Your Daughter's Journey

[stoppagetime]

My youngest player:

U9 LH Eclipse blue (bronze?)
U10 LH Eclipse blue SCDSL Flight 2
U11 LH Eclipse blue SCDSL Flight 2
U12 LH Eclipse blue SCDSL Flight 1
U13 Strikers South Coast Flight 1
U14 CDA Slammers Flight 1
U15 Strikers EGSL(<----before I knew what a joke that league was)
U16 Pats Academy (U17 age group)
U17 Pats Academy II (U18 Age group)

There has been lots of craziness in the club soccer scene since this one has been playing...and so has played at a few different places due to coaching turnover, etc. She is midway through the recruiting process. She's played HS for 2 years but not sure about next year due to Academy craziness.

My player that just graduated:

U9 NHB FC, team advanced to silver
U10 CFC (Silver) remnants from NHB team
U11 LH Eclipse White Silver Elite
U12 LH Eclipse White Gold
U13 LH Eclipse White Gold
U14 LH Eclipse White SCDSL Flight 1
U15 LH Eclipse White SCDSL Flight 1
U16 Strikers ECNL <----When LH Eclipse became Strikers OC and took over ECNL program
U17 Pats Academy/WPSL and DP for U18 Surf ECNL
U18 Pats Academy/WPSL

In her case, we picked the coaches, not the teams. She had been recruited by two big name clubs but passed in order to stick with the coaches she liked and knew. Had two years of bad coaching, but fixed that quickly each time.
She played varsity at her HS all 4 years.
She made the 1999 CalSouth ODP team 2 years in a row and also made region IV team for 3 years in row. She's been invited to several YNT camps but has only been rostered in 1 international match so far.
She started being recruited as freshman but made her decision as a sophomore. I attribute this to her appearances in ODP events and also being a GK
She has two teammates that she played with since U-little that are also playing D1 this fall. All three girls have uncommon work ethic.

My older player played at a local club until U16 when she decided to step it up and play for Eclipse Gold.
U17 LH Eclipse Premier
U18 LH Eclipse Premier
She was recruited her senior year at Surf Thanksgiving by a D1 school in the WCC. She ended up earning a very fine private education with soccer and has yet to peak in her soccer career. I attribute her late start in the recruiting process to lack of knowledge of the club soccer/recruiting scene and also being somewhat of a late bloomer. She did, however end up playing pro in Europe.

Thanks for sharing the journeys! Congratulations to you and your daughters.
As noted by NoGoal, one common denominator (except for one post so-far) is multiple clubs. Did you experience any backlash? Labeled a "club hopper?" etc. And if so, were there any real consequences to that? I've been cautioned by some not to jump around too much, but wondering what's myth vs reality.

 

[MakeAPlay]

@MAP, you did hit upon this a bit, but do you think the top players at u13-14 remained the top players through high school and now college? Im just wondering if it's necessary to be identified in some way by a certain age as a top player to even have a shot at D1.

I would say that some remained top players and some became very good players as others caught them. Regarding college success, several had excellent freshmen seasons and got national and regional accolades, some had good seasons, some had okay seasons, some had bad seasons and transferred, some red shirted, one had an ACL injury and two players missed the entire year due to the U20 WWC. I would wait until after this season to truly start to judge overall success as many of them are going to have more prominent roles on their perspective teams this seasons as sophomore and two that I can think of with the same birth year are going to be freshman this year.

Just like life it is all about what a player makes of their opportunity. I would say from my player's graduating class 25-35% of the players that are making waves in college were not really in the conversation until U16/17. When I look back at the roster of the team that went to the 2012 Region IV championship (of which my player was an alternate not on the roster) only 2 were full time starters, 3 ended the season as starters and 2 made their conference's all-Freshman team. Neither of the two players with the most accolades from her class as freshman in college (both made the national best XI team) made that regional team but were starters later. Here is the roster for that team so that you can draw your own conclusions.

http://www.calsouth.com/en/news-detail/254-year.2012_254-id.209716240.html#.WV5gx4TyuUk

 

[MakeAPlay]

Thanks for sharing the journeys! Congratulations to you and your daughters.
As noted by NoGoal, one common denominator (except for one post so-far) is multiple clubs. Did you experience any backlash? Labeled a "club hopper?" etc. And if so, were there any real consequences to that? I've been cautioned by some not to jump around too much, but wondering what's myth vs reality.

It's a myth. People giving you advice are doing what is in their best interest. Please continue to do what is in YOUR player's best interest and unfortunately loyalty to a club shouldn't be one of those things. For me it was all about the coach.

