Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The argument has always been that she could get recruited today despite not playing club. Just based on the fact that she earned All-Met honors as a freshman while scoring 40+ goals against teams that included ECNL players. I would bet that top coaches already know who she is and will touch base when appropriate.

Here is how you brought the subject:

Are we getting to caught up in DA/ECNL? I agree that either league offers a player to practice with against other elite players on a regular basis, great coaching and exposure to top schools and national team scouts. But are you going to tell me that colleges will not recruit a superstar player who only plays HS? That sounds absurd. What if the player is focused on football, lacrosse, basketball or track but plays for the HS team and stands out? Are you telling me that a coach at Stanfor, UMD or other stop program will not know about that player? I heard that there is a Freshman female player at a DC private school who won Gatorade Player of the Year. Are coaches never going to contact her?

I agree that the marginal player will benefit from participation in the DA/ECNL but coaches will always find the superstar.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/150/810101.page#15218703

This post was a stand alone post. It was not a reply directly to any specific post making any specific claim. The whole question "But are you going to tell me that colleges will not recruit a superstar player who only plays HS?" is asked rhetorically since it isn't really aimed at any particular comment or post.

It seems you simply planted a flag because you know of that one Unicorn who might be able to get recruited from nothing other than HS soccer.

While it may be possible for this girl to get recruited it is not a likely path for most kids looking to get recruited for D1 college soccer. And even in her case the juice simply might not be worth the squeeze. While she has demonstrated a dominance in HS soccer that dominance would be further supported by similar performance at the ECNL or DA level. While it is obvious that her multi-sport resume has helped her overall athleticism EVERYONE at UNC, Stanford, Duke are athletic as well. This young lady would be well behind the curve soccer wise of her peers at those institutions.

She would also be a huge flight risk as well with her likelihood of being a multi-sport recruit with basketball. If she has little to no club soccer experience she will be nothing more than a project curiosity. She would never be a blue chip recruit. Any soccer program would be recruiting her based solely on potential and athleticism but it is unlikely that she would be recruited ahead of more proven and more soccer dedicated players.

Anonymous wrote:The argument has always been that she could get recruited today despite not playing club. Just based on the fact that she earned All-Met honors as a freshman while scoring 40+ goals against teams that included ECNL players. I would bet that top coaches already know who she is and will touch base when appropriate.

Are we getting to caught up in DA/ECNL? I agree that either league offers a player to practice with against other elite players on a regular basis, great coaching and exposure to top schools and national team scouts. But are you going to tell me that colleges will not recruit a superstar player who only plays HS? That sounds absurd. What if the player is focused on football, lacrosse, basketball or track but plays for the HS team and stands out? Are you telling me that a coach at Stanfor, UMD or other stop program will not know about that player? I heard that there is a Freshman female player at a DC private school who won Gatorade Player of the Year. Are coaches never going to contact her?

I agree that the marginal player will benefit from participation in the DA/ECNL but coaches will always find the superstar.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/150/810101.page#15218703

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Again, every other ECNL player in HS is going against similar competition and none of them scored on such a consistent basis as that freshman. Of all the players who made All-Met, only three were non-ECNL (Bethesda, McLean and MD United). Many ECNL players from Sidwell's schedule including St. Johns, Potomac School, WCS, GV and GDS.

Are you related to her? You must be! All seem to agree she is a great athlete. But do you recognize that Sidwell did not consistently play against the powerhouse high school teams in this area? Go back and look at the stats. How many of those goals came against the best teams in that league or on Sidwelk’s schedule? I saw her shut down in games by good defenders, though I don’t know if those other girls played ECNL or DA. She made All Met because she scored lots of goals on a team that did well this year. That does not mean she is better than girls on other teams that did not make All Met! There are many very strong players in this area who do not make All Met because their high school teams are not good. It’s beyond stupid to argue that a player who makes All Met or Gatorade is better than another who doesn’t just because of those accolades.

I have not seen here play either sport but she is an example I can use to show that star players in HS who do not play ECNL/DA could get recruited. Look, she is more than an athlete. An athlete implies that she is usually fast, agile, tall, etc. If she scores 40+ goals as a HS freshman then she also has some major skills. I assume that Sidwell does not play in the type of league that NE Bordering schools play in or the W schools and B-CC, which are coached by elite club coaches. None-the-less, it is not rec ball and as I have pointed out there at least a half dozen 2nd team and HM All-Met names from schools in Sidwell's league who also play ECNL. I believe that there are a dozens more who play in the league but were not recognized.

Just focus on the fact that she scored 40+ goals against teams that featured ECNL players. Understand that none of these ECNL players, including the player heading to Harvard were anywhere near her in terms of production. She led a team that was in a rebuilding year and won every game but two. So she got shutdown once or twice. I have seen Mssi and Neymar get shutdown but that does not mean they are not great players.

ECNL and DA are only leagues. You don't need to worship them. They are a great path for some players and not so great an option for other players. They help with getting recruited and the coaching can be great but there are others ways to develop and get recruited.

Anonymous wrote:

Again, every other ECNL player in HS is going against similar competition and none of them scored on such a consistent basis as that freshman. Of all the players who made All-Met, only three were non-ECNL (Bethesda, McLean and MD United). Many ECNL players from Sidwell's schedule including St. Johns, Potomac School, WCS, GV and GDS.

Are you related to her? You must be! All seem to agree she is a great athlete. But do you recognize that Sidwell did not consistently play against the powerhouse high school teams in this area? Go back and look at the stats. How many of those goals came against the best teams in that league or on Sidwelk’s schedule? I saw her shut down in games by good defenders, though I don’t know if those other girls played ECNL or DA. She made All Met because she scored lots of goals on a team that did well this year. That does not mean she is better than girls on other teams that did not make All Met! There are many very strong players in this area who do not make All Met because their high school teams are not good. It’s beyond stupid to argue that a player who makes All Met or Gatorade is better than another who doesn’t just because of those accolades.

Again, every other ECNL player in HS is going against similar competition and none of them scored on such a consistent basis as that freshman. Of all the players who made All-Met, only three were non-ECNL (Bethesda, McLean and MD United). Many ECNL players from Sidwell's schedule including St. Johns, Potomac School, WCS, GV and GDS.

Anonymous wrote:The girl is just an incredible athlete. She'd be fine in DA or ECNL.

Here is the only video i could find of Sidwell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAD0PWTtoFw

This is HS, so 14ish - 18ish.

Very poor quality video and play.

Anonymous wrote:So there are forwards and none of them scored at the some rate as the freshman and there were defenders who could not stop her from scoring.

Anonymous wrote:Again, every other ECNL player in HS is going against similar competition and none of them scored on such a consistent basis as that freshman. Of all the players who made All-Met, only three were non-ECNL (Bethesda, McLean and MD United). Many ECNL players from Sidwell's schedule including St. Johns, Potomac School, WCS, GV and GDS.

Anonymous wrote:She made All-Met you morons along with some of the best ECNL players in the region, none of which made All-Met as freshman.

You folks are as bad as the parents caught up in the "Varsity Blues" scandal. You think just because you forked out tens of thousands of dollar in a legal scheme to buy your DD's access to Di soccer, the only way someone else can do it without doing the same is if she is a "unicorn." I am the first to admit that you are not going to reach DI soccer by relying on HS soccer as your main vehicle. I assume that even the Sidwell freshman played club at some point but gave it up to focus on bb. The point is that you do not have to play ECNL/DA to reach elite DI.

You people have ECNL/DA derangement syndrome. Step away for a few weeks!