HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER TRYOUTS ARE A RIGGED SHITSTORM AND I'M PISSED ABOUT IT

[Socal-Soccer-Dad]

And you know what? In the spirit of the rant, I'm not even going to express condolences that life isn't fair. As a parent who puts my kid in club to give him advantages, I know that's an opportunity that not everyone has, and one that he has because I worked a lot to have the resources to provide that type of advantage for my kids. I do not feel bad that my kids can have additional opportunities because of my work. If my actions inspire future rants about how unfair the the club systems are, then so be it.

Haha life isn't fair. I know more about that now at 45 vs when I was15.

And I don't want it to be fair... I want the hard work my parents put in... and the sacrifices and my wife and I are currently putting in... to matter...

One rant I'd have would be... no matter how hard we try... there's the genetic lotteries I see on teams/sports my kids are on...
If anything's not fair... THAT'S not fair... My kids are pretty good at their respective sports but they're always looking up at their incredible gifts... Maybe they'll let up and our hard work can bridge the gap... but I see them working hard too...

As they say if prodigies also work hard, there's no way to beat them.

 

[Jamisfoes]

Haha life isn't fair. I know more about that now at 45 vs when I was15.

And I don't want it to be fair... I want the hard work my parents put in... and the sacrifices and my wife and I are currently putting in... to matter...

One rant I'd have would be... no matter how hard we try... there's the genetic lotteries I see on teams/sports my kids are on...
If anything's not fair... THAT'S not fair... My kids are pretty good at their respective sports but they're always looking up at their incredible gifts... Maybe they'll let up and our hard work can bridge the gap... but I see them working hard too...

As they say if prodigies also work hard, there's no way to beat them.

I would also like to add, unlike golf or tennis, soccer is not a sport where private 1v1 coaching makes a big difference. Like basketball, in soccer one can get really good just by playing lots of it. You don’t need a class to show you how to dribble, how to shoot or how to play defense. Rich parents have their kids go to those classes. They are all just a waste of money. What matters most is if a kid loves soccer and wants to play all the time, practices on his own. I would even venture out to say that a poor kid living in a high density area has an advantage over rich kids in the suburbs. The Pugbas, the Neymar’s and the Ibrahimovichs, they get to play all day.

 

[crush]

I roll my eyes whenever anybody says selections are political and rigged. Sure there may be the exception here and there.

I roll my eyes whenever you post coach

 

[TopesWin]

I roll my eyes whenever anybody says selections are political and rigged. Sure there may be the exception here and there. But for the most part coaches are trying to select the best players based on limited information/tryouts and it is a subjective, far-from-perfect process.

Imagine yourself in the coach's shoes at tryouts and you are looking at many of the players for the first time (I'm doing this right now for a middle school team). It's easy to spot the handful of players who are just better and will make the team. It's easy to weed out the bottom players who are not good enough. But then you have this big swath of players in the middle that you will need to choose from to round out the roster. That is the tough part and the selections will always be debatable. That's competitive soccer.

I tell my kids that if you want to make a certain team that it's not good enough to be at the same level. You have to be heads-and-shoulders above the others if you want to ensure a spot on that team.

Oh god, yes, there is politics involved! You might be the lucky who hasn't seen it, but it's everywhere - and kudos to you if you are the rare coach who doesn't let politics work its way into your selections! Obviously the stars get picked and obviously the beginners get cut, but there is a pecking order among the rest and the connected kids with connected parents get picked before the unconnected

 

[Grace T.]

I would also like to add, unlike golf or tennis, soccer is not a sport where private 1v1 coaching makes a big difference. Like basketball, in soccer one can get really good just by playing lots of it. You don’t need a class to show you how to dribble, how to shoot or how to play defense. Rich parents have their kids go to those classes. They are all just a waste of money. What matters most is if a kid loves soccer and wants to play all the time, practices on his own. I would even venture out to say that a poor kid living in a high density area has an advantage over rich kids in the suburbs. The Pugbas, the Neymar’s and the Ibrahimovichs, they get to play all day.

