I actually saw some local college coaches at our high school games (of course, that was many years ago). When I went to talk with one of them about our players (I was running the HS team's webpage before they switched to MaxPreps) he already knew as much about them as I did.
ECNL vs. DA turf war has created a 'toxic environment'
- Thread starter VegasParent
- Start date
I actually saw some local college coaches at our high school games (of course, that was many years ago). When I went to talk with one of them about our players (I was running the HS team's webpage before they switched to MaxPreps) he already knew as much about them as I did.
Being a good soccer player can help you get admitted to a private HS. DA recognizes that and is accommodating to that group of people. However, if it's for social reasons then it's a big fat No!!!
South brah. We have big numbers too. However, they're not DA players coming out. That's not a knock on the girls coming out. They play ECNL or SCDSL because some play Volleyball and track and or other things. Their good players. We have a great program.
It is certainly possible that local college coaches will go to a HS game to watch a particular kid. The problem is the coach is always going to walk away wondering how the player would look with and against better players. If you are playing in ECNL and HS you had better be All Met or All State at HS.
Now, if collegiate ambitions are modest to non-existent then have at it. It is fun and all of the many other non-soccer/intangible benefits but otherwise leave it till perhaps junior and senior year for the experience.
Has anyone who applied for the waiver ever been denied?
If you are a HS Senior and have your college commitment all sewn up and have not been invited to any National Youth Camps, why would you go through the aggravation and added costs of DA?
True but ECNL isn't cheaper than DA and ECNL is really only 6 months versus 10 months of DA.
And if you are already committed then whether you play HS or not is really a conversation between the player and the college coach.
dk_b
GOLD
I still want to hear more about this "waiver" - as I noted, the DA policies are express that HS is permitted where a kid is obligated to play sports to satisfy extracurricular requirements. Hard for me to believe without seeing the actual that a kid who as on athletic scholarship to HS would be addressed by DA rules. In areas where there is open enrollment among public schools, some kids make decisions based on sports or debate or music. If DA is permitting a waiver b/c kids went to a private schools for sports reasons, it would be opening itself up to a different levels of criticism and allegations of elitism. For all I know (and based on what @Ellejustus is saying, I certainly don't know), such a waiver does exist and DA/US Soccer could care little about criticism. But I'd want to see it.
The waiver issue has been a point of criticism since DA was founded, and especially since they started enforcing the no-HS rule for boys a couple of years after that. Most of those private schools already have an "elite" reputation to uphold. The DA waiver is consistent with that.
dk_b
GOLD
Joke's on me, it turns out. From what I can tell, the 2018-19 season permitted HS participation for two reasons - the extracurricular requirement that I noted AND the "admitted to private school for soccer" requirement that @Ellejustus mentioned (I say, "from what I can tell" b/c this is from excerpts I found that are posted elsewhere; the actual waiver language may differ but I can't find the primary source for 2018-19). I found the wavier for 2019-20 and it has been modified: ONLY the "admitted for soccer" remains. What an f'in joke. Poor kid who does not have access to those types of schools (and don't assume that just because something like that exists in your area, it exists elsewhere). Poor kid who may go into a private school on a needs-based scholarship and really wants to represent her school but is told "no" by US Soccer. It really bugs the crap out of me that the choice is taken from the players and families.
dk_b
GOLD
Indeed - well-stated.
It's just my opinion based on my experience. As we all know in the OC, before the DA, ECNL was the top league in OC. The only girls that didn't play HS Soccer were the very very best players who were told not to play from certain clubs. Blues fully supported both. It was a choice. You could also choose to rest or do something else. As I set here at freshman orientation at the Fowler college of business at SDSU (my son is smart) it came to me. The DA is sexy. OC likes to be on the cutting edge. DA sells the ultimate contest: Making the YNT. US scouts are watching they say..... (Disclaimer: many of these "scouts" had ODP shirts on the day before.....lol). The coaches and the parents are the only ones I have heard from that says, "high school soccer sucks." Coaches say it because they dont want you to get hurt and parents say it because the coaches say it. There you go
MakeAPlay
DA
The top colleges also recruit top international talent so you have to remember that. On my player's college team (a top 5 program) there are several Canadians, a couple of Aussies, a Japanese player and an English player not to mention that almost everyone else has various years of YNT experience. My point is that the top coaches aren't recruiting teams or leagues. They are picking players that will make an impact for their program and to be quite honest they trust their eyes more than anything else.
MakeAPlay
DA
Before I write something I should look for your post because you probably already said it in a much more eloquent and less confrontational manner.
You are a scholar and a gentleman...
oh canada
GOLD
mental health of the player, injury risk reduction (if playing a different sport or none during winter), the chance to add a different non-soccer skill to your child's toolbox, maybe she gets a higher grade in a class or two and raises her gpa, bonding with HS classmates/teammates, playing with girls 2-3 years older then 2-3 years younger...etc...
MakeAPlay
DA
Agreed. However, college soccer is more like high school than DA (up to 5 year age differences on the same team, cliques, homework, training during the season 3 days a week. DA should only have about 24-40 kids playing in all of SoCal in any age group. Instead they have 250+ allegedly elite players. It is hilarious.
MakeAPlay
DA
We used to have that when my player first started playing club. It was call Coast Soccer Premier League. Too bad they didn't allow Surf in. Gary Sparks (God rest his soul) is the reason that the landscape is so fractured in SoCal.
Surf was in CSL for a while, but then had an argument with GS about team placements in Premier Division. After they helped form SCDSL, they abandoned Presidio League with enough nasty words on their way out that PL wouldn't let their teams back in for a while.
MakeAPlay
DA
I tried to make my player skip high school and she did for the first month of her Junior year and hated it. She was the team manager and her friends on the team spent the first month of the season grinding her to help their school win. It matters to them even if the soccer sucks.
Look at it this way. On average in OC each school has about 2 really high level soccer players (of course the Private schools and Aliso Niguel have more). Getting a varsity letter as a freshman, being team MVP as a freshman, those things bring social benefits which matter a TON to these kids. The time goes fast. My kid was the only freshman on Varsity and she was the only player on her team that was on the first team all-League team.
Ask your player if they could play and it wouldn't affect their standing with their club team and you might be surprised at what you hear.