In FFX cnty Most public HS teams wouldn't be able to beat most clubs top travel teams ages u15 and up. My DS plays travel and I wouldn't let him him play in
HS league simply due to inadequate coaching and refereeing.

I don’t care, and I don’t see why you do either. What does it matter to you if other parents let their kids play on lower lever travel teams?

Our local HS had 150 travel soccer kids try out for the varsity team the year before covid. Probably 50 of them were on the top teams for their clubs so all excellent players. They started with a timed run and if you didn't make the very competitive time you got cut automatically but I can guarantee you all of those 50 made it. There were a couple of stars and position mattered of course, but for the rest it seemed pretty random. It was hard to differentiate between many of those top 50. I'm sure politics/pressure from parents who have influence in the school plays in to it as this is a school in a wealthy area. This is the boys side.

Our HS is ranked #1 in our state for D1 girls. One of my girls has a stronger chance than the other because she’s a great keeper. The other one plays defense on our clubs second team, so that’s more questionable.

The are girls in our club that openly state their only goal is to get a shot to play on our varsity team. Not college, just our town.

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.

Depends on the HS and the year. Some are very competitive, others struggle just to get enough players and take just about anyone. It’s impossible to generalize.

You have the trend in the other direction as well - the top players in a high school who opt out and just do club. Some do not want to risk injury or want to play at a level that more resembles rugby than soccer. For some kids at the top, club is much more important and they recognize it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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!

He played USL2 but not HS Varsity?

Making the high school varsity team at a big high school in the dmv area depends on a lot of things. Really good players get cut all the time, especially once they hit junior year. It depends on what positions they have too many of, what type of players the coach prefers, etc. The coach has many players who are all pretty much at the same level and has to cut some of them. At our high school, it is often surprising who gets cut and who makes the team.

This is what we figure - she seems to prefer big/fast/super athletic players for the HS team. Can't argue with coach's success! DS is good size, not huge, very technical and abhors the kick and run style so many resort to for a W. He received an offer from a USL2 club in NJ. We couldn't figure out rooming/moving him to online HS at the start of the pandemic so he didn't do it.

Anonymous wrote:I see parents putting kids of all abilities in travel soccer. Some great. Some for fun. What do you think about the bar of "would they make a cut school team" as a bar? Would you kid clear it? Do you care?

I don't put my kid in travel soccer because I think he's particularly good at soccer. It happens that he is, but that's irrelevant. I put him in because he enjoys being active, and competing, and it's something we like to do as a family.

If I had a kid who wasn't likely to make their high school team, I'd be more likely to want to give them opportunities they enjoy to be physically active and have a team experience outside of school, not less.

Anonymous wrote:were all of his teammates on the US U-19 national team?

Which HS team was this

Anonymous wrote:

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!

He played USL2 but not HS Varsity?

Making the high school varsity team at a big high school in the dmv area depends on a lot of things. Really good players get cut all the time, especially once they hit junior year. It depends on what positions they have too many of, what type of players the coach prefers, etc. The coach has many players who are all pretty much at the same level and has to cut some of them. At our high school, it is often surprising who gets cut and who makes the team.

were all of his teammates on the US U-19 national team?

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!

He played USL2 but not HS Varsity?

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!

I see parents putting kids of all abilities in travel soccer. Some great. Some for fun. What do you think about the bar of "would they make a cut school team" as a bar? Would you kid clear it? Do you care?