High School soccer or no?

I have spoken to one particular kid that tried out a lot and got named as an alternate and didn't make the final 18 of a much more prestigious team than anything GDA will offer, so I know what that looks like on a pre-teen. Guess what that girl did? She worked harder until she was better and made it. Disappointment offers a fork in the road for all of us. What we choose to do with it defines our character. It shapes who we are. It sounds like your player has made the right choice. Don't worry about me. Sometimes people don't like to hear the truth without all of the millennial sugar coating and I tell it like it is. I'm like guacamole either you like me or you don't. I suggest you put me on ignore if you offend to easily. Good luck to you and your daughter.

Why is there not a way to select multiple post ratings? EXCELLENT RESPONSE.
 
Why does everyone put down HS and say you have to play DA. Whatever your DD has a passion for and wants to do, support it. Play HS. If your DD loves to play Soccer as much as mine does . DA is a tough choice. Too much to give up to play such a small amount of soccer. My DD currently plays on 4 different teams, because she is excited and proud to be on all of them. If she was on a Single DA team and couldn't play for the other teams and for her High School , I believe her love of the Game would diminish greatly. IMHO its my DD's love and passion for the game that has and will continue to moved her forward, not her training regiment.
Come on guys , its a sport, not a job. Ask yourself, what is your DD's first questions when you ask them if they want to play Soccer tomorrow with "X Team", Its almost always , Sure, who else will be there? Its never, "Is this a top ranked team"? "Does this team play at the highest level"? "Will i get college exposure playing with them"?
 
Why does everyone put down HS and say you have to play DA. Whatever your DD has a passion for and wants to do, support it. Play HS. If your DD loves to play Soccer as much as mine does . DA is a tough choice. Too much to give up to play such a small amount of soccer. My DD currently plays on 4 different teams, because she is excited and proud to be on all of them. If she was on a Single DA team and couldn't play for the other teams and for her High School , I believe her love of the Game would diminish greatly. IMHO its my DD's love and passion for the game that has and will continue to moved her forward, not her training regiment.
Come on guys , its a sport, not a job. Ask yourself, what is your DD's first questions when you ask them if they want to play Soccer tomorrow with "X Team", Its almost always , Sure, who else will be there? Its never, "Is this a top ranked team"? "Does this team play at the highest level"? "Will i get college exposure playing with them"?

My DD asks the questions your DD doesn't. My DD thinks HS soccer is bad. Everyone is different...
 
The truth is most HS soccer is low level because of the mix match of talent, style of play all topped off with so many different views on the importance of the game of soccer from the sidelines, players and coaches. It is great because some see it as simply the truth - that youth soccer is nothing more then a kids sport, others see it as a guaranteed path to college and then a few are going to be on the US Olympic team! Ha :/
We think the HS soccer experience has been very tough and one of the best experiences we have seen our girls handle. The lessons learned in the game are great! They have to learn to adapt to all the above.
But the very most important part of all..THEY LOVE IT! They love playing with real friends, they love playing for their school and they love the atmosphere it creates of low pressure fun. I have never seen my DD laugh and smile so much as she does in HS soccer, it is like her early days of AYSO again. The HS soccer experience for us is like a reminder of the "good Ol' days" when things were more about fun compared to the time spent in the time & money vacuum chasing the clubs sales pitch around the USA and Southern Ca.
Ya ya HS soccer is low level of talent but a very high level of fun.
Our girls play on a pretty ok higher level HS team so the game does move more smoothly then maybe a D2 or under - I guess? But we as a family don't care about wins & losses in HS soccer, we care more about the evenings spent under the lights watching our girls smile while scratching their heads in dis belief sometimes ha ha
We wouldn't ditch the idea of HS soccer for anything!
We told the club coaches we would not give up HS soccer for any BS reason they came up with. If my girls told us they hated it and didn't want to play in HS then no problem, but I'm pretty sure that isn't going to happen.
Let your kids have fun in all sports, let them have a full childhood based more on fun and laughs then a sport that treats them like adults with a full time job!
 
My dd is entering her freshman year of HS, so I don't have personal experience between the club season and the HS season for her. However, she would be devastated if she could not play HS soccer. I think it is widely known that HS soccer is not at the same level as club soccer, but the chance to play with your HS friends is too much to pass up for my dd and probably lots of other HS girls.
If the social aspect of soccer is her main reason for playing, then absolutely she should play. However, if she is serious about playing in college, she might consider cross training in another sport and play with friends in that context. Save the soccer for club.
 
I disagree. You can have a serious player who doesn't want to practice four times a week and give up HS soccer or ODP. That same player can play on a high level club team (DA reserve, ECNL, CSL Premier, Flight 1, etc.) most of the year and then play the HS season. Somehow it worked for many years prior to today.