Completely disagree with this. Reason why is there are some skills which need to be corrected by a trainer or coach that can say “you are doing it wrong”. Because otherwise if you are doing that wrong thing 1000x on your own your are just perpetuating bad habits. First touch, how to properly cross a ball, how to head, even how to shoot (it amazes me how many olders still flex their foot while shooting and woof it over the bar). Double/triple so for goalkeepers.

I’ve seen the data point: the older kids that play only Latino league. Even though they may watch and be passionate about the game, without the coaching they top out. Hence the ops trouble, who otherwise seems to be passionate about the game and plays it on a regular basis.

I agree private training makes more of an impact on golf and tennis> soccer > basketball > gridiron position (other than qb). The more technical the game the more such training (in group or individual sessions) is needed. The reason for private trainers in soccer is that coaches don’t tend to address individual skills (and I was told by my license instructor I was doing it wrong if I taught them “that’s what parents and trainers are for”)

 

[Jamisfoes]

Completely disagree with this. Reason why is there are some skills which need to be corrected by a trainer or coach that can say “you are doing it wrong”. Because otherwise if you are doing that wrong thing 1000x on your own your are just perpetuating bad habits. First touch, how to properly cross a ball, how to head, even how to shoot (it amazes me how many olders still flex their foot while shooting and woof it over the bar). Double/triple so for goalkeepers.

I’ve seen the data point: the older kids that play only Latino league. Even though they may watch and be passionate about the game, without the coaching they top out. Hence the ops trouble, who otherwise seems to be passionate about the game and plays it on a regular basis.

I agree private training makes more of an impact on golf and tennis> soccer > basketball > gridiron position (other than qb). The more technical the game the more such training (in group or individual sessions) is needed. The reason for private trainers in soccer is that coaches don’t tend to address individual skills (and I was told by my license instructor I was doing it wrong if I taught them “that’s what parents and trainers are for”)

There is this new thing called YouTube. No one in this day and age needs to pay for a private trainer.

 

[NorCalDad]

There is this new thing called YouTube. No one in this day and age needs to pay for a private trainer.

In theory I agree with you. Obviously the "soccer is life" kids who play all the time are generally pretty good assuming they're getting the cognitive training with their team. I think for the rest of the kids, the players that do private training sessions are better than those that don't. This is just math....the kids who do private sessions just have more time on the ball. It's indeed a bummer as I wish I saw more kids playing pickup. I wish it was more ingrained in our culture.

 

[Grace T.]

There is this new thing called YouTube. No one in this day and age needs to pay for a private trainer.

Disagree. The reason why is because humans have a personal bias to assume they are doing something correctly. You aren’t paying the personal trainer to show you a drill or move. You are paying the personal trainer to show you what you are doing wrong and aren’t seeing. You are paying for their eye. Otherwise you are just perpetuating mistakes and bad habits because you think you are doing it right and aren’t capable of self criticism (very few of us are). In the ideal world coaches would do this but we’ve made a decision for some reason, especially at the younger ages when these skills are developing, that coaches shouldn’t spend their limited time doing it. Hence why we have all these teenage boys that despite being the best kickers on their team are always putting the ball on a dfk over the crossbar.

 

[Jamisfoes]

Disagree. The reason why is because humans have a personal bias to assume they are doing something correctly. You aren’t paying the personal trainer to show you a drill or move. You are paying the personal trainer to show you what you are doing wrong and aren’t seeing. You are paying for their eye. Otherwise you are just perpetuating mistakes and bad habits because you think you are doing it right and aren’t capable of self criticism (very few of us are). In the ideal world coaches would do this but we’ve made a decision for some reason, especially at the younger ages when these skills are developing, that coaches shouldn’t spend their limited time doing it. Hence why we have all these teenage boys that despite being the best kickers on their team are always putting the ball on a dfk over the crossbar.

You are free to keep spending the money. The fact is Neymar, Messi, Pugba and countless other pros from disadvantaged backgrounds all learn to play soccer on their own before they got discovered.
Private trainers love to train girls. There are quite a few of them their business model is to focus only on girls. You know why? Girls don’t play pickup games.

 

[Grace T.]

