This way of thinking is what making varsity sports irrelevant in High School. How does a pay per play game is more important than the experience of HS Athletics? The main reason Varsity sports play preseason is so the teams can bond together for the season and hopefully make it to the playoffs. I know a lot of people will disagree and rightly so, however varsity athletics goes a little beyond of just playing the game, its about enjoying the time in high school, playing with your classmates, taking pride of your school colors and preparing to do so in a college environment, which after all that's what most people are chasing is that coveted college scholarship.
Last night at my DD's varsity Lacrosse banquet I was blown away by her coach's speech(Event that it drag a little too long) by mentioning great qualities of each one of the 22 players on the team, thanking the seniors for their years of dedication and multisport participation representing the school. To me that was more valuable than any pay for play tournament. How does this relate to this thread? That high school sports are important in an athlete's life and as a parent it should be the priority for our kids. If the soccer club is mad because they lost a player($$$$) for 3-4 months timeframe sounds to me like they need to figure out what to do.
I fully agree with some of the points you made, the others maybe I didn't state my opinion clearly or we can just agree to disagree. Let me clarify a bit:
1. My daughter is a freshman this year and her hs season was an amazing experience for her. Playing with her classmates she sees everyday, the community and school spirit, the recognition and respect of being a freshman starter on a varsity team, all of which were amplified in a good way as they made their way through the playoffs and won a CIF title. Any freshman, is a little fish in a big pond looking for their niche. Soccer did this for her. Unless she was dead set on playing DA, I will always encourage her to play the high school game (yes I'm assuming she would make a Da team). I also agree the balance between grades and soccer in hs is a good prep for the college experience and learning time management. She had many late study nights because practice ran over or traffic was terrible.
2. When the hs season started, we had to reschedule some CRL games that were scheduled for December. This became an issue when a few players on the club team had hs coaches that were going to punish them harshly (multiple games sitting out) for playing those CRL games. The club teams goal all year was to win CRL and go to Hawaii. Now some were faced with abandoning their teammates during a crucial point in the CRL season. Call it pay to play all you want, these girls had a goal and were close to reaching it. Thats a difficult decision for any player let alone the parents in the background.
3. I never said I thought varsity sports were irrelevant in high school. I believe the CIF people (whoever dreamt this up knowing the club schedule and not caring) are putting these players in a position where they have to choose between their club and their hs. On top of that, its no secret that players get recruited from the games they play with their club and not their high school. I never said club (pay to play in your words) was more important. But if my daughter is emailing a college coach that will be attending a thanksgiving tournament to see her play, how is a pre-season high school game more important than that? It would be my personal hope she would decide to play in front of the scout which I believe she would. As would many other club players on her hs team and probably many of the hs teams they would be playing against. This would now relegate the 2nd and 3rd string hs players to a starting position. Does it really matter who wins a hs tournament with the bench players playing? By the time league play rolls around and into CIF playoffs the teams will look totally different and be the "real" teams they could not be because CIF decided to throw some weight around. Which in my opinion is what would make the preseason irrelevant.
4. Not sure why the soccer club would be mad about lost $$$, the price is yearly with the hs break factored in already.