 

[gkrent]

Thanks for sharing the journeys! Congratulations to you and your daughters.
As noted by NoGoal, one common denominator (except for one post so-far) is multiple clubs. Did you experience any backlash? Labeled a "club hopper?" etc. And if so, were there any real consequences to that? I've been cautioned by some not to jump around too much, but wondering what's myth vs reality.

No labels. No backlash. I think a club hopper is someone that changes clubs almost every year and leaves a wake of destruction behind LOL. Or commits to a club and bails early on a regular basis. Multiple teams in one season, etc.

 

[stoppagetime]

Single Club example

Oldest Child - Daughter
U8-U17 played for Carlsbad Lightning/Carlsbad Elite on A team all years. Played midfield and defense and was recruited to play in College but broke her leg her Junior year and has never played soccer again. The break happened against Legends in the National Cup semi-final and was a cheap shot as she picked up the ball to throw it in the player that she had just bodied off of the ball slid into her with cleats up beyond the touch line and snapped her left leg. This past year Dr. Chao of San Diego did some rework on it and she is now able to run again. She will be a senior and have her teaching degree, credential and student teaching all finished by May next year.

Her team from U9-10 has 6 players from a roster of 12 playing or played D1 sports mostly soccer, with the U17-18 team having 12 playing D1 soccer/ lacrosse

Second Child - Son and twin
Played soccer for three years at Carlsbad Lightning, quit playing when they wanted him to be the full time GK. Played baseball and now plays High School football, he is being recruited to play football in college but no D1 offers yet.

Third Child - Daughter and twin
U8-U19 plays for LA Galaxy San Diego formerly Carlsbad United, formerly Carlsbad Elite, formerly Carlsbad Lightning and is currently playing on their WPSL team. Played on the A team every year. Will play for Colorado in 2018. Has always played with both feet and has an incredibly hard shot and is easily one of the best in the air. She has played EVERY position but has mostly played the 6 and the 8.
Last years team has ALL except two players playing D1 soccer either this year or next. One exception is a young lady that accepted an academic scholarship to Cal next year. The current DA team has two players that have not yet committed to play soccer in college next year. From her U9 team there are also 6 of the 13 players playing D1 sports this year or next.

She loves playing for her High School and is hoping that she can work that into this years schedule. She would need to miss the HS preseason and one or two DA games unless they are rescheduled.

State Cup 2009
HS Semi Final

View attachment 1160 View attachment 1161

Thanks for sharing the journeys and the pictures. When you see the pictures side by side like that, it puts success in a different light. Good luck to your kids on the rest of their journeys!

 

[NoGoal]

Thanks NoGoal for participating...congratulations to you and your DD. She's obviously played with some great players over the years. When I see your journey, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the miles your family must have spent on road. Regardless of your starting point, considering clubs as far apart as San Juan Capistrano and Camarillo is incredible...and makes me feel a twinge of guilt that we told our DD that despite their interest, San Juan Capistrano was just too far for us this year.

You're right, my family put in the miles. Fortunately, I am self-employed with a home office and my wife works 3 miles from home with work flexibility. So our commuting was for our DDs club soccer only. Well worth the quality conversation time spent with her in the car.

With Girls DA and 4 days of training a week. I don't think we would have been able to do the commute and would be left with only Legends and LA Premier as viable options. IMO, a big negative about Girls DA.

 

[NoGoal]

One of my players had teammates that commuted from Indio to Irvine! NoGoal is somewhat centrally located so everything is equally far LOL!!

LMAO, it was drive or play for Legends and you can see what we choose as a family!

My DD had 2 teammates on Eagles who drove from San Luis Obispo. It was a 3 hour drive one way....#dedication

 

[Eagle33]

My youngest player:

U9 LH Eclipse blue (bronze?)
U10 LH Eclipse blue SCDSL Flight 2
U11 LH Eclipse blue SCDSL Flight 2
U12 LH Eclipse blue SCDSL Flight 1
U13 Strikers South Coast Flight 1
U14 CDA Slammers Flight 1
U15 Strikers EGSL(<----before I knew what a joke that league was)
U16 Pats Academy (U17 age group)
U17 Pats Academy II (U18 Age group)

There has been lots of craziness in the club soccer scene since this one has been playing...and so has played at a few different places due to coaching turnover, etc. She is midway through the recruiting process. She's played HS for 2 years but not sure about next year due to Academy craziness.