You are free to keep spending the money. The fact is Neymar, Messi, Pugba and countless other pros from disadvantaged backgrounds all learn to play soccer on their own before they got discovered.
Private trainers love to train girls. There are quite a few of them their business model is to focus only on girls. You know why? Girls don’t play pickup games.

Disagree here too. This used to be the model in the Pele days (or Donovan days if you want to stick to the US when players actually used to come out of AYSO), but soccer has become very technical (basketball too is the counter example...it's become more technical as well such as with the reliance on the 3 point shot). Playing pickup is all very fine and good. It's great for developing speed of thought. It's also great for developing innate talent and soccer IQ. It's a necessary component, But the one thing the marquee players you list had is they entered organized sports early on, and also a pro academy. Messi was in a very strong program at age 6, and entered the academy at 13. Neymar at 7 and the academy at 11. Pogba was at an academy at age 6, and the age of entering academies in Europe is now between 5-9. Sure, if you have professional instructors every day who have the time for individual instruction and corrections given you are on the pitch 7 days a week, then you don't need a personal trainer. For those that don't have the academy, that training has to come from somewhere. If you are relying on a personal trainer to get you out there and motivated and put the word in and show you moves, you are doing it wrong. If the only thing you are doing is going out and playing games, with coaches not correcting technical deficiencies, then like the Latino league players you are going to hit a wall.

If we ran an experiment with two equivalent highly motivated boys (same IQ and physical development, watch and equal amount of soccer, each looking up youtube video, each with equivalent training time and games) and give one a competent trainer and the other only a coach (who follows the US guidelines and focuses on the team and free discovery, not individual skills), then put them in front of an academy for selection, the one with the trainer will do better because his mistakes will have been fixed. It's the entire plot of the movie "Chariots of Fire" after all.

 

[KingMI]

You are free to keep spending the money. The fact is Neymar, Messi, Pugba and countless other pros from disadvantaged backgrounds all learn to play soccer on their own before they got discovered.
Private trainers love to train girls. There are quite a few of them their business model is to focus only on girls. You know why? Girls don’t play pickup games.

I agree Girls are more competitive in my opinion so they want to be on top. They are easy money because after 12yrs old no parents can force them to train. When they were little ones it was easy to gather them up. So most are forced to find them a 100 dollar per hour coach from 12-17yrs old.

 

[East County Soccer Dad]

Even if there is/was a bias, a kid not playing club soccer isn't making his school team.
WE have a few elite programs in town and unless you're in a letter league you arent making Varsity, and maybe not even JV.

 

[Jamisfoes]

Disagree here too. This used to be the model in the Pele days (or Donovan days if you want to stick to the US when players actually used to come out of AYSO), but soccer has become very technical (basketball too is the counter example...it's become more technical as well such as with the reliance on the 3 point shot). Playing pickup is all very fine and good. It's great for developing speed of thought. It's also great for developing innate talent and soccer IQ. It's a necessary component, But the one thing the marquee players you list had is they entered organized sports early on, and also a pro academy. Messi was in a very strong program at age 6, and entered the academy at 13. Neymar at 7 and the academy at 11. Pogba was at an academy at age 6, and the age of entering academies in Europe is now between 5-9. Sure, if you have professional instructors every day who have the time for individual instruction and corrections given you are on the pitch 7 days a week, then you don't need a personal trainer. For those that don't have the academy, that training has to come from somewhere. If you are relying on a personal trainer to get you out there and motivated and put the word in and show you moves, you are doing it wrong. If the only thing you are doing is going out and playing games, with coaches not correcting technical deficiencies, then like the Latino league players you are going to hit a wall.

If we ran an experiment with two equivalent highly motivated boys (same IQ and physical development, watch and equal amount of soccer, each looking up youtube video, each with equivalent training time and games) and give one a competent trainer and the other only a coach (who follows the US guidelines and focuses on the team and free discovery, not individual skills), then put them in front of an academy for selection, the one with the trainer will do better because his mistakes will have been fixed. It's the entire plot of the movie "Chariots of Fire" after all.

I haven’t met a private trainer whose tips I can’t already find in YouTube videos. All you need to get a tight first touch is a ball and a wall. You don’t need a trainer to show you the technique.

