# Pro Tips for Preparing Your DD to Make HS Varsity Freshman Year



## Woodwork (Jun 23, 2021)

My DD finished a summer HS soccer preview.  To help your DD get noticed by the HS Varsity Coach you may want to have your DD:

1.  Play soccer at the highest level.  Maybe even play up a year or two at the highest levels and have a track record of success playing with more mature players already on local Varsity teams.
2.  Have great first touch and speed of play.
3.  Have high soccer IQ and field vision.
4.  Make good off the ball runs and have smart positioning.
5.  Have high-level speed, endurance, and agility.
6.  Make strong tackles and win 50/50 balls and help the team keep possession.

Don't waste your time with those things.  Make your DD be tall.  Be tall and dribble until she loses it.  Don't worry about her ability to receive a pass, make a pass, or win a 50/50 ball (she should work on fouling from behind and hoping the other player dribbles out of bounds).  But, in the off chance she gets the ball, make sure she dribbles until she loses it.  Tell her to stop being average height.  Tell her to be tall.  Tell her to go outside now, and practice being tall.


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## lafalafa (Jun 23, 2021)

Ha score a hat trick at the first "tryout" vs other varisity prospects...

Run and don't stop, defend, keep possession, pass out of pressure, show you can play on both sides of the ball,  be a team player.

Have the player discuss what it takes to make the team and expectations.

Good luck, ours where  average or below height freshman but stood out anyway, they can grow a bunch in HS.


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## Woodwork (Jun 23, 2021)

lafalafa said:


> Ha score a hat trick at the first "tryout" vs other varisity prospects...
> 
> Run and don't stop, defend, keep possession, pass out of pressure, show you can play on both sides of the ball,  be a team player.
> 
> ...


LOL.  Our high school you need to play positions like stopper, sweeper, trapper-keeper, seeker, and bludger.  They think a hat trick is when you put on the hat and it tells you if you got into Griffindor.


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## MyDaughtersAKeeper (Jun 24, 2021)

Woodwork said:


> My DD finished a summer HS soccer preview.  To help your DD get noticed by the HS Varsity Coach you may want to have your DD:
> 
> 1.  Play soccer at the highest level.  Maybe even play up a year or two at the highest levels and have a track record of success playing with more mature players already on local Varsity teams.
> 2.  Have great first touch and speed of play.
> ...


So you are saying HS soccer is a lot like club soccer?  The down side of HS soccer is the compressed season.  There is very little time to develop players and truly understand what each kid brings to the game.  Several years ago I had the chance to talk to one of the HS coaches in our area. The short story went like this: her boss, who coached at a rival HS, had a style of play.  He played that style at club and at HS.  At club he had more control of who was on the team.  At HS he picked similar players (big, fast & strong), but they were not always as dominant.  The coach I was talking to consistently beat him.  Each year she looked at who she had available at her HS and designed a game plan around what she had.   Good coaches are going to find the best players and design a strategy that works with what they have.  Other coaches are going to favor big fast & strong, to their own detriment.  

I am sorry for your kid.  Hopefully next year the coach wakes up and takes her.


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## Woodwork (Jun 24, 2021)

MyDaughtersAKeeper said:


> So you are saying HS soccer is a lot like club soccer?  The down side of HS soccer is the compressed season.  There is very little time to develop players and truly understand what each kid brings to the game.  Several years ago I had the chance to talk to one of the HS coaches in our area. The short story went like this: her boss, who coached at a rival HS, had a style of play.  He played that style at club and at HS.  At club he had more control of who was on the team.  At HS he picked similar players (big, fast & strong), but they were not always as dominant.  The coach I was talking to consistently beat him.  Each year she looked at who she had available at her HS and designed a game plan around what she had.   Good coaches are going to find the best players and design a strategy that works with what they have.  Other coaches are going to favor big fast & strong, to their own detriment.
> 
> I am sorry for your kid.  Hopefully next year the coach wakes up and takes her.


