Men’s D1 College Soccer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean why do they play at the highest levels?

At least MLS Next players are prohibited from playing high school soccer. That forces a decision about what you want to do. ECNL should follow suit - on the boys and girls side - along with Girls Academy.

And yet 1/2 our HS team is MLSNext players. Lol. That 'prohibition' is one people are loop-holing.

You’re lying. Otherwise you’d have mentioned the school name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean why do they play at the highest levels?

At least MLS Next players are prohibited from playing high school soccer. That forces a decision about what you want to do. ECNL should follow suit - on the boys and girls side - along with Girls Academy.

And yet 1/2 our HS team is MLSNext players. Lol. That 'prohibition' is one people are loop-holing.

You’re lying. Otherwise you’d have mentioned the school name.

I don’t know about half, but there’s definitely some at our school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So then I ask you, why do boys continue to play, knowing that college opportunities are limited (Club soccer is a real step down for the high end players), pro opportunities in the US are even more limited, and opportunities overseas are even more limited.

They don’t realize it until Jr/Sr year of HS. I have warned so many soccer parents about this, but they have zero clue and think I’m FOS.

Now it makes sense why we never succeed at the international level on the men’s side.The limited opportunities make players go on a different path like tennis, BB, AF, BV, Hockey, track or stop playing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So then I ask you, why do boys continue to play, knowing that college opportunities are limited (Club soccer is a real step down for the high end players), pro opportunities in the US are even more limited, and opportunities overseas are even more limited.

They don’t realize it until Jr/Sr year of HS. I have warned so many soccer parents about this, but they have zero clue and think I’m FOS.

Now it makes sense why we never succeed at the international level on the men’s side.The limited opportunities make players go on a different path like tennis, BB, AF, BV, Hockey, track or stop playing.

A lot of XC and LAX too.

But I think this is part of the problem. College sports are uniquely American and part of the system, like it or not.

Yes you can identify the top, generational talent at young ages (Tyler Adams, Christian Pulisec, that Sullivan kid) but what about the kids whose parents say “nah, my kid’s gonna play Lax because there aren’t enough opportunities in soccer.”

Club soccer is a wonderful thing, but it should be in addition to, not instead of D1 men’s soccer.

Looking at you University of Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Texas etc!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So then I ask you, why do boys continue to play, knowing that college opportunities are limited (Club soccer is a real step down for the high end players), pro opportunities in the US are even more limited, and opportunities overseas are even more limited.

They don’t realize it until Jr/Sr year of HS. I have warned so many soccer parents about this, but they have zero clue and think I’m FOS.

Now it makes sense why we never succeed at the international level on the men’s side.The limited opportunities make players go on a different path like tennis, BB, AF, BV, Hockey, track or stop playing.

A lot of XC and LAX too.

But I think this is part of the problem. College sports are uniquely American and part of the system, like it or not.

Yes you can identify the top, generational talent at young ages (Tyler Adams, Christian Pulisec, that Sullivan kid) but what about the kids whose parents say “nah, my kid’s gonna play Lax because there aren’t enough opportunities in soccer.”

Club soccer is a wonderful thing, but it should be in addition to, not instead of D1 men’s soccer.

Looking at you University of Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Texas etc!

What are the Lax opportunities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean why do they play at the highest levels?

At least MLS Next players are prohibited from playing high school soccer. That forces a decision about what you want to do. ECNL should follow suit - on the boys and girls side - along with Girls Academy.

And yet 1/2 our HS team is MLSNext players. Lol. That 'prohibition' is one people are loop-holing.

You’re lying. Otherwise you’d have mentioned the school name.

I don’t know about half, but there’s definitely some at our school.

+1 About 1/4 of our private school team this Fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So then I ask you, why do boys continue to play, knowing that college opportunities are limited (Club soccer is a real step down for the high end players), pro opportunities in the US are even more limited, and opportunities overseas are even more limited.

They don’t realize it until Jr/Sr year of HS. I have warned so many soccer parents about this, but they have zero clue and think I’m FOS.

Now it makes sense why we never succeed at the international level on the men’s side.The limited opportunities make players go on a different path like tennis, BB, AF, BV, Hockey, track or stop playing.