If a player has her heart set on playing for a YNT, then yes, give up HS soccer and focus on GDA. If a parent has his or her heart set on puffing their chest out and saying their dd plays GDA and thus she is better than 99% of the other players, so be it.

Not everything is black and white.


That is true. Injury though can be a real possibility to consider. Yes there are injuries in both club and high school soccer. Just recently a player relayed a story about a club player who was injured in a high school game. The player was a top player in a club, while playing high school a defender deliberately came in cleats up on her leg causing a compound fracture of the tibia. When you have a compound fracture of the tibia, other injuries also occur. It essentially ended her soccer. Could this have happened in club, sure. But this defender targeted her because she was a top player. Another case, 3 years ago, a top local player, a boy, was also targeted in a high school game and taken out suffering a pretty bad back injury. In his case fortunately, he has been able to come back and is now playing at a DI school. Yes injuries can occur in any game and sport, but when you get into CIF play offs you will see players who are unskilled but very physical trying to deliberately take players out and hurt them. To each his own. If your daughter needs the recognition of high school soccer to boost her confidence or social acceptance, and she wants the recognition, not the bragging rights for you, all league, etc etc etc, then she should play.
 
That is true. Injury though can be a real possibility to consider. Yes there are injuries in both club and high school soccer. Just recently a player relayed a story about a club player who was injured in a high school game. The player was a top player in a club, while playing high school a defender deliberately came in cleats up on her leg causing a compound fracture of the tibia. When you have a compound fracture of the tibia, other injuries also occur. It essentially ended her soccer. Could this have happened in club, sure. But this defender targeted her because she was a top player. Another case, 3 years ago, a top local player, a boy, was also targeted in a high school game and taken out suffering a pretty bad back injury. In his case fortunately, he has been able to come back and is now playing at a DI school. Yes injuries can occur in any game and sport, but when you get into CIF play offs you will see players who are unskilled but very physical trying to deliberately take players out and hurt them. To each his own. If your daughter needs the recognition of high school soccer to boost her confidence or social acceptance, and she wants the recognition, not the bragging rights for you, all league, etc etc etc, then she should play.

High School soccer had nothing to do with bragging rights for me. I didn't want my player to participate SHE wanted to. Her friends and teammates wanted her to play. You are mistaken if you think that it had to do with the recognition. Some kids want to play and they want to get the ONE chance they will EVER have to play with their friends.

In college and beyond soccer is a job for them. There are just so many other things that it brings that help to balance out a girl's experience. Good luck to you and your player.
 
If the social aspect of soccer is her main reason for playing, then absolutely she should play. However, if she is serious about playing in college, she might consider cross training in another sport and play with friends in that context. Save the soccer for club.
News flash, soccer is a social sport in college. They spend a lot of time with their teammates. Think of their college teammates as their sorority sisters.
 
News flash, soccer is a social sport in college. They spend a lot of time with their teammates. Think of their college teammates as their sorority sisters.


Bingo. It is great to come in with a social circle. Many of the girls are far away from home and having a peer group already with a similar schedule is golden. I know that I always try to invite the out of town girls to dinner with us after games. They love it and it helps the transition and eases the feelings of homesickness.
 
High School soccer will teach you player to adapt to situations of the mental aspect of the sport along with the huge gap in skill level. I have found usually a HS coach will base their playing time on effort and being able to adapt to such a huge variety of demands when faced with a mix match team. Also most of the HS coaches don't care about your club and how many siblings they can suck into the club, money or how much money your family is willing to shell out on soccer!
 
HS season is fast approaching and for the most part here with preseason conditioning and try-outs. My DD is a F1/DA2 player who is very interested in HS. And to be honest, I'm pretty excited about it too. She's coming off a fall sport and the HS competitions and rivalries were fun to watch so I'm looking forward to more of that with HS soccer (if she's blessed enough to make the team). With that, what are the rules? What period of time is she no longer able to train with club because of HS? When can they return to club? Etc.?
 
HS season is fast approaching and for the most part here with preseason conditioning and try-outs. My DD is a F1/DA2 player who is very interested in HS. And to be honest, I'm pretty excited about it too. She's coming off a fall sport and the HS competitions and rivalries were fun to watch so I'm looking forward to more of that with HS soccer (if she's blessed enough to make the team). With that, what are the rules? What period of time is she no longer able to train with club because of HS? When can they return to club? Etc.?

Club stops when the HS team has their first game/scrimmage that is officiated with referees. Best rule of thumb is no club after the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Most HS will start daily practices sometime in November after tryouts. Some HS coaches get butthurt if players miss HS practices for club practice. The season ends after the last game which can be anytime from the third weekend in February to the second weekend in March. It all depends on how late the team goes into the playoffs. Fresh and Soph Soccer has no playoffs so the season ends third weekend in March.