Thanks.  This certainly would vary HS to HS, so I shouldn't be generalizing, but it seems to be a style of play that has given up on style of play.  Basically, the coach learned 30 years ago (same HS coach all that time) that you don't have the personnel to connect passes and decided that the only chance of scoring is if one of the players manages to dribble through two or three opponents.  DD was all about that at 10 years old.  The discussion yesterday with my DD was literally: "If you want to make varsity as a sophomore, you are going to have to forget about good soccer.  Forget about what is good for the team.  That was a great, smart pass you made yesterday.  Don't do that anymore.  That was nice of you to volunteer to play centerback (or whatever quidditch term the coach used) when no one else volunteered.  Don't do that.  I know as a left or right back you want to do a 1-2 and overlap.  Don't do that.  Its your ball now.  Dribble dribble dribble.  Maybe even don't play right or left back.  Your winger is going to stand in front of you and block the open space.  Volunteer to be winger.  Don't let that person stand in front of you as you are dribbling anymore."


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## socalkdg (Jun 30, 2021)

Our High School didn't have a JV team so everyone was on varsity.  We were tied 0-0 with a top 10 team after 20 minutes and our coach, due to pressure from parents, felt the need to sub in almost the whole bench.   You can imagine what happened.   But the parents of those girls that got to play must have been happy.


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## MyDaughtersAKeeper (Jun 30, 2021)

socalkdg said:


> Our High School didn't have a JV team so everyone was on varsity.  We were tied 0-0 with a top 10 team after 20 minutes and our coach, due to pressure from parents, felt the need to sub in almost the whole bench.   You can imagine what happened.   But the parents of those girls that got to play must have been happy.


We had a Zoom meeting with all of the parents before the start of the season.  My first question was about the team goals.  As I saw it, there are 3 ways to handle the team:


Play to win every game and there is no guarantee of playing time - play to win,
Don't care about pre-season, but want to see what we have. Once the season starts, playing to win,
Don't care about wins and loses, and want everyone to have a "fun" season and everyone gets playing time. 
Seems like we started off as #3, then moved towards #1.  It worked out OK as DD's team were the SD Division III champs, just made it harder to get there.  I did feel bad for the other goalie as her minutes were greatly reduced as the season progressed. I thought the coach could have made it easier on everyone if the goals were laid out at the beginning.  Communicate expectations = easier life as everyone knows what to expect.


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## MamaBear5 (Jun 30, 2021)

As long as the expectation is made from the start. My kiddo doesn't do well with number 3 (despite many. conversations she just takes her game too seriously and when others don't it takes away the fun). We are having a hard time convincing her to play in the fall.


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## Woodwork (Jun 30, 2021)

socalkdg said:


> Our High School didn't have a JV team so everyone was on varsity.  We were tied 0-0 with a top 10 team after 20 minutes and our coach, due to pressure from parents, felt the need to sub in almost the whole bench.   You can imagine what happened.   But the parents of those girls that got to play must have been happy.


Those subs gave you plausible deniability, which is a gift.

I think very few people choose the High School based on the quality of the soccer program.  The other side of the coin is an overly robust program where half the players on varsity make the team only as legacies in their senior year and never see meaningful playing time as a varsity player.  In the club world, if the player is ECNL bench level on one team, perhaps just due to the coach's style preference, the player can shop around for another team.  In high school you just have to accept your lot in life.


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## Emma (Jun 30, 2021)

MyDaughtersAKeeper said:


> We had a Zoom meeting with all of the parents before the start of the season.  My first question was about the team goals.  As I saw it, there are 3 ways to handle the team:
> 
> 
> Play to win every game and there is no guarantee of playing time - play to win,
> ...


If you go with 1 and 2, parents of players riding the bench always forget that #3 was dismissed at the start and will still be upset and file complaints. We've seen this happen many times.


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## timbuck (Jun 30, 2021)

Woodwork said:


> My DD finished a summer HS soccer preview.  To help your DD get noticed by the HS Varsity Coach you may want to have your DD:
> 
> 1.  Play soccer at the highest level.  Maybe even play up a year or two at the highest levels and have a track record of success playing with more mature players already on local Varsity teams.
> 2.  Have great first touch and speed of play.
> ...


