Harsh Reality for your Beloved Soccer Player

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the assessment for goalies? At what age do you see Division I potential?

As soon as they hit their growth spurt.

So if they never spurt but keep growing steadily?

Height matters for keepers for keepers it is that simple.

[Anonymous]

Would a kid (boy or girl) be better off to skip college ball to focus on academics, even he/she has the capacity to play D1/D2/D3 but becoming pro is a long shot for them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have to love this feed. If a parent doesn't know that D1 is a long shot for most soccer players is just ridiculous. While I understand scholarships are what many are looking for academic ones are given more often without the worry of injury. Also, many boys grow a ton after age 12 and their abilities change good or not so. Most of the soccer and field hockey and lax clubs are money makers period. They are not going to definitely get your kid into D1. Does your kid enjoy playing, does your family enjoy spending the money and using up every weekend then awesome go for it.

Coach here- agree with your comments. Not only that but do parents realize how difficult being a D1 athlete is? It is an incredibly difficult and demanding soccer-school balance. Not only that, it takes incredible amount of mental fortitude with high demands from coaches, teammates, etc. Not only that but then you have to tie in what they are going to do after college. Sometimes it's difficult for student athletes to get a meaningful degree and put efforts into their life after college. Professional soccer is even more of a longshot! Definitely not discouraging anyone from having D1 aspirations but it takes the right kid with the right makeup. Collegiate soccer is not for everyone.

Every once in a while I will see a D1 athlete. They are really noticably. The last girl I saw was u12 and every coach(basketball, lacrosse, soccer, track, etc) was crazy about her. I saw her play basketball for the first time. By the end of the season she was the best player on the court.

I really do not think parents on these top teams at large clubs really understand an athlete like this. She is not just the fastest kid on your top team. She is the fastest kid in the league two years up. This does not mean she will play D1 or become a star college player. She would have to have the right coach, the right mantallity, luck, etc.

I think everyone thinks D1 is UNC and Penn State. There are lots of D1 schools. The commitment is the same but the quality of players can vary widely. The type of girl you mention is a blue chip type of D1 athlete who top 10 programs are drooling over. But there are just as many of those programs as there are kids. There are many programs where kids can land on. The issue hinges on what is more important, the right school or playing soccer in college? Many kids can play in D1 but the sacrifice in either the school choice or commitment level may not be worth doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have to love this feed. If a parent doesn't know that D1 is a long shot for most soccer players is just ridiculous. While I understand scholarships are what many are looking for academic ones are given more often without the worry of injury. Also, many boys grow a ton after age 12 and their abilities change good or not so. Most of the soccer and field hockey and lax clubs are money makers period. They are not going to definitely get your kid into D1. Does your kid enjoy playing, does your family enjoy spending the money and using up every weekend then awesome go for it.

Coach here- agree with your comments. Not only that but do parents realize how difficult being a D1 athlete is? It is an incredibly difficult and demanding soccer-school balance. Not only that, it takes incredible amount of mental fortitude with high demands from coaches, teammates, etc. Not only that but then you have to tie in what they are going to do after college. Sometimes it's difficult for student athletes to get a meaningful degree and put efforts into their life after college. Professional soccer is even more of a longshot! Definitely not discouraging anyone from having D1 aspirations but it takes the right kid with the right makeup. Collegiate soccer is not for everyone.

Every once in a while I will see a D1 athlete. They are really noticably. The last girl I saw was u12 and every coach(basketball, lacrosse, soccer, track, etc) was crazy about her. I saw her play basketball for the first time. By the end of the season she was the best player on the court.

I really do not think parents on these top teams at large clubs really understand an athlete like this. She is not just the fastest kid on your top team. She is the fastest kid in the league two years up. This does not mean she will play D1 or become a star college player. She would have to have the right coach, the right mantallity, luck, etc.

I think everyone thinks D1 is UNC and Penn State. There are lots of D1 schools. The commitment is the same but the quality of players can vary widely. The type of girl you mention is a blue chip type of D1 athlete who top 10 programs are drooling over. But there are just as many of those programs as there are kids. There are many programs where kids can land on. The issue hinges on what is more important, the right school or playing soccer in college? Many kids can play in D1 but the sacrifice in either the school choice or commitment level may not be worth doing.

