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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Coach here (OP)

Geez this thread took off. My response to some of the comments.

1. If you are in ECNL, of course you have a D1 chance. ECNL teams usually are the best select of the club. Usually these are the most athletic/technical/intelligent players (hopefully). I never said ECNL player to D1 is rare. My main point was by U12 if your player isn't at the appropriate technical level it's going to be difficult.

2. There are a lot of freak athletes, you'd be surprised how many there are across the nation.

3. I agree with the anecdotes about academics. However, if your player would like a career in soccer (coaching, admin, etc)in the future, playing college ball gives them a lot of connections and credible resume
[/quote]

No there aren't that many athletic freaks to fill 25% of D1 rosters.   They are definitely above average, on the whole, but not years in advance of others.  You are thinking of kids who hit their growth spurts early.   Many of these at the u12 age you are thinking of (for girls) actually stop growing sooner than the delayed growth kids.   Kids who enter menarche sooner (and therefore have an earlier growth spurt) end up smaller than average by the time the group is fully mature.

Coaches who size up kids at 11 with respect to their ability to make a D1 roster (or national/pro team) are part of the problem in this country, not part of the solution.[/quote]

The coach is talking about technical ability at U12, not size. At U13 ECNL and DA rosters are filled with early growers who are done growing at 12/13. They are living their glory days right now because the delayed growth players that make it will end up bigger, faster and stronger and will take their spots by graduation and beyond. However, if those late growers [i]also[/i] lack skill at this age they probably won't make it playing to their growth spurt. Or will not have the experience with the ECNL or DA level speed of play to compete at the top level in college. [/quote]

Technical ability is easily gained from 12-18.  Alex Morgan is an example of that; anyone can increase their technical abilities by practicing at home every day, religiously.

Again, based on experience, there is very little correlation between 9-11 yo ability and 19 yo ability.   Many of the 9-11 stars burn out, and many "uncoordinated" 9-11's shine after they have fully matured.

The fact that someone is attempting to make final determinations on a 10 or 11 year old kid is the problem here.[/quote]

Technical ability is not easier to gain from 12-18. Alex Morgan does not prove that to be the case. She has never been accused of being a technical player, she is an athlete who can simply beast and that is about it. What Alex Morgan has you cannot coach. There are other players on that team far more technical than Morgan is and all of them demonstrated that technical ability at much younger ages than 12. [/quote]

Have you seen what Alex Morgan can do in beast mode videos? Apparently not.  She’s no Tobin Heath, but she’s better than 99.9% of D1 soccer players in that regard.  [/quote]

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