Don't forget "Go to a school that doesn't have a lot of soccer players tryout"  This can be a small private school.  Or a school in a district that is closer to the "older" homes where less kids live around.


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## dad4 (Jun 30, 2021)

Emma said:


> If you go with 1 and 2, parents of players riding the bench always forget that #3 was dismissed at the start and will still be upset and file complaints. We've seen this happen many times.


How many #1 type coaches are willing to openly tell a kid that they are only on the team as a backup plan in case of injury to one of the important kids?

Of course the parents file complaints.  The coach was only honest about half of it.  You can't recruit someone for a starring role and only later explain that they are the understudy.


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## Grace T. (Jun 30, 2021)

timbuck said:


> Don't forget "Go to a school that doesn't have a lot of soccer players tryout"  This can be a small private school.  Or a school in a district that is closer to the "older" homes where less kids live around.


This can be a frustrating experience too because you’ll get a lot of non club soccer players on the team too and maybe play lower division. What’s worse is you may even need to make the choice in 6th grade. My kid had to choose between my alma matter which is a really good soccer school (though as a keeper he’d always run the risk that a higher level keeper relegates him to the bench for several years) or his current school (which had both math and band programs better suited for him and he’s be guaranteed at least a slot on the field but 1/2 the players are rec or lower level club).  He chose his school because he’d start honors right away instead of waiting a year and they’d let him challenge for percussion first chair right away to play the kit as opposed to my alma matter which forced everyone to start with bells and then move up to marching snare even if they had years of experience on the kit.[/QUOTE]


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## MyDaughtersAKeeper (Jul 1, 2021)

dad4 said:


> How many #1 type coaches are willing to openly tell a kid that they are only on the team as a backup plan in case of injury to one of the important kids?
> 
> Of course the parents file complaints.  The coach was only honest about half of it.  You can't recruit someone for a starring role and only later explain that they are the understudy.


I hope this isn't a unique situation, but maybe I am naive.  Friends with GK coach at a local school. Five keepers tried out for varsity & JV.  There was a clear #1, clear #2 and #3 was a senior.    Took all three after having a conversation with the #3, about playing time and expectations.  #3 understood her role.  Was Ok with the role, and they play in the top division in the area.  I spoke with him after the season and it worked out OK, because the communication and expectations were set early.


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## socalkdg (Jul 1, 2021)

Wait, the High School had a GK coach?     

Communication is the key, and I believe kids want to win, but I think some parents, especially those with kids that are seniors, want their kid to play result be damned.


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## MyDaughtersAKeeper (Jul 1, 2021)

socalkdg said:


> Wait, the High School had a GK coach?
> 
> Communication is the key, and I believe kids want to win, but I think some parents, especially those with kids that are seniors, want their kid to play result be damned.


Keeper/Assistant coach.


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## dad4 (Jul 1, 2021)

socalkdg said:


> Wait, the High School had a GK coach?
> 
> Communication is the key, and I believe kids want to win, but I think some parents, especially those with kids that are seniors, want their kid to play result be damned.


Of course parents want their kid to play, even if the kid is low skill.  They are parents.

You can try a model where only the top kids are allowed to use the sports fields.  But, if you shrink the participant pool, you shrink your support for sports programs.

When the school proposes removing the sports field  to build a new science wing, who do you want on your side?   The 5% of families with skilled athletes or the 25% to 50% of families whose kids like to play?


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## Emma (Jul 1, 2021)

dad4 said:


> How many #1 type coaches are willing to openly tell a kid that they are only on the team as a backup plan in case of injury to one of the important kids?
> 
> Of course the parents file complaints.  The coach was only honest about half of it.  You can't recruit someone for a starring role and only later explain that they are the understudy.


I agree parents have the right to be upset if the communication conveyed a starring role. I'm talking about when there has been no starring role communication but parents think their kids should have a starring role, then team work be damned and let it be rec soccer all over again with equal playing time even if it's varsity soccer.  

If we want to build more playing time for everyone in high school, keep the JV team alive for seniors too.  Let the JV team be the one where results don't matter and equal playing time is required.  The problem occurs when parents want their kids in varsity because they think they've paid their dues for 3 years in JV.