Here are the links to the San Diego and Southern section rule books. These do not have the actual game rules, but contain information about the season, playoffs, eligibility.
http://www.cifsds.org/governance.html#v-tabs3
https://cifss.org/resources/blue-book-contents/

This will give you the differences between the HS rules, NCAA rules, and FIFA (club) LOTG.
https://www.nfhs.org/media/1018270/2017_soccer_guide_-interscholastic_revised.pdf
 
Club stops when the HS team has their first game/scrimmage that is officiated with referees. Best rule of thumb is no club after the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Most HS will start daily practices sometime in November after tryouts. Some HS coaches get butthurt if players miss HS practices for club practice. The season ends after the last game which can be anytime from the third weekend in February to the second weekend in March. It all depends on how late the team goes into the playoffs. Fresh and Soph Soccer has no playoffs so the season ends third weekend in March.

Here are the links to the San Diego and Southern section rule books. These do not have the actual game rules, but contain information about the season, playoffs, eligibility.
http://www.cifsds.org/governance.html#v-tabs3
https://cifss.org/resources/blue-book-contents/

This will give you the differences between the HS rules, NCAA rules, and FIFA (club) LOTG.
https://www.nfhs.org/media/1018270/2017_soccer_guide_-interscholastic_revised.pdf

Some club players whose teams play in December tournaments must hold off playing for their high school team until after the last club game.
 
Club stops when the HS team has their first game/scrimmage that is officiated with referees. Best rule of thumb is no club after the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Most HS will start daily practices sometime in November after tryouts. Some HS coaches get butthurt if players miss HS practices for club practice. The season ends after the last game which can be anytime from the third weekend in February to the second weekend in March. It all depends on how late the team goes into the playoffs. Fresh and Soph Soccer has no playoffs so the season ends third weekend in March.

Here are the links to the San Diego and Southern section rule books. These do not have the actual game rules, but contain information about the season, playoffs, eligibility.
http://www.cifsds.org/governance.html#v-tabs3
https://cifss.org/resources/blue-book-contents/

This will give you the differences between the HS rules, NCAA rules, and FIFA (club) LOTG.
https://www.nfhs.org/media/1018270/2017_soccer_guide_-interscholastic_revised.pdf

This is only partially correct.
Club training DOES NOT stop with first HS scrimmage. Many schools is having scrimmages before Thanksgiving but players will be participating at Thanksgiving tournaments with their clubs. Officially HS Winter Season starts on Monday after Thanksgiving, which will be on November 27th this year. Starting on that Monday, HS players can no longer participate in any games or scrimmages outside HS. Futsal and ID camps are the only exception. Players are free to continue training with their club, if they can manage 5 days a week HS training + homework + club training.
As long as player didn't start practicing or playing with her HS team, she can continue playing with her club until they are done (in case of any December tournaments) and start HS right after that. Technically end of November-December is a HS pre-season. Season starts in January and ends 2nd week in February. If she is on Varsity team, they may go to CIF playoffs (or may not) and season can go all the way to first week of March if they make it to Regional playoffs.
Hope this helps.
 
Actually it ends second week in February.

Let me specify....San Diego section regular season ends on 16 February 2018. Not sure when the other sections end. San Diego’s practice/tryouts begins on 11 November 2017. First possible scrimmage is 20 November and first possible game is 22 November, but in the many years that I have been a HS Referee I have never seen an official game played before the end of the Thanksgiving weekend. The dates came directly off of the CIFSD website.
 
This is only partially correct.
Club training DOES NOT stop with first HS scrimmage. Many schools is having scrimmages before Thanksgiving but players will be participating at Thanksgiving tournaments with their clubs. Officially HS Winter Season starts on Monday after Thanksgiving, which will be on November 27th this year. Starting on that Monday, HS players can no longer participate in any games or scrimmages outside HS. Futsal and ID camps are the only exception. Players are free to continue training with their club, if they can manage 5 days a week HS training + homework + club training.
As long as player didn't start practicing or playing with her HS team, she can continue playing with her club until they are done (in case of any December tournaments) and start HS right after that. Technically end of November-December is a HS pre-season. Season starts in January and ends 2nd week in February. If she is on Varsity team, they may go to CIF playoffs (or may not) and season can go all the way to first week of March if they make it to Regional playoffs.
Hope this helps.

Players and their parents should reference one of those league rule books that I gave links to above, green book or blue book, for the actual rules. Each league is slightly different. For San Diego check the Green Book Article 600.

For San Diego section, if a HS team conducts a scrimmage with paid referees all of the players that participate are no longer eligible to play club without causing sanctions against their HS team. That is if CIF finds out which usually happens because some parent sends an anonymous email.
 
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