 

[Grace T.]

I haven’t met a private trainer whose tips I can’t already find in YouTube videos. All you need to get a tight first touch is a ball and a wall. You don’t need a trainer to show you the technique.

Agree on this and if that's what you are paying them for (or to actually motivate you to get out there) you are doing it wrong. You are paying them to correct your technique when you are banging that ball against the wall because you don't know what you don't know and are making mistakes you can't see.

Tackett for GK does a course on reviewing your own game film. One of the struggles is getting teens to be supercritical of themselves 1) because they lack the eye someone with more experience has, and 2) because people are adverse to being self-critical and tend to overlook their mistakes. That's why you hire Tackett to look at the game film for you-- he'll see more than you will.

I've noticed this with my own son BTW...he records all his games since getting them off the club/school/rival club or school's veo can sometimes be a 50/50 proposition (it's amazing how teams won't publish veo if they get embarrassed by what happens). GK goals come in 3 types: mistakes, limitations, and nothing you can do about em. But he can't see the mistakes, and it's frustrating to no end!

After the good stuff...."so 3 goals....what could you improve on?"

"Nothing, it was X's fault."

Looks at the veo.

"So you've looked at the tape? Watcha think? Anything you could improve on?"

"Nope all good. I'm awesome."

Shows it to the coach.

"Dude, you just need to go out there and give it 110%. Be more explosive! Do Better!"

"Coach says I need to just do better."

"Do better how?"

"I dunno".

Shows it to trainer. 1 second later.

"On that third goal you were 1m off your center mark. Your prep step, dive, and length were all flawless. If you had been properly positioned and checked your shoulder against your far post positioning, that should have been an easy save. Let's work on it."

"Oh that's obvious. Why didn't I see it?"

 

[Jamisfoes]

Agree on this and if that's what you are paying them for (or to actually motivate you to get out there) you are doing it wrong. You are paying them to correct your technique when you are banging that ball against the wall because you don't know what you don't know and are making mistakes you can't see.

Tackett for GK does a course on reviewing your own game film. One of the struggles is getting teens to be supercritical of themselves 1) because they lack the eye someone with more experience has, and 2) because people are adverse to being self-critical and tend to overlook their mistakes. That's why you hire Tackett to look at the game film for you-- he'll see more than you will.

I've noticed this with my own son BTW...he records all his games since getting them off the club/school/rival club or school's veo can sometimes be a 50/50 proposition (it's amazing how teams won't publish veo if they get embarrassed by what happens). GK goals come in 3 types: mistakes, limitations, and nothing you can do about em. But he can't see the mistakes, and it's frustrating to no end!

After the good stuff...."so 3 goals....what could you improve on?"

"Nothing, it was X's fault."

Looks at the veo.

"So you've looked at the tape? Watcha think? Anything you could improve on?"

"Nope all good. I'm awesome."

Shows it to the coach.

"Dude, you just need to go out there and give it 110%. Be more explosive! Do Better!"

"Coach says I need to just do better."

"Do better how?"

"I dunno".

Shows it to trainer. 1 second later.

"On that third goal you were 1m off your center mark. Your prep step, dive, and length were all flawless. If you had been properly positioned and checked your shoulder against your far post positioning, that should have been an easy save. Let's work on it."

"Oh that's obvious. Why didn't I see it?"

I get your point about having a trained eye correcting you. It might save you some trial and error time. But I still think soccer is not overly technical, one can get by without privates. Kids also learn from each other and give each other tips.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

I'd say it depends entirely on whether the individual (and/or team they are playing for), is in the top 50%, top 5%, top 1%, or one of the top individuals/teams in the nation. One size doesn't fit all in this case, and I generally agree with your point that for most kids - private training is only slightly better, if at all better, than working on themselves and the team with their coach and individual work on their own. But an individual training program with private training/coaching has the best chance of taking someone who is already quite talented, already quite motivated, and highly incented to improve themselves, to continue to better themselves week-in week-out as they grow.

 

[Grace T.]

