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[quote=Anonymous]I mentioned in another post that my son had gone to Barça in AZ for the 20-21 school year, his junior year, and there was some interest in the experience. And then a friend in Phoenix happened to text me yesterday asking about ASU Preparatory Academy because they have an athlete in another sport considering their online program, so it’s been fresh in my mind.

I could write a LOT about the experience, which was largely colored by Covid (they worked hard to keep the boys in a “bubble”) but for now will just offer some overall thoughts about our experience with the program. Be forewarned that my perspective is that of a mom whose oldest suddenly left home in the middle of high school and is less about the soccer.

DS, then 15 and a rising junior (end of summer birthday) was offered a spot on their second team after attending a camp and tryout in summer of 2020. Remember that summer? We had no idea if there would be high school soccer that fall or even in person high school or club opportunities. (I have family in AZ which made me feel a little better about it but in truth he barely got to see any of them because of Covid restrictions.) DS was offered the spot on a Tuesday and orientation was that Friday—AZ schools start at the beginning of August. So it was a really quick decision and highly emotional and there was a lot of information we didn’t have at the time. It seemed like the best way for DS to continue to play soccer that year. He only went because of Covid and there was no way I would have been ok with him returning for his senior year.

Boarding there was a positive experience for DS, he was in a communal living environment with a large group of boys instead of spending a lot of the year doing online learning from his room. He made friends with a diverse group of boys from all over the US and a few foreign countries. Had a wonderful roommate. He liked his coaches and had constant access to trainers and nice facilities. He grew up a lot that year. Visits were really limited due to Covid and they didn’t travel out of state until spring. There were no local students on campus so it was all boys.

Education was terrible. ASU Preparatory Academy is a charter school—chartered by Arizona State University (insert ASU joke here). It’s supposed to be a college prep school but coming from a top public high school at home, DS felt school was a joke, even the classes that were supposed to be “honors.” Kids arrived with a 1.5 gpa and left with a 4.0. We didn’t have time or access to get any substantive information about the school component before we sent him down there.  When I walk into our high school now with my younger kid, I still get sad about him missing out on the great teachers he would have had. Then again it was 2020-2021 and school was somewhat of a sh!tshow here too from what classmates’ parents told us that year. But his peers from home are now attending UCLA, Penn, Brown, Harvard, Rice, SLACs and our top state schools.

Soccer—DS was on the second team, which we knew going in. We were told there would be movement and opportunities to train/play with the first team but the only time we saw this happen for anyone was if there was an injury or quarantine of a first team player. (I feel like most soccer clubs tend to over-promise on this.) Our perception after the year and talking to parents whose kids stayed the next year or two was that while the second team players are good, they’re there for the fees they bring in and not a priority for recruiting or development. We NEVER got film—there were always technical issues.  But DS definitely improved and came home playing at a much higher than he had been when he arrived at Barça.

The school says that all their graduates have gone pro or gotten scholarships—a lot of those scholarships are to places like Utah Valley University. Again, academics aren’t great and a lot of the boys are more focused on professional opportunities. A handful have gone to top D1 schools but that’s the exception. They do also have kids who commute for soccer from Tucson and the Phoenix area—DS didn’t get to know them as well.

It’s late so I’ll stop now but will try to answer any questions tomorrow.

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