The travel bar... would they make their high school team

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:While a HS junior, DS was able to play internationally against the likes of FC Zenit, play u23 summer club ball with and against D1 talent and earn a u23/first team offer from a USL2 club outside our area, but yet not make his HS varsity team. The bar is EXTREMELY high in PW County!

Thats because PWC HS sports are very political!! Do you have another kid at the school? Do you live in the same neighborhood as coach? Is a sibling on another sports team? In Western PWC coaches do NOT pick by ability - they pick by politics.

All HS soccer is political. I've seen it in private and public.

Political if kids don’t make the team

Not sure that it is political but the coaches generally are not good soccer coaches and can only coach to the lowest common denominator style wise so they often select those who are the lowest common denominators as players. If they spend more time at tryouts running sprints than scrimmages your kid is in for a very special time.

Our team had the players to play good soccer, but it was a large roster and not once did they use the best combo. They could have controlled right down the midfield but never had the smartest most finessed players together on the field at the same time.

A good coach would have seen that because the very brief time these kids were on the field together the play was demonstratively so much better. There are some games they could have won, but never took some of these kids off the bench while they kept getting crushed, beaten and making egregious errors—the kind most kids stopped making in early rec soccer.

And the worst part is those parents just accuse you of being bitter and sour grapes when they really have no clue.

What exactly are you expecting from high school sports? The coaches all have day jobs and are basically volunteering so kids and the school can have teams. If they were professional coaches they wouldn’t be teaching in high school or coaching HS sports. Outside of football and basketball, high school sports are rec leagues. Let the kids have some fun playing and let the parents enjoy watching. Not everything needs to be about sucking all the fun out to win meaningless games. Do you also spend time at schools and criticize how kids are organizing and performing during recess and PE?

Just don't say that it isn't "political" when people tell you that the best team or lineup is not actually being rostered or even selected. And don't get upset when people tell you that the product on the field often times sucks.

Coaches will select teams that will give the school the highest chance to win. It’s not a conspiracy if a player doesn’t make the team

The problem is the coaches usually suck.

Translated, “me or my kid didn’t make the HS team, so this is my defense mechanism.” Or, possibly, “I am a travel coach and want you to realize that the money you pay me is well spent.”

MY DD has made varsity every year since 9th grade and I will agree that HS coaching is normally terrible (there are some exceptions across the state but as a general rule, they are terrible). In addition, there are multiple factors on why a "best club player" may or may not make the team. Could be an attitude of "I am a good club player so I am entitled on this HS team", could be track record at the school, could be behavior issues, could be grades, etc. etc. Just because you are a good club player does not always mean you are the best selection for the HS team in a different environment. Sometimes it is politics, sometimes it is bad coaching decisions, sometimes it is the kid's fault for various reasons that they get cut. Life lessons for sure in some cases. Bottom line, this will happen in life. Overcome it and move on. This will happen to them in many situations throughout their life. Not everyone will be a winner - even when they deserve it sometimes.

[Anonymous]

It seems most people agree that the best club players are not always selected for high school teams-so that’s the take home message.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree that high school soccer is disgustingly political-especially on the girls side in DMV privates. When you see 3rd and 4th level travel players making Varsity over ECNL/EDP players there is a problem…

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The only problem is the parent's assuming that ECNL/EDP players should make Varsity over other travel players. HS Soccer is about talent, passion, and grit. . . not pay to play or ECNL experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree that high school soccer is disgustingly political-especially on the girls side in DMV privates. When you see 3rd and 4th level travel players making Varsity over ECNL/EDP players there is a problem…

'
The only problem is the parent's assuming that ECNL/EDP players should make Varsity over other travel players. HS Soccer is about talent, passion, and grit. . . not pay to play or ECNL experiences.

I sort of agree with this but, by and large, the best soccer teams, at least on the girls side, are private schools. Good Counsel, Spalding, Ireton, Paul VI, St johns all are very good teams where kids do get recruited from. However, they are in many ways similar to ECNL pay to play. Top kids should make a public school varsity team no later than 10th grade. If they dont they are not elite players. Full stop. Even at the top private schools 10th grade is pretty much a cut off for the top kids unless they are way late in their physical development. If your kid is not making a varsity team by 10th grade they are not elite and will not be playing D1.

[Anonymous]

How different is girls HS soccer compared to ecnl? DD is a freshman at a public high school. Feels good about her chances at varsity bc she is fast and skilled. However, she is slight and small (weight/size) especially compared to seniors.

