Reducing the academic load to play elite soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ Homeschooling is not “a much worse HS route”. Plenty of homeschooled kids take a very heavy academic load with rigorous curriculum. There’s a reason homeschoolers have been accepted into and are actively recruited by elite institutions like Harvard, MIT and Stanford. They outperform kids from public school (even when controlling for parents’ education level) plus have additional skills and capabilities.

https://www.businessinsider.com/homeschooling-is-the-new-path-to-harvard-2015-9

I say if it works for the kids and their families and helps them achieve their goals then it sounds like a good idea.

I am willing to bet that the homeschooling of kids who drop out to play DA soccer is generally not on par with HS education. Parents who have been planning out curriculum for many years, sure, maybe some of them are better. Parents with no background who just start in HS so their kid can train five hours a day? Not likely to be good.

Yea, all 1 of them in this situation. Someone started the straw-man that DA soccer kids are turning to homeschooling. That simply is not a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not realize this was about boys. Maybe a boy could have a pro soccer career but the chances are basically zero and less then that for girls. But suit yourselves. If my kid even gets a gnat of a thought of pulling back on academics to play more soccer I will shut that down so fast.

The point is not a soccer career. If I were a D1 school recruiter, or a law firm partner, or a consulting firm partner, I would want to have a ex-DA kid that balanced playing at that level with a decent school and decent course load over a kid taking 10 AP classes and has no idea how to be part of a team, socialize with others, or commit themselves to something other than hiding in a basement studying.

[Anonymous]

The bottom line is that academic loads should be adjusted to facilitate a happy life, not just soccer. Soo many kids take classes they aren't interested in at AP or IB levels because they feel this insane pressure to keep up with peers. Too many kids worry too much about academics: yes they are obviously important, but so are peer relationships, hobbies, interests etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ Homeschooling is not “a much worse HS route”. Plenty of homeschooled kids take a very heavy academic load with rigorous curriculum. There’s a reason homeschoolers have been accepted into and are actively recruited by elite institutions like Harvard, MIT and Stanford. They outperform kids from public school (even when controlling for parents’ education level) plus have additional skills and capabilities.

https://www.businessinsider.com/homeschooling-is-the-new-path-to-harvard-2015-9

I say if it works for the kids and their families and helps them achieve their goals then it sounds like a good idea.

I am willing to bet that the homeschooling of kids who drop out to play DA soccer is generally not on par with HS education. Parents who have been planning out curriculum for many years, sure, maybe some of them are better. Parents with no background who just start in HS so their kid can train five hours a day? Not likely to be good.

Yea, all 1 of them in this situation. Someone started the straw-man that DA soccer kids are turning to homeschooling. That simply is not a thing.

Don’t know about formal homeschooling, but taking online only classes senior year and sometimes junior year of HD is absolutely a thing at DC United’s DA and elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

.....and you wonder why we are always behind the rest of the world when it comes to education.

The real subject line should read "Reducing soccer training to advance education"

For 2 of you, good luck on your college bounds. Maybe 1 of you get to see a USL field, the rest of you are raising gym teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do realize that if you want to learn something you can just buy a text book and read it through without being in a class

That is the opposite of what is being said here. Don't read the text. Drop the AP classes. Take lower level, less challenging classes.

Suit yourselves. Sounds like a big mistake to me. For every story put out there about some kid that dropped down to lower level academics to spend more time playing soccer for spectacular results, I can show you a thousand that are now driving for Amazon or selling used cars or monitoring the playground at lunch.

No. You can’t. You wish you could since you have a chip in your shoulder about sports. Show me 1 person who is an academy level player who had their college commitment taken away because they dropped AP classes.

Why are you skipping over the content of the education. If you are taking high level courses for the sake of taking high level courses then who cares? Drop them. If you are taking them because you need that information to then take the next level course in that subject and advance your knowledge and education, do not drop them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not realize this was about boys. Maybe a boy could have a pro soccer career but the chances are basically zero and less then that for girls. But suit yourselves. If my kid even gets a gnat of a thought of pulling back on academics to play more soccer I will shut that down so fast.

