, St John's Catholic, etc. all play some pretty good soccer.

This person has an agenda. Ecnl headquarters is in Virginia and NOVA is one of the top areas in the country for soccer. Not sure where OPs child goes but 90 percent of the high school soccer kids in FCPS play travel. Half our travel team goes to some of the privates listed and the other to public and it has no bearing on their ability. Obviously PP has a kid in private or has an agenda to attend all these games. Pp sounds like the military officer guy who had been here for 2 months with a MAGA agenda complaining about FCPS already with no idea of the area or the schools and telling me the month and day he was leaving here. Maybe he could put in a transfer? Why people come here with these preconceived notions of hate is beyond me. No way his run down neighborhood he's so proud of could beat an FCPS school or any of the top travel teams here. He had no idea about the saturation of options already here and his kid didn't even participate in the middle school program after all that fuss. He just liked to complain about it but in no way was he going to put his kid with the poors or those liberals. FCPS is not Gonzaga lol. And yet the kids on my sons travel team play at the same level nonetheless. Good riddance. Go back to your small town.

Did you take your medication today?

How many more kids would be playing competitive soccer during those important pre-high school years if public schools in NoVA competed in sports as the high schools do?

My kids play travel soccer because they are fortunate that we can afford the cost and can get them to/from practices and games. As a kid growing up on the outskirts of Philadelpha (not some irrelevant "small town") I was able to play competitive middle school sports without any extra cost to my family; we had practice after school, at school; and the school took us by bus to/from away games. My parents would try to make it to a game here or there if they could get off work but if they couldn't I could still fully participate in the program.

You sound like the one full of hate. And maybe you have an agenda -- I know pay-to-play travel soccer is big business in this area and a better school sports program might interfere with the gravy train.

[Anonymous]

I think the calculus on middle school sports is that it is expensive and time-consuming to deal with and only benefits a handful of kids (12 boys out of 600 boys on a basketball team), whereas intramurals after school benefits many more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My kids play travel soccer because they are fortunate that we can afford the cost and can get them to/from practices and games. As a kid growing up on the outskirts of Philadelpha (not some irrelevant "small town") I was able to play competitive middle school sports without any extra cost to my family; we had practice after school, at school; and the school took us by bus to/from away games. My parents would try to make it to a game here or there if they could get off work but if they couldn't I could still fully participate in the program.

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I grew up in the panhandle of Florida where we had a full sports programs in Middle School. I recall about 100 kids trying out for about 22 positions on our soccer team. (We had practice every day after school and the busses would take us to play other middle school teams weekly in the county; great program with no cost to the families.) The kids who didn't make it, just went on to play rec soccer or not play soccer at all. I think that is appropriate. Not every kid's parents needs to be told they will achieve great things by playing travel soccer. We had a robust rec soccer program and the kids that did play rec soccer, were probably happier playing rec regardless. It's unfortunate that if you want to play serious soccer here, pay to play travel soccer is the only option. Hopefully, bringing back sports to middle schools continues and soccer returns as well.

[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.

Foosball with real people. Pfffft..

[Anonymous]

Long ball in high school? That used to be how elementary soccer was played. My team sucked in the 90s but we would beat long ball offense teams 8-0. I was left back and all I had to do was sweep the striker or otherwise knock him off the ball over and over again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[
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[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[
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[Anonymous]

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

Definitely the case for mine. She's not a hs starter (but is for her RL team). Misses lots of spring travel practices for school games and "practices." Rarely finds school "practice" taxing at all. So frustrating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Foosball with real people. Pfffft..

YES!! Ball ricochets off the side of a kid's head and parents go nuts for a beautiful header. Flat defense punts it up field to the goalie playing high up ... parents go nuts because the ball went far and sounded great on impact. It's killing me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Foosball with real people. Pfffft..

YES!! Ball ricochets off the side of a kid's head and parents go nuts for a beautiful header. Flat defense punts it up field to the goalie playing high up ... parents go nuts because the ball went far and sounded great on impact. It's killing me.

My favorite is the constant breaks through fragmented back lines followed by a heroic slide tackle. Then using the midfield as a fly over state to launch the ball to the other team to start over again. A lot of parents cant get enough of that stuff. It's like the soccer version of Talladega Nights.