A lot of XC and LAX too.

But I think this is part of the problem. College sports are uniquely American and part of the system, like it or not.

Yes you can identify the top, generational talent at young ages (Tyler Adams, Christian Pulisec, that Sullivan kid) but what about the kids whose parents say “nah, my kid’s gonna play Lax because there aren’t enough opportunities in soccer.”

Club soccer is a wonderful thing, but it should be in addition to, not instead of D1 men’s soccer.

Looking at you University of Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Texas etc!

What are the Lax opportunities?

Less LAX players, this area is a hotbed of talent. There are at least some D1 programs around.

[Anonymous]

The reason why ECNL wants to secure more kids playing at younger ages is because the older players are facing all the new challenges with roster limits, etc. which makes less attractive to HS players to invest in their club soccer career. Its been been more challenging for boys than for female players, but now it will be for girls too.

[Anonymous]

More and more high end players, fighting for fewer and fewer spots. Doesn’t make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More and more high end players, fighting for fewer and fewer spots. Doesn’t make sense.

I thought that's just how the world works

The higher up on the pyramid the less space, so only the best is good enough.

Do jobs hire 6 people to fill 2 open positions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the better college programs rely heavily on international players anyway. This year at UMd, for example, 9 of the usual starting lineup is from outside the US. it’s quite a telling indictment of youth development in the US.

+1. We went to the Cornell v. Darmouth game recently and 9 of 11 Dartmouth starters were non-U.S. players. Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great deal for these international athletes, but if we had more college programs, surely more US kids could play D1.

Now to be fair these big powerhouse schools have Club soccer, but we all know that’s not the same - not even as good as D3 soccer.

Actually if you have seen some of the top P4 school mens club soccer games I think you might change your mind about that.

+1. BYU is the perennial national club soccer champion on the mens side. I've seen them play in the national championship game twice. Outscore their oppoenents like 20-1 at the National Championships. They could beat most D1 teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More and more high end players, fighting for fewer and fewer spots. Doesn’t make sense.

I thought that's just how the world works

The higher up on the pyramid the less space, so only the best is good enough.

Do jobs hire 6 people to fill 2 open positions?

You are missing the point. The TRANSFER PORTAL and 5th year backlog has changed men's college soccer completely.

It is much, MUCH MUCH more competitive now. The rosters are older. They'd rather pick up an older experienced player in the portal than commit your junior/senior in HS. There are more International players than ever. They can no longer carry these big 34-35 person rosters beginning next year and are having to cut CURRENT PLAYERS. This means, again, even fewer, fewer Freshmen recruits.

This isn't college recruiting in the 90s/2000s. It is very different and much, much harder---particularly so the past few years and more so in the coming ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great deal for these international athletes, but if we had more college programs, surely more US kids could play D1.

Now to be fair these big powerhouse schools have Club soccer, but we all know that’s not the same - not even as good as D3 soccer.

Actually if you have seen some of the top P4 school mens club soccer games I think you might change your mind about that.

+1. BYU is the perennial national club soccer champion on the mens side. I've seen them play in the national championship game twice. Outscore their oppoenents like 20-1 at the National Championships. They could beat most D1 teams.

'

I should add that one reason the BYU team is so good is that their players are typically 2 or so years older on average due to having gone on international missions during college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More and more high end players, fighting for fewer and fewer spots. Doesn’t make sense.

I thought that's just how the world works

The higher up on the pyramid the less space, so only the best is good enough.

Do jobs hire 6 people to fill 2 open positions?

You are missing the point. The TRANSFER PORTAL and 5th year backlog has changed men's college soccer completely.

It is much, MUCH MUCH more competitive now. The rosters are older. They'd rather pick up an older experienced player in the portal than commit your junior/senior in HS. There are more International players than ever. They can no longer carry these big 34-35 person rosters beginning next year and are having to cut CURRENT PLAYERS. This means, again, even fewer, fewer Freshmen recruits.

This isn't college recruiting in the 90s/2000s. It is very different and much, much harder---particularly so the past few years and more so in the coming ones.

+1 2026+ is in for a shock