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## outside! (Jul 1, 2021)

Grace T. said:


> This can be a frustrating experience too because you’ll get a lot of non club soccer players on the team too and maybe play lower division. What’s worse is you may even need to make the choice in 6th grade. My kid had to choose between my alma matter which is a really good soccer school (though as a keeper he’d always run the risk that a higher level keeper relegates him to the bench for several years) or his current school (which had both math and band programs better suited for him and he’s be guaranteed at least a slot on the field but 1/2 the players are rec or lower level club).  He chose his school because he’d start honors right away instead of waiting a year and they’d let him challenge for percussion first chair right away to play the kit as opposed to my alma matter which forced everyone to start with bells and then move up to marching snare even if they had years of experience on the kit.


[/QUOTE]
Nice that your kid was able to do soccer and band. My son's HS had marching band practice every evening that directly conflicted with club soccer. It was his choice to skip HS band and play soccer. He loved band but wanted to play soccer more. The HS has a good marching band, but it is tiny due to the fact that many incoming freshman chose to stick with their sports instead of dropping them for band. In the end it worked out for my son, he had a great senior year of HS soccer and has a metal band that is playing in the backyard on the 4th.


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## Grace T. (Jul 1, 2021)

outside! said:


> Nice that your kid was able to do soccer and band. My son's HS had marching band practice every evening that directly conflicted with club soccer. It was his choice to skip HS band and play soccer. He loved band but wanted to play soccer more. The HS has a good marching band, but it is tiny due to the fact that many incoming freshman chose to stick with their sports instead of dropping them for band. In the end it worked out for my son, he had a great senior year of HS soccer and has a metal band that is playing in the backyard on the 4th.


Jazz band.  The downside is they meet 7:30 am.


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## dad4 (Jul 1, 2021)

Emma said:


> I agree parents have the right to be upset if the communication conveyed a starring role. I'm talking about when there has been no starring role communication but parents think their kids should have a starring role, then team work be damned and let it be rec soccer all over again with equal playing time even if it's varsity soccer.
> 
> If we want to build more playing time for everyone in high school, keep the JV team alive for seniors too.  Let the JV team be the one where results don't matter and equal playing time is required.  The problem occurs when parents want their kids in varsity because they think they've paid their dues for 3 years in JV.


You can even take it a step further.  Ramp up your intramural program and give them field space.

If you have solid frosh, jv, and intramural programs available with adequate field space, then you've been fair.  Most kids will be too busy playing too complain.

If varsity hogs the field space, then you haven't been fair and you should expect complaints.


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## Emma (Jul 1, 2021)

dad4 said:


> You can even take it a step further.  Ramp up your intramural program and give them field space.
> 
> If you have solid frosh, jv, and intramural programs available with adequate field space, then you've been fair.  Most kids will be too busy playing too complain.
> 
> If varsity hogs the field space, then you haven't been fair and you should expect complaints.


In a school with the demand, field space and the finance for it, this would work and I'd be in full support of it.


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## espola (Jul 1, 2021)

dad4 said:


> You can even take it a step further.  Ramp up your intramural program and give them field space.
> 
> If you have solid frosh, jv, and intramural programs available with adequate field space, then you've been fair.  Most kids will be too busy playing too complain.
> 
> If varsity hogs the field space, then you haven't been fair and you should expect complaints.


My son chose soccer PE and complained that kids who couldn't make the JV or Varsity teams would cheap-shot foul the kids who did.


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## outside! (Jul 1, 2021)

Grace T. said:


> Jazz band.  The downside is they meet 7:30 am.


We asked about jazz band and were told it was reserved for kids enrolled in band class. When I was in band, marching band met at 6:30 AM and our band was big and loud. We took pride in having clean cutoffs to hear our echo off the mountains. The neighbors loved us.


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## outside! (Jul 1, 2021)

espola said:


> My son chose soccer PE and complained that kids who couldn't make the JV or Varsity teams would cheap-shot foul the kids who did.


My kids' school did not offer soccer PE.


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## dad4 (Jul 1, 2021)

Emma said:


> In a school with the demand, field space and the finance for it, this would work and I'd be in full support of it.