My player that just graduated:

U9 NHB FC, team advanced to silver
U10 CFC (Silver) remnants from NHB team
U11 LH Eclipse White Silver Elite
U12 LH Eclipse White Gold
U13 LH Eclipse White Gold
U14 LH Eclipse White SCDSL Flight 1
U15 LH Eclipse White SCDSL Flight 1
U16 Strikers ECNL <----When LH Eclipse became Strikers OC and took over ECNL program
U17 Pats Academy/WPSL and DP for U18 Surf ECNL
U18 Pats Academy/WPSL

In her case, we picked the coaches, not the teams. She had been recruited by two big name clubs but passed in order to stick with the coaches she liked and knew. Had two years of bad coaching, but fixed that quickly each time.
She played varsity at her HS all 4 years.
She made the 1999 CalSouth ODP team 2 years in a row and also made region IV team for 3 years in row. She's been invited to several YNT camps but has only been rostered in 1 international match so far.
She started being recruited as freshman but made her decision as a sophomore. I attribute this to her appearances in ODP events and also being a GK
She has two teammates that she played with since U-little that are also playing D1 this fall. All three girls have uncommon work ethic.

My older player played at a local club until U16 when she decided to step it up and play for Eclipse Gold.
U17 LH Eclipse Premier
U18 LH Eclipse Premier
She was recruited her senior year at Surf Thanksgiving by a D1 school in the WCC. She ended up earning a very fine private education with soccer and has yet to peak in her soccer career. I attribute her late start in the recruiting process to lack of knowledge of the club soccer/recruiting scene and also being somewhat of a late bloomer. She did, however end up playing pro in Europe.

I was under an impression that Girls DA first season just starting this year. According to this both of your DD's already doing this second year at Pats. Am I missing something?

 

[gkrent]

I was under an impression that Girls DA first season just starting this year. According to this both of your DD's already doing this second year at Pats. Am I missing something?

Yes this is their second year at Pats. Their first year at Pats was the first (1st and 2nd for middle kid) year of the Pats Elite program which was the precursor to academy...basically it was the "A" team for the entire club (all chapters), thus they named their teams "Academy". This program was relatively unknown because Pats website is not quite getting up to speed on the girls side yet. This upcoming year it will be Academy both in name and in league. My middle aged out before real DA starts. Younger has 2 years still.

 

[NoGoal]

I would say that some remained top players and some became very good players as others caught them. Regarding college success, several had excellent freshmen seasons and got national and regional accolades, some had good seasons, some had okay seasons, some had bad seasons and transferred, some red shirted, one had an ACL injury and two players missed the entire year due to the U20 WWC. I would wait until after this season to truly start to judge overall success as many of them are going to have more prominent roles on their perspective teams this seasons as sophomore and two that I can think of with the same birth year are going to be freshman this year.

Just like life it is all about what a player makes of their opportunity. I would say from my player's graduating class 25-35% of the players that are making waves in college were not really in the conversation until U16/17. When I look back at the roster of the team that went to the 2012 Region IV championship (of which my player was an alternate not on the roster) only 2 were full time starters, 3 ended the season as starters and 2 made their conference's all-Freshman team. Neither of the two players with the most accolades from her class as freshman in college (both made the national best XI team) made that regional team but were starters later. Here is the roster for that team so that you can draw your own conclusions.

http://www.calsouth.com/en/news-detail/254-year.2012_254-id.209716240.html#.WV5gx4TyuUk

I remember that year. My DD was also named a team alternate. A lot of those girls are playing college this fall though.

Citlalli Alonso | UNLV
Celina Alvarez | UCSB
Lauren Brzykcy | UCLA
Anna Conners | Fullerton
Chloe Frisch | CAL
Tatum Gee | ?
Chloe Hamer | Pomona Pitzer
Zoe Hasenauer | Oregon
Laura Ishikawa | Pepperdine
Jessica Lempe | ?
Tara McKeown | USC and U20 YNT
Kiara Pickett | Stanford and U19 YNT
Darrian Reed | San Jose St?
Lauren Sacha | ?
Ashley Sanchez | UCLA U23 YNT
Sophia Serafin | Stanford U20 YNT
Audrey Ward | Mississippi St
Claire Watkins | Oregon

 

[Anomaly]

From a Vegas perspective...

