Anonymous wrote:Some Talent, LOTS of money and who you know. Trust me, that last one plays a huge part. Money and WHO YOU KNOW.

People will always try to set themselves for a competitive advantage. That’s the way life goes. Some people play the game. I personally don’t respect it. However, the people that play the game don’t care how I feel. That’s life. The vast majority of parents don’t have the connections and let things play out. Some parents want to wear the Penn State sweatshirt and tell people their kid plays Power 5. The question is, is she playing? Obviously your kid is good. But is she enjoying her experience?

On reality, some kids don’t take their highest offer.

So 4 players at Penn State from this area. Why is Penn State the example?

Anonymous wrote:Some Talent, LOTS of money and who you know. Trust me, that last one plays a huge part. Money and WHO YOU KNOW.

There’s a sliding scale. For the most talented 5% of girls, so maybe 15 girls per age group in the area stretching from Baltimore to Richmond, (boys are different because there’s a professional financial incentive to find the best players) the talent speaks for itself and who you know matters less. For the next 20%, who you know matters a LOT more, and maybe half of those girls get the identification their talent deserves. Life ain’t fair, and this part of life ain’t fair. And for the remaining 75%, club soccer is for fun/exercise/learning to work with a team/ learning how to succeed and fail gracefully/extracurricular points in college admissions/parents’ living vicariously. It’s hardest being in that 20% and those are the parents who I bet spend the most time on DCUM soccer boards.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s the point of this thread? There are 4 players from this area on Penn State’s roster currently.

The point the OP was trying to make is that kids that play at good colleges are good and your kid, my kid, and all the other kids in the DMV aren’t at that level....I guess

And yet, lots of area kids playing at top Colleges.

Here’s a hint op....there are 4 ECNL and 3 GA in NOVA. It literally became a battle ground. Do you know why? Talent and money. Lots of talent and money.

This is a big time region for girls soccer.

The talent is the same. There are only about 35-50 kids in NOVA in any given year who are Power 5 level players. Of those, there are 1-5 that are top twenty school caliber. 4 ECNL clubs will not increase that number.

35-50? That’s really pushing it... if we use past commitment/signing information 10-20 is probably more realistic.