Most schools have the demand.  

Would you support large intramural programs if it meant varsity had to give up some field space and coaching resources?


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## Emma (Jul 1, 2021)

dad4 said:


> Most schools have the demand.
> 
> Would you support large intramural programs if it meant varsity had to give up some field space and coaching resources?


Absolutely.


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## Emma (Jul 1, 2021)

dad4 said:


> Most schools have the demand.
> 
> Would you support large intramural programs if it meant varsity had to give up some field space and coaching resources?


I would but I think you must come from a more affluent neighborhood.  Most inner city schools have a hard time filling their JV roster.


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## outside! (Jul 1, 2021)

Emma said:


> I would but I think you must come from a more affluent neighborhood.  Most inner city schools have a hard time filling their JV roster.


A bit off the subject. I read an article a couple years ago about a sports reporter in the LA/OC area going to a local school for football tryouts. They did not have enough players trying out to form a JV team. There were more players trying out for soccer, and they were able to form a Varsity, JV and freshman team. If this happens at enough schools, at what point does it make sense to have the soccer games on Friday night and have the band support the soccer team instead?


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## timbuck (Jul 1, 2021)

outside! said:


> A bit off the subject. I read an article a couple years ago about a sports reporter in the LA/OC area going to a local school for football tryouts. They did not have enough players trying out to form a JV team. There were more players trying out for soccer, and they were able to form a Varsity, JV and freshman team. If this happens at enough schools, at what point does it make sense to have the soccer games on Friday night and have the band support the soccer team instead?


Isn't football in the Fall and soccer in the winter?
Regardless-  I think that schools need to do a better job of promoting their soccer teams.  They should definitely have Friday night games, have the band there or some other form of crowd entertainment and encourage the student body to attend. As it stands now, the crowd is parents, boyfriends/girlfriends and the JV/Frosh teams in attendance.


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## Grace T. (Jul 1, 2021)

dad4 said:


> Most schools have the demand.
> 
> Would you support large intramural programs if it meant varsity had to give up some field space and coaching resources?


in California it’s illegal to charge kids to participate— they say it would be inequitable to kids that can’t afford it.....hence all the booster activities and fund raisers and fees masked as donations. So the varsity program would have to be willing to fork over some of its fundraising too as no one is going to be fundraising for intramural (and hence also soccer pe because that’s a way to funnel appropriated money or donated money into something resembling intramural sports)


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## Emma (Jul 2, 2021)

Grace T. said:


> in California it’s illegal to charge kids to participate— they say it would be inequitable to kids that can’t afford it.....hence all the booster activities and fund raisers and fees masked as donations. So the varsity program would have to be willing to fork over some of its fundraising too as no one is going to be fundraising for intramural (and hence also soccer pe because that’s a way to funnel appropriated money or donated money into something resembling intramural sports)


I understand what you are saying but every team will have to fundraise independently.  Fundraising is really for team travels and extra items, not field space and the basic necessities.  Parents with kids who dedicate more time and energy to soccer will donate/invest more, that's how it rolls. Intramural is rec and parents will want it as cheap as possible.  

PE is not intramural.  Intramural is for students who WANT to use their afterschool time to participate in the sport.  PE is a required class and students are forced to do it.


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## Grace T. (Jul 2, 2021)

Emma said:


> I understand what you are saying but every team will have to fundraise independently.  Fundraising is really for team travels and extra items, not field space and the basic necessities.  Parents with kids who dedicate more time and energy to soccer will donate/invest more, that's how it rolls. Intramural is rec and parents will want it as cheap as possible.
> 
> PE is not intramural.  Intramural is for students who WANT to use their afterschool time to participate in the sport.  PE is a required class and students are forced to do it.