U11: Heat FC 00: A
U12: Heat FC 00: A
U13: Las Vegas Neon 00: A: State Champs
U14: Downtown LVSC 00: A (Guest played with the 99 team)
U15: LVPSA 00 and 99: ECNL
U16: Utah Avalanche (DP) and Players SC 00: ECNL and A: State Champs
U18 (Birth year rule change): LVPSA 99: A: State Champs
U19: Strikers ECNL 00/99: ECNL

We didn't know what a club vs. recreational team was before we went to a Heat camp. Luckily she got picked up there, or we may have never made the switch! My kid has been labeled a club hopper by a crazy parent or two, but they don't know the half of it.
- Left first club after coaching change.
- Left second club when she decided to be a goalkeeper. This one was definitely the most important switch, as she was with her goalkeeper coach, she was on a team that faced 20+ shots a game which gave her repetition, and she got to guest play with that Downtown 99 team we all know of, which gave her true game experience.
- Moved with the Downtown 99 team to LVPSA and played ECNL.
- DP'd with Utah ECNL after LVPSA lost their status.
- Moved back to LVPSA for the coach.
- Now going to Strikers ECNL (after she's healed from her surgery) so she can play some decent competition and prepare for college ball in the spring.

This whole experience has taught us parents that you have to do what's best for your kid, no matter what the outsiders think and say. Also gave my daughter some thick skin. It's been quite a ride, and I'll miss it no doubt. But I'm excited to see what the future holds for my kid.

Enjoy it while it lasts. It goes by in the blink of an eye.

 

[gkrent]

I remember that year. My DD was also named a team alternate. A lot of those girls are playing college this fall though.

Tatum Gee | Princeton !!!

 

[NoGoal]

Thanks for sharing the journeys! Congratulations to you and your daughters.
As noted by NoGoal, one common denominator (except for one post so-far) is multiple clubs. Did you experience any backlash? Labeled a "club hopper?" etc. And if so, were there any real consequences to that? I've been cautioned by some not to jump around too much, but wondering what's myth vs reality.

Eagles and Blues were clubs my family respected, thus we left gracefully and in good terms. In the process when my DD needed to return to Blues this past season they welcomed us back with open arms.

Whn my DD was ulittle, posters in this age group labeled us as club hoppers. They even posted it a couple of times. I didn't care, because those posters ended up changing clubs 2-3 times themselves as uolders.

 

[NoGoal]

What I do know is by U15 we parents in the 1999 age group knew which players were the very best and there was no arguing that. My DD was club teammates with 3 of the 4 and a ODP teammate of the 4th. The girls below are on another level and deserve all the accolades they earned!

Ashley Sanchez-UCLA
Kiara Pickett-Stanford
Tara McKeown-USC
Catarina Macario-Stanford

 

[It won't matter later]

Ok, here is my best attempt:

U8-U9 (several years at u8) - Hawks - Presidio Champs and generally super awesome little team
U10-U13 - So Cal Blues - State Cup Champs one of those years
U14-U15 Strikers ECNL
U16 Slammers ECNL
U17- U18/19 Strikers ECNL

So, my kid has a reverse success story as a teammate. Her teams at u8-u13 didn't lose games or tournaments very often. She had 58 medals in her room when we packed her up and only one of those won as a teenager - Surf Cup at U17 (lower bracket). Her first few years at Strikers were middle of the pack. Last few, were bottom of the pack.

We left Blues when Strikers ECNL started at our local high school because she could walk to practice and at the time she had a sibling who was ill. Do not regret the decision, even though Blues was a stronger program. She followed the Camargos to Slammers and it was fine. Not a style of play that complimented her skill set, so she left a winning team to return to a non-winning team.

What is not in this equation is Futsal. Played every year from u8 through u16. Team won the National title twice, took 2nd another.

She is a freshman just in summer program/conditioning now at a Big10 school. She was recruited by a few Pac12 schools, one ACC and one SEC. It really came down to a decision between one Pac12 school where she really liked the coach, the program, etc. and her current school. She chose the current school because of its programs/prestige in her future field, its other athletics (football was a MUST) program and the community around the school. She chose the current soccer program because of the play style, the coaches and the future teammates. She did turn down much better money offers.

Some tidbits that may help:
Her u8-u9 team contained a group of girls that are still very strong players and at least 7 of them are playing D1 now, or will be in the Fall. Understand that these girls were 5 & 6 when they started.

The Blues team that won State Cup that year has all but maybe 4 playing D1 this year and the ones that aren't went on to either play other sports, or chose D3 for academic reasons.

The team that consisted of the first year for Strikers ECNL had many players rotate in/out over the years, but if you look at the group from the first year at u14, the ones that wanted to play in college, are. Several turned down opportunities to focus on academics (as in sitting on a full academic scholarship at schools like UCI, USC, etc.).

As of today, 1 at UCSB, 1 at Arkansas, 1 went to UCDavis and was injured - not playing, 1 at Colorado, 1 at Gardner-Webb, 1 at CSUF, 1 at WSU and mine.