I'd say it depends entirely on whether the individual (and/or team they are playing for), is in the top 50%, top 5%, top 1%, or one of the top individuals/teams in the nation. One size doesn't fit all in this case, and I generally agree with your point that for most kids - private training is only slightly better, if at all better, than working on themselves and the team with their coach and individual work on their own. But an individual training program with private training/coaching has the best chance of taking someone who is already quite talented, already quite motivated, and highly incented to improve themselves, to continue to better themselves week-in week-out as they grow.

I think this is fair. My only caveat would be that the top 1% of older boy players don’t need to do this because they are already in an academy (or similar) that has specialists that address this issue. The percentage that would benefit from private training would also be lower in the Youngers if the coaches were taught to emphasize this but for one reason or another we’ve decided to emphasize other things in team practices such as self learning and speed of thought (or in some cases running laps).

 

[Messi>CR7]

To the OP:
-Had you play club soccer for the last 10 years, your parents would’ve paid a minimum of $5K a year (many pay more).
-S&P500 on the average has returned about 11.6% over the last 10 years. That $50K would be $96K now.
-By not playing club soccer thus guaranteeing your misery in HS sports, your saved your parents $96K.

Present these numbers to your parents and politely (use a different tone than the one in your original post) ask for half of the $96K or a new car.

Best of luck.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

(Be right back, sending a 30-yr old invoice to my parents.....)

 

[Jamisfoes]

I'd say it depends entirely on whether the individual (and/or team they are playing for), is in the top 50%, top 5%, top 1%, or one of the top individuals/teams in the nation. One size doesn't fit all in this case, and I generally agree with your point that for most kids - private training is only slightly better, if at all better, than working on themselves and the team with their coach and individual work on their own. But an individual training program with private training/coaching has the best chance of taking someone who is already quite talented, already quite motivated, and highly incented to improve themselves, to continue to better themselves week-in week-out as they grow.

Totally agree with this. My point is a poor kid shouldn’t use the lack of access to private training as an excuse. Watch some YouTube videos and go out practice on your own. You can get pretty far with some talent and having the love for the game.

 

[Code]

Alright, buckle the fuck up, cause I’ve been bottling this shit in for days, and I need to fucking SPEAK. High school soccer tryouts are the most miserable, brain-dead, soul-crushing experience ever invented by humanity. I don’t even know how to summarize the complete shitstorm I just lived through this beautiful month of November, but here we fucking go.


First off, TRYOUTS SUCK ASS.
Like, genuinely, what the actual fuck is the point of putting us through five goddamn days of HELL just to decide who gets cut? They make you run until you’re puking (love that SoCal heat, right?), yell at you like you’re some unpaid ball-shagging intern, and then casually post a shitty wrinkled piece of paper in the locker room, listing the chosen ones. Or worse, they put it on their fancy-ass Instagram account like they’re some fucking Real Madrid academy or some Premium shit. Bro, we’re not pros. We’re 15-year-olds with raging acne and bad attitudes.

Let me tell you what happened: I just got CUT. Not "Oh, maybe you’ll make JV" cut. I mean "Didn’t make it onto ANY team, not even the landfill-tier Fresh/Soph squad that exists just so the varsity coaches don’t feel bad about axing half the school." It’s like they looked at me, shrugged, and decided we were barely worth the paper they used to print the shitty, wrinkled tryout results. My name? Not on the paper. Not on the polished, Instagram post list with some edgy Kendrick Lamar soundtrack either. Not even on the “you suck but here’s JV or the freshman/sophomore trash team” roster. Nope. My ass got kicked out with the rest of the “plebs,” like we’re dogshit they stepped on. And the best part? No explanation. Don’t think you can ask for feedback. OH NO !!!!! That’s like pulling teeth. You have to go BEG the coach to tell you why you didn’t make it, like he’s doing YOU a favor. “Oh, we just felt like you didn’t stand out enough.” Yeah, no shit, Coach Clipboard, because your beloved Varsity Darlings™ didn't pass your precious Nike Flight Premier League Team Academy™ balls like they'd get straight up executed if they did.