I’m guessing to expect a lot of kick and run or maybe I’m wrong bc a lot of ecnl and travel players at her school and I’m sure at most of the schools in the area and the soccer is decent?

Any insights appreciated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How different is girls HS soccer compared to ecnl? DD is a freshman at a public high school. Feels good about her chances at varsity bc she is fast and skilled. However, she is slight and small (weight/size) especially compared to seniors.

I’m guessing to expect a lot of kick and run or maybe I’m wrong bc a lot of ecnl and travel players at her school and I’m sure at most of the schools in the area and the soccer is decent?

Any insights appreciated

Totally depends on the school and the league. Id argue some of the top HS teams are better than ECNL teams. However, the drop between the top teams and an average HS is tremendous. Are you at a private school or wealthy NOVA or MD HS? If so, teams will be good. If not, they will be miserable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree that high school soccer is disgustingly political-especially on the girls side in DMV privates. When you see 3rd and 4th level travel players making Varsity over ECNL/EDP players there is a problem…

'
The only problem is the parent's assuming that ECNL/EDP players should make Varsity over other travel players. HS Soccer is about talent, passion, and grit. . . not pay to play or ECNL experiences.

I sort of agree with this but, by and large, the best soccer teams, at least on the girls side, are private schools. Good Counsel, Spalding, Ireton, Paul VI, St johns all are very good teams where kids do get recruited from. However, they are in many ways similar to ECNL pay to play. Top kids should make a public school varsity team no later than 10th grade. If they dont they are not elite players. Full stop. Even at the top private schools 10th grade is pretty much a cut off for the top kids unless they are way late in their physical development. If your kid is not making a varsity team by 10th grade they are not elite and will not be playing D1.

Boy parent. Not true at our private. There are 3 teams: freshmen, JV, varsity. Not a single freshmen or sophomore made varsity. And some of those kids are now talking to college coaches junior year.

[Anonymous]

Another confounding factor is coaching staff at private schools who prioritize selection of their own club players on school teams, no matter the club level of the player. This version of nepotism goes on at many DMV privates and results in stronger club players being cut. SMH…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another confounding factor is coaching staff at private schools who prioritize selection of their own club players on school teams, no matter the club level of the player. This version of nepotism goes on at many DMV privates and results in stronger club players being cut. SMH…

True. And the contacts parents make before the kid arrives—barf!

[Anonymous]

I hear a lot of complaining from ECNL parents running into the harsh reality their kid is not as good as they paid for and maybe finding all top kids dont play in ecnl. it boggles my mind honestly that on the one hand you can say ecnl clubs are not biased at all but high school teams are all terribly biased. lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hear a lot of complaining from ECNL parents running into the harsh reality their kid is not as good as they paid for and maybe finding all top kids dont play in ecnl. it boggles my mind honestly that on the one hand you can say ecnl clubs are not biased at all but high school teams are all terribly biased. lol

Well stated! I have an ECNL kid and can honestly say there are plenty of kids on the ECNL rosters that are not as good as some that are in the clubs "below" them. The concept of the kid that is perceived to be the "better player" not making the top team or getting cut occurs across the board. Sometimes it is because the kid that was cut is not as good (ECNL or not). Sometimes it is just a bad decision and the better player does not make the team. Either way, it happens on both sides and is not specific to HS teams.

[Anonymous]

^ and late developers never getting a chance. Many boys are having growth spurts at 15/16 and were 90 pound weaklings Freshmen year. By then it’s too late in US Club & HS because spots are already filled and cuts are so infrequent.

[Anonymous]

Girls HS soccer is mostly kick and run, even at the top schools. Pretty much every ECNL and GA player we know was offered a varsity spot as a freshman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Girls HS soccer is mostly kick and run, even at the top schools. Pretty much every ECNL and GA player we know was offered a varsity spot as a freshman.

+1. They won't necessarily be starters at the big name private schools and wealthy public schools, but they will make varsity as a freshman. Anywhere else, they will probably be one of the starters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Girls HS soccer is mostly kick and run, even at the top schools. Pretty much every ECNL and GA player we know was offered a varsity spot as a freshman.

+1. They won't necessarily be starters at the big name private schools and wealthy public schools, but they will make varsity as a freshman. Anywhere else, they will probably be one of the starters.

Agreed which is why I dont understand parents complaining. I will say a number of the top private schools dont let freshmen on varsity without exceptional exemption but almost always those freshmen are allowed to practice with varsity hence my mystification with parents whining about their kids not making team. I do think a number of ecnl kids dont make the cut and oh well they are just not that good.