Can kids on MLSNext 2 play on their high school teams?

I would imagine it’s not very good for boys because MLSN boys cannot participate in HS soccer.
Haven’t watched a HS soccer match. Just deducing

it is not critical to play high school soccer to get recruited and a lot of travel coaches frown upon it. no one plays high school soccer to improve their technical game but there's a lot of physicality and for girls who tend to make varsity younger they get the advantage of playing with older, more experienced players at 14/15 years old.

but, mostly high school soccer is a good experience because they get to play with a different group of their peers (often their friends) and earning varsity letters is a nice addition to college applications.

Here's my perspective from a parent of two kids, boy and girl who did different things...

Son played club soccer at lower travel level that still had a paid coach. He enjoyed playing, liked his teammates and also played HS. HS soccer was pretty rough. Coach wasn't good, team was ok, but I would say overall he enjoyed the experience. The team dinners before home games, the bus rides, etc. It was really more than the soccer. All good memories.

My DD is HS soph and plays ECNL. She chose not to play HS outside of her ECNL season and is focused on her own growth and development - she's training with one of the boys teams, part of the player pool for our local USL-W squad and is focused on much bigger goals.

Meanwhile, she just was at the girls HS game last night to watch her HS play against at team that has some of her ENCL teammates. She went to cheer for them and hang out after the game.

Everyone needs to make a choice for what's best for them.

It's not just soccer. Most high school sports are pretty bad. And it's not just sports. Have you ever been to a high school musical performance? Most times you'll want to have earplugs.

You don't play high school sports to get better at the sport. You play because it's fun and you want to be part of your community and experience something you wont get again. 95% percent of the kids on high school teams won't be playing these sports in college.

Most High school coaches are travel coaches in that area, or try to be so that they have a decent group of boys they know and train year round.
I remember when I was in HS, Loudoun County Girls team was top, they had 8-10 girls who were on the same travel team and their travel coach was the HS coach as well. Those 4 years was tough to beat them as they trained together year round.

High School soccer is so much more. There's nothing better than these kids going and supporting friends on other teams or players from same club playing each other with their High schools. A lot more support from community as well with High School.

I've coached High School for the past 15+ years, it's hard to work on a lot of things when we have a week before the season starts.
For some kids it's also an eye opener when they play against a kid that is 1, 2 or 3 years older than them.

Anonymous wrote:I have a 7th grader and we thought it would be fun to watch his future HS school team play. It was so bad, no tactics.....just boot and run. If a kid has aspirations of playing at a higher level, is it even worth it to play and risk an injury?

Bitter parent whose kid got cut. LCPS schools are composed of travel soccer players. So you have an axe to grind because your child didn’t make it or your coach is mediocre. My DS coach is an excellent coach and better person. The results speak for themselves.

You know they form the teams about a week before the games start, and the season is about 8 weeks long, right? When would the coaches work on "tactics"?

Your 7th grader was turning up his nose at HS Varsity soccer?

Yes, I don't think anybody here would argue that HS soccer = quality. It's a social thing. There are some exceptions to the rule but primarily it's social.

Check out this weeks NovaLegends podcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKetKrYOXmQ

2 Virginia D1 committed seniors talking about the differences between Club and high school.

High school is still fun for most kids, and considering the low numbers of boys who will play in College these days there's still something cool about representing your school.

It's not the beautiful game for sure but wait 2 years and see how it goes.

Pretty clear track record on here that everyone knows its a waste of time and could lead to injuries but its super fun and maybe the only/last time they get to play with and in front of their peers. Let your kid make their choice accordingly.

Has your son been recruited by the USMNT? If not, stand down.

Yes, it's worth it to get out there and play for your school, with your friends, with your classmates and community there to cheer you on. Maybe the soccer is of lower quality, but isn't the point of soccer the joy and fun of it? Does everything have to be about getting a D1 scholarship or boosting mom's Instagram feed?

Anonymous wrote:I have a 7th grader and we thought it would be fun to watch his future HS school team play. It was so bad, no tactics.....just boot and run. If a kid has aspirations of playing at a higher level, is it even worth it to play and risk an injury?

Well would it be worth it for him to do anything and risk injury? Are you going to keep him in a bubble?

I have a 7th grader and we thought it would be fun to watch his future HS school team play. It was so bad, no tactics.....just boot and run. If a kid has aspirations of playing at a higher level, is it even worth it to play and risk an injury?