This all day. There aren’t enough freak athletes as described above to fill 1/4 of D1 rosters.

That’s one of the reasons I call BS on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Coach, if you had a group of talented kids from their U9 year, what would be the top 3 or 5 areas you would have focused on developing, say by the age of 15/16?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have to love this feed. If a parent doesn't know that D1 is a long shot for most soccer players is just ridiculous. While I understand scholarships are what many are looking for academic ones are given more often without the worry of injury. Also, many boys grow a ton after age 12 and their abilities change good or not so. Most of the soccer and field hockey and lax clubs are money makers period. They are not going to definitely get your kid into D1. Does your kid enjoy playing, does your family enjoy spending the money and using up every weekend then awesome go for it.

Coach here- agree with your comments. Not only that but do parents realize how difficult being a D1 athlete is? It is an incredibly difficult and demanding soccer-school balance. Not only that, it takes incredible amount of mental fortitude with high demands from coaches, teammates, etc. Not only that but then you have to tie in what they are going to do after college. Sometimes it's difficult for student athletes to get a meaningful degree and put efforts into their life after college. Professional soccer is even more of a longshot! Definitely not discouraging anyone from having D1 aspirations but it takes the right kid with the right makeup. Collegiate soccer is not for everyone.

Every once in a while I will see a D1 athlete. They are really noticably. The last girl I saw was u12 and every coach(basketball, lacrosse, soccer, track, etc) was crazy about her. I saw her play basketball for the first time. By the end of the season she was the best player on the court.

I really do not think parents on these top teams at large clubs really understand an athlete like this. She is not just the fastest kid on your top team. She is the fastest kid in the league two years up. This does not mean she will play D1 or become a star college player. She would have to have the right coach, the right mantallity, luck, etc.

OK coach--I'm a little confused about your initial post that seemed to specifically be directed at parents of ECNL players. Your point was that an ECNL player turning into a D1 prospect is very rare. Unfortunately (depending on the club), the numbers don't agree with you. First of all, there are over 300 women's D1 programs in the US (not all of equal quality from a soccer or academic perspective, but that's not the point you were making). My daughter plays ECNL at a large club (not in the DC area). We went to watch an ACC team in a non-conference D1 game a few weeks ago. There were 11 players from her club alone between the 2 teams. In looking at just the 2002 ECNL team, I count 13 D1 commitments so far. Sooooo....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every once in a while I will see a D1 athlete. They are really noticably. The last girl I saw was u12 and every coach(basketball, lacrosse, soccer, track, etc) was crazy about her. I saw her play basketball for the first time. By the end of the season she was the best player on the court.

I really do not think parents on these top teams at large clubs really understand an athlete like this. She is not just the fastest kid on your top team. She is the fastest kid in the league two years up. This does not mean she will play D1 or become a star college player. She would have to have the right coach, the right mantallity, luck, etc.

Early puberty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have to love this feed. If a parent doesn't know that D1 is a long shot for most soccer players is just ridiculous. While I understand scholarships are what many are looking for academic ones are given more often without the worry of injury. Also, many boys grow a ton after age 12 and their abilities change good or not so. Most of the soccer and field hockey and lax clubs are money makers period. They are not going to definitely get your kid into D1. Does your kid enjoy playing, does your family enjoy spending the money and using up every weekend then awesome go for it.

Coach here- agree with your comments. Not only that but do parents realize how difficult being a D1 athlete is? It is an incredibly difficult and demanding soccer-school balance. Not only that, it takes incredible amount of mental fortitude with high demands from coaches, teammates, etc. Not only that but then you have to tie in what they are going to do after college. Sometimes it's difficult for student athletes to get a meaningful degree and put efforts into their life after college. Professional soccer is even more of a longshot! Definitely not discouraging anyone from having D1 aspirations but it takes the right kid with the right makeup. Collegiate soccer is not for everyone.

Every once in a while I will see a D1 athlete. They are really noticably. The last girl I saw was u12 and every coach(basketball, lacrosse, soccer, track, etc) was crazy about her. I saw her play basketball for the first time. By the end of the season she was the best player on the court.