The point is not a soccer career. If I were a D1 school recruiter, or a law firm partner, or a consulting firm partner, I would want to have a ex-DA kid that balanced playing at that level with a decent school and decent course load over a kid taking 10 AP classes and has no idea how to be part of a team, socialize with others, or commit themselves to something other than hiding in a basement studying.

I'd want a kid who took 10 AP classes AND played travel soccer or high school soccer over a DA player who dumped the hard academic work to just focus on playing a game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not realize this was about boys. Maybe a boy could have a pro soccer career but the chances are basically zero and less then that for girls. But suit yourselves. If my kid even gets a gnat of a thought of pulling back on academics to play more soccer I will shut that down so fast.

The point is not a soccer career. If I were a D1 school recruiter, or a law firm partner, or a consulting firm partner, I would want to have a ex-DA kid that balanced playing at that level with a decent school and decent course load over a kid taking 10 AP classes and has no idea how to be part of a team, socialize with others, or commit themselves to something other than hiding in a basement studying.

I'd want a kid who took 10 AP classes AND played travel soccer or high school soccer over a DA player who dumped the hard academic work to just focus on playing a game.

I don’t agree.
And how many kids take 10 AP courses to “advance their knowledge and education”? You take 10 AP courses because that’s what you think you need to do to get into a good college. But if you can get into a good college without 10 AP courses? Why create that stress? Because it is a stressor that just isn’t necessary. Evidence: Not many people took 10 AP courses “back in the day” and those people turned out successful. Some even dropped out of college and still became successful. Crazy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see no problem with reducing academic load to provide balance. It goes both ways, a kid should not play DA at the detriment of academics but a kid should not just study all the time with no physical outlet or ever having risen to the highest level of some activity. Playing at the highest level of the sport is also a learning tool.

The commitment, teamwork, dedication, and expertise to play at the DA level should not be overlooked as a learning tool to create a well balanced member of society.

I would rather work with a well balanced person than one who spent all his/her time in the books or vice versa on the soccer field.

Again, I say, people like you are why living in this area is so awful. Nobody ever has to rise to the "highest level of some activity." Your poor children. I'm curious: what did you rise to the highest level in? Are you famous for it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not realize this was about boys. Maybe a boy could have a pro soccer career but the chances are basically zero and less then that for girls. But suit yourselves. If my kid even gets a gnat of a thought of pulling back on academics to play more soccer I will shut that down so fast.

The point is not a soccer career. If I were a D1 school recruiter, or a law firm partner, or a consulting firm partner, I would want to have a ex-DA kid that balanced playing at that level with a decent school and decent course load over a kid taking 10 AP classes and has no idea how to be part of a team, socialize with others, or commit themselves to something other than hiding in a basement studying.

You all know that 99.9% of people have no idea, nor do they care, what DA is, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not realize this was about boys. Maybe a boy could have a pro soccer career but the chances are basically zero and less then that for girls. But suit yourselves. If my kid even gets a gnat of a thought of pulling back on academics to play more soccer I will shut that down so fast.

The point is not a soccer career. If I were a D1 school recruiter, or a law firm partner, or a consulting firm partner, I would want to have a ex-DA kid that balanced playing at that level with a decent school and decent course load over a kid taking 10 AP classes and has no idea how to be part of a team, socialize with others, or commit themselves to something other than hiding in a basement studying.

I am a law firm partner, and I can tell you at elite firms, sports are a nice garnish, but we are not looking at people who do not have elite academic backgrounds. The decision tree begins with academics, and things like college sports can be a subsequent tiebreaker among second tier of elite students. But so can elite poker play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not realize this was about boys. Maybe a boy could have a pro soccer career but the chances are basically zero and less then that for girls. But suit yourselves. If my kid even gets a gnat of a thought of pulling back on academics to play more soccer I will shut that down so fast.