Take what you want from the tidbits, but generally, some players are good from Day 1. Some need to move around to get more potential unlocked but at the end of it, if they work hard and listen and learn from all coaches (even the horrible ones can teach you things - like what kind of coach you never want to play for ever again - they can do well.

 

[It won't matter later]

What I do know is by U15 we parents in the 1999 age group knew which players were the very best and there was no arguing that. My DD was club teammates with 3 of the 4 and a ODP teammate of the 4th. The girls below are on another level and deserve all the accolades they earned!

Ashley Sanchez-UCLA
Kiara Pickett-Stanford
Tara McKeown-USC
Catarina Macario-Stanford

I will admit to not getting Kiki's strengths until later years. I will never forget the first time I saw the other three play.

 

[MakeAPlay]

Here is the 98 roster

Roisin Allaeddini | Slammers FC (UC Davis started 15 games)
Julia Bingham | Arsenal U14 (USC started 21 games)
Danika Bowman | Arsenal FC (BYU started 21 games)
Samantha Bruder | Real So Cal (USC redshirted)
Alyssa Carthan | Arsenal FC (Sacramento St. redshirted)
Mackenzie Curry | So Cal Blues (Seattle U started 8 games played in 12)
Savannah DeMelo | Beach (USC redshirted for U20 WWC)
Sunny Dunphy | Carlsbad Elite (UCLA started in 4 games)
Ana Gil | San Diego Surf (Cal played in 3 games)
Aminata Kalokoh | Real So Cal (Stanford played in 3 games)
Carly Malatskey | Slammers FC (Stanford started in 7 games played in 19)
Taylor McMorrow | Slammers FC (USC started 3 games played in 12)
Sarah Miller-Haughton | San Diego Surf (2017 grad uncommitted)
Daria Petredes | Corona Eagles (USC played in 13 games)
Isabel Rojas | South Bay Force (unknown)
Kennedy Smith | Irvine Strikers (Univ of Washington played in 3 games before ACL injury)
Lynsee Voss | Real So Cal (USD started 3 games played in 15 and transferred to UCSB)
Lauren Washington | San Diego Surf (USD 2017 grad)

 

[It won't matter later]

Here is the 98 roster

Roisin Allaeddini | Slammers FC (UC Davis started 15 games)
Julia Bingham | Arsenal U14 (USC started 21 games)
Danika Bowman | Arsenal FC (BYU started 21 games)
Samantha Bruder | Real So Cal (USC redshirted)
Alyssa Carthan | Arsenal FC (Sacramento St. redshirted)
Mackenzie Curry | So Cal Blues (Seattle U started 8 games played in 12)
Savannah DeMelo | Beach (USC redshirted for U20 WWC)
Sunny Dunphy | Carlsbad Elite (UCLA started in 4 games)
Ana Gil | San Diego Surf (Cal played in 3 games)
Aminata Kalokoh | Real So Cal (Stanford played in 3 games)
Carly Malatskey | Slammers FC (Stanford started in 7 games played in 19)
Taylor McMorrow | Slammers FC (USC started 3 games played in 12)
Sarah Miller-Haughton | San Diego Surf (2017 grad uncommitted)
Daria Petredes | Corona Eagles (USC played in 13 games)
Isabel Rojas | South Bay Force (unknown)
Kennedy Smith | Irvine Strikers (Univ of Washington played in 3 games before ACL injury)
Lynsee Voss | Real So Cal (USD started 3 games played in 15 and transferred to UCSB)
Lauren Washington | San Diego Surf (USD 2017 grad)

Oh my gosh... someday I may show this list to my daughter. Never had much success with ODP. She is a late 98 and was as gawky and Bambi-like as you can imagine 5"10 now looked back then. When she made a pool one year, it seemed like every drill she went up against SB from RSC. We laughed about it then and pointed out how strong SB was and that someday when her real legs showed up, she may have a better chance. Looking at this list, makes you realize, the scouts really did get it.

 

[outside!]

What I do know is by U15 we parents in the 1999 age group knew which players were the very best and there was no arguing that. My DD was club teammates with 3 of the 4 and a ODP teammate of the 4th. The girls below are on another level and deserve all the accolades they earned!

Ashley Sanchez-UCLA
Kiara Pickett-Stanford
Tara McKeown-USC
Catarina Macario-Stanford

When DD was a freshman, her HS team played against Cathedral and she scored a goal. After the game she said "I scored against Ashley Sanchez!". Ashley is a very good keeper (as is her future teammate Lauren Brzkcy). That goal made it into DD's highlight video. I also look forward to seeing Catarina Macario play in college.

 

[gkrent]

Ashley is a very good keeper

She played Keeper?