The Varsity Boys™ Are Pre-Selected GODS.
Here’s the kicker: TRYOUTS DON’T EVEN MATTER. Yeah, you heard me. That Varsity squad? PRE-FUCKING-MADE. All those little darlings from last year? They automatically make Varsity again. It doesn’t matter if they were lazy or played like shit during tryouts—they’re in. Coach Clipboard literally said there's like 5 FUCKING SPOTS available on Varsity BEFORE FUCKING DAY 1 OF TRYOUTS STARTED. They automatically get a pass. Why? Oh, because they’re club kids or academy babies. The coach SOMEHOW, already knows them from those clubs. The system is rigged as shit, and we all fucking know it.

Meanwhile, us regular dudes? We’re treated like unpaid extras in a bad sports movie. We’re out here running suicides in 90-degree heat, praying the coach will notice us. Guess what? They fucking DON'T. They’re too busy joking around with their Varsity favorites, high-fiving them and clapping them on the back like they're gonna grab beers after practice or some shit.


The Tryout Experience is Straight-Up TORTURE. It’s 2 hours of hell every day for a week. I got treated like garbage after five days of killing myself out there. Wanna touch the ball? Ha, good luck with that. Those Varsity assholes won’t pass to you because “who the fuck is this kid?”
You can scream “BALL, BALL, BALL” all you want. You can yell “SEND ME” till your throat bleeds. No one gives a shit. And when you finally get the ball? Oh, sorry, the coach didn’t see that play because he was too busy licking the cleats of some MLS Next Academy bastard.

The thing is, yeah, these club kids are good. I’ll give them that. You’d be good too if your parents shelled out $1,000 a month for you to get coached by some mysterious "Elite Coach" who "almost made it pro" in Spain. It actually costs a FUCKING BALLSACK to play on those "Elite" clubs. But the system is RIGGED. The coaches KNOW these kids from clubs because they’re in this weird little soccer mafia together—some shady Illuminati shit in the area where the Varsity coaches keep their precious weird ass connections with the club coaches all tight and buddy-buddy, trading players like they're fucking slaves in the Confederate states 160 years ago.

"You know Eduardo from Premier West Coast LASC Gold League ECNL Tier 1 MLS Next !? He's definitely VARSITY MATERIAL !!!!"
You’re not in a club? Guess what? You’re invisible. You don’t exist. You play AYSO or, God forbid, you’re just a kid who loves soccer and practices at the park? LOL. You’re a joke to this team ! They give you those dead blank stares like you're a fucking leper. It’s not about skill; it’s about politics.

Let me tell you something about these Varsity assholes. They act like they’re hot shit because they made the team last year. Newsflash, you arrogant little pieces of shit: YOU ARE NOT GOING PRO. You’re not even going D1. You’re gonna play at some NAIA school in Nebraska, blow out your ACL sophomore year, and end up selling congealed pizza at Albertsons. Fucking NONE of us are going pro. We're just a bunch of awkward teenagers, and maybe two of us MAX will play D3 soccer in college and warm the fucking bench before we blow up our ACLs and realize we peaked in high school. No one's getting scouted here. But hey, keep posting your stupid goal clips from LASC scrimmages on Instagram like you’re fucking Cavan Sullivan (don't get me started on that overrated bastard with an ego bigger than R9's stomach).

And don’t think I forgot about JV and the Freshman/Sophomore teams. JV is the undershit reserve filler fat just in case one of the Varsity Princes™ blows up his ankle on their pristine turf field during a game. And Fresh/Soph is just a daycare with soccer balls. It’s where dreams go to die on the shit grass field that smells like regret and dogshit piles. “But they're developmental teams!” Shut the fuck up. They're pity teams.


Final Thoughts (or Whatever):
FUCK TRYOUTS. Fuck this perverted gate-keeping darwinistic system. Fuck the Varsity-Club-Academy circle-jerk. And fuck those OVERPRICED, douchebag clubs that force you to PAY the GDP of a FUCKING MICRONATION to play in their fancy ass "PREMIUM !!!" league for a 3 months season. I’m not salty—I’m fucking FURIOUS. High school soccer is a corrupt, rigged, elitist, flaming pile