I really do not think parents on these top teams at large clubs really understand an athlete like this. She is not just the fastest kid on your top team. She is the fastest kid in the league two years up. This does not mean she will play D1 or become a star college player. She would have to have the right coach, the right mantallity, luck, etc.

OK coach--I'm a little confused about your initial post that seemed to specifically be directed at parents of ECNL players. Your point was that an ECNL player turning into a D1 prospect is very rare. Unfortunately (depending on the club), the numbers don't agree with you. First of all, there are over 300 women's D1 programs in the US (not all of equal quality from a soccer or academic perspective, but that's not the point you were making). My daughter plays ECNL at a large club (not in the DC area). We went to watch an ACC team in a non-conference D1 game a few weeks ago. There were 11 players from her club alone between the 2 teams. In looking at just the 2002 ECNL team, I count 13 D1 commitments so far. Sooooo....

Just adding one more thing to my post above... your statement:

"I really do not think parents on these top teams at large clubs really understand an athlete like this. She is not just the fastest kid on your top team. She is the fastest kid in the league two years up. This does not mean she will play D1 or become a star college player. She would have to have the right coach, the right mantallity, luck, etc."

At my daughter's club we do understand those kids---they are the ones getting called in to YNT camps.... And yes, they definitely stand out.

[Anonymous]

Do you people not work? How the hell does someone pretending to be a soccer coach make a post at 10 am and there are 5 pages of replies by 6pm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Who are these parents of 11 year olds worrying about whether their kid is going to play D1 soccer in college??? They are 11–let them be kids!! Live your own life so they can live theirs, as kids.

Hahaha. You don't understand. These parents need to fulfill THEIR dreams through their kids! lol on them actually letting kids be kids in a calm environment! You must not be from around here.

[Anonymous]

Not that I made d1 (never tried, never a goal for me) but I improved by miles at age 14-15.

I was also very good at 11-12...

What I’m saying is.. you don’t think a long-term player can bust their butt at age 14 and open up a new level?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have to love this feed. If a parent doesn't know that D1 is a long shot for most soccer players is just ridiculous. While I understand scholarships are what many are looking for academic ones are given more often without the worry of injury. Also, many boys grow a ton after age 12 and their abilities change good or not so. Most of the soccer and field hockey and lax clubs are money makers period. They are not going to definitely get your kid into D1. Does your kid enjoy playing, does your family enjoy spending the money and using up every weekend then awesome go for it.

I think it is a misnomer that academic scholarships are handed out so much easier than athletic ones. The end goal is for the kid to have a full experience in life. To get an academic scholarship I imagine that the kid will be spending a lot of time alone studying instead of being a member of a team playing soccer for a common cause. Does studying alone with make the kid better than a kid that balances a sport with academics? Do you want to work with a loner who made all A’s and does not know how to work on a team?

Personally I will take the soccer kid over straight A scholarship kid every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Who are these parents of 11 year olds worrying about whether their kid is going to play D1 soccer in college??? They are 11–let them be kids!! Live your own life so they can live theirs, as kids.

Hahaha. You don't understand. These parents need to fulfill THEIR dreams through their kids! lol on them actually letting kids be kids in a calm environment! You must not be from around here.

You're here reading and posting. It matters more to you than you'd like to admit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NOVA Coach here. Here's what I have to say about all your ECNL dreams for your kid. Harsh reality is by U12 most can already make an assessment on whether your kid will be good enough for D1. This is not only from technical standpoint but from a Soccer IQ standpoint. If you watch your kid and your kid is losing the ball 50% of the time, can't beat players 1v1, can't dribble or looks to get rid of the ball quickly it's pretty much a wrap for your D1 hopes for your kid. Record your kid's stats whenever they touch the ball and you'll be shocked.

By U12 they have to not just be technical, but technical with both feet. If a kid doesn't play with both feet with quality by that age their future will be limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the assessment for goalies? At what age do you see Division I potential?

As soon as they hit their growth spurt.

So if they never spurt but keep growing steadily?

Height matters for keepers for keepers it is that simple.

What height does a keeper girl need to be for D1 consideration?