Yeah but to dad's point that fundraising is not likely to happen to intramural...you still need the uniforms, travel (they'll get bored playing together over and over), bus rental, equipment, field/chaperone (most schools have a charge back to the activity at reduced prices but the activity is still charge for use).  Varsity would have to hand over part of its stash in many cases to make it happen, which (at least in California) is one of the reason it doesn't


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## Grace T. (Jul 2, 2021)

Grace T. said:


> Yeah but to dad's point that fundraising is not likely to happen to intramural...you still need the uniforms, travel (they'll get bored playing together over and over), bus rental, equipment, field/chaperone (most schools have a charge back to the activity at reduced prices but the activity is still charge for use).  Varsity would have to hand over part of its stash in many cases to make it happen, which (at least in California) is one of the reason it doesn't


p.s. this is the way it plays out in suburban school districts.  In the urban school districts it's harder: those teams are funded by charitable organizations, local businesses (e.g. Latino banks/grocery stores do some of it), or government grants...the cash is usual therefore spent on the marque more visible name (the varsity team) and there's unlikely to be much left over.  Rural California schools are even more of a headache since they lack the visibility or the urban schools for marque charitable support and the parents have to scrape by donations as best as possible and/or they may have a number of players problem.


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## Emma (Jul 6, 2021)

Grace T. said:


> p.s. this is the way it plays out in suburban school districts.  In the urban school districts it's harder: those teams are funded by charitable organizations, local businesses (e.g. Latino banks/grocery stores do some of it), or government grants...the cash is usual therefore spent on the marque more visible name (the varsity team) and there's unlikely to be much left over.  Rural California schools are even more of a headache since they lack the visibility or the urban schools for marque charitable support and the parents have to scrape by donations as best as possible and/or they may have a number of players problem.


I'm confused as to what you are referring to.  I agreed with Dad4, sports funds should be divided up between varsity, JV, and intramural if the school has the finance and demand for it.  I'm disagreeing only with respect to PE and where fundraiser money should go.


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## Emma (Jul 6, 2021)

outside! said:


> A bit off the subject. I read an article a couple years ago about a sports reporter in the LA/OC area going to a local school for football tryouts. They did not have enough players trying out to form a JV team. There were more players trying out for soccer, and they were able to form a Varsity, JV and freshman team. If this happens at enough schools, at what point does it make sense to have the soccer games on Friday night and have the band support the soccer team instead?


My children would like the transition to start now.  We should definitely find a way to make soccer games more enjoyable to young spectators like football does. Cheerleaders, bands, color guards, the whole kitten kaboodle, and a DJ displaying fan footage.


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## Grace T. (Jul 6, 2021)

Emma said:


> I'm confused as to what you are referring to.  I agreed with Dad4, sports funds should be divided up between varsity, JV, and intramural if the school has the finance and demand for it.  I'm disagreeing only with respect to PE and where fundraiser money should go.


The schools have some (limited) funding in California for PE, sometimes through general donations such as the local school foundation, and particularly in the suburban areas.  It is therefore easier to put together.

The other sports require separate funding since they are considered non course extracurricular activities.  Those funds have to be raised, usually by the booster organization.  In California, you cannot require kids to pay to play, which is one of the reason intramurals don't happen.


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## Grace T. (Jul 6, 2021)

Grace T. said:


> The schools have some (limited) funding in California for PE, sometimes through general donations such as the local school foundation, and particularly in the suburban areas.  It is therefore easier to put together.
> 
> The other sports require separate funding since they are considered non course extracurricular activities.  Those funds have to be raised, usually by the booster organization.  In California, you cannot require kids to pay to play, which is one of the reason intramurals don't happen.


Essentially the bottom line is to have an intramural division, the varsity team would need to fund raise (on top of what it needed and what it kicks back to JV/Freshmen) for intramurals.  This is easier to do in a suburban setting....harder to do in rural and inner city schools where the varsity group is struggling to help JV and JVs need to operate on varsity hand me downs.


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## Frank (Aug 30, 2021)

dad4 said:


> How many #1 type coaches are willing to openly tell a kid that they are only on the team as a backup plan in case of injury to one of the important kids?
> 
> Of course the parents file complaints.  The coach was only honest about half of it.  You can't recruit someone for a starring role and only later explain that they are the understudy.


#1 type coaches = Trinity League.


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## Primetime (Nov 2, 2021)

Frank said:


> #1 type coaches = Trinity League.


Ya the Trinity League doesn’t get to where they’re at by playing everyone or not having a solid bench, lol


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