The point is not a soccer career. If I were a D1 school recruiter, or a law firm partner, or a consulting firm partner, I would want to have a ex-DA kid that balanced playing at that level with a decent school and decent course load over a kid taking 10 AP classes and has no idea how to be part of a team, socialize with others, or commit themselves to something other than hiding in a basement studying.

I'd want a kid who took 10 AP classes AND played travel soccer or high school soccer over a DA player who dumped the hard academic work to just focus on playing a game.

I don’t agree.
And how many kids take 10 AP courses to “advance their knowledge and education”? You take 10 AP courses because that’s what you think you need to do to get into a good college. But if you can get into a good college without 10 AP courses? Why create that stress? Because it is a stressor that just isn’t necessary. Evidence: Not many people took 10 AP courses “back in the day” and those people turned out successful. Some even dropped out of college and still became successful. Crazy!

Absolutely. That kind of academic load is not appropriate for most kids. And those kids do not normally go on to careers that involve substantial intellectual stress or pressure. You can be successful without going on to such jobs. But you will not be successful in those kinds of jobs without learning how to deal with pressure at a relatively early age. Just like distinctions among travel sports or travel vs rec.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not realize this was about boys. Maybe a boy could have a pro soccer career but the chances are basically zero and less then that for girls. But suit yourselves. If my kid even gets a gnat of a thought of pulling back on academics to play more soccer I will shut that down so fast.

The point is not a soccer career. If I were a D1 school recruiter, or a law firm partner, or a consulting firm partner, I would want to have a ex-DA kid that balanced playing at that level with a decent school and decent course load over a kid taking 10 AP classes and has no idea how to be part of a team, socialize with others, or commit themselves to something other than hiding in a basement studying.

I am a law firm partner, and I can tell you at elite firms, sports are a nice garnish, but we are not looking at people who do not have elite academic backgrounds. The decision tree begins with academics, and things like college sports can be a subsequent tiebreaker among second tier of elite students. But so can elite poker play.

1000+. I worked in another demanding industry that recruited at the top academic institutions. Candidates with average grades but ho played a sport at university were often at the top of the list of the most desirable candidates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not realize this was about boys. Maybe a boy could have a pro soccer career but the chances are basically zero and less then that for girls. But suit yourselves. If my kid even gets a gnat of a thought of pulling back on academics to play more soccer I will shut that down so fast.

The point is not a soccer career. If I were a D1 school recruiter, or a law firm partner, or a consulting firm partner, I would want to have a ex-DA kid that balanced playing at that level with a decent school and decent course load over a kid taking 10 AP classes and has no idea how to be part of a team, socialize with others, or commit themselves to something other than hiding in a basement studying.

I'd want a kid who took 10 AP classes AND played travel soccer or high school soccer over a DA player who dumped the hard academic work to just focus on playing a game.

I don’t agree.
And how many kids take 10 AP courses to “advance their knowledge and education”? You take 10 AP courses because that’s what you think you need to do to get into a good college. But if you can get into a good college without 10 AP courses? Why create that stress? Because it is a stressor that just isn’t necessary. Evidence: Not many people took 10 AP courses “back in the day” and those people turned out successful. Some even dropped out of college and still became successful. Crazy!

Absolutely. That kind of academic load is not appropriate for most kids. And those kids do not normally go on to careers that involve substantial intellectual stress or pressure. You can be successful without going on to such jobs. But you will not be successful in those kinds of jobs without learning how to deal with pressure at a relatively early age. Just like distinctions among travel sports or travel vs rec.

If you love doing it then it isn't stressful.

There is no need to overload kids with classes that should be geared more towards the introduction of subjects. If your first introduction to a subject while in 10th grade is through a college level course that is poor representation of subject in general. Kids interest and aptitudes will guide what their overall interest and career track will be and that should be decided in College and not High School.

And if one of the benefits of taking AP classes is to avoid the class in college, which is never a guarantee, then just wait until college to take it properly.

[Anonymous]

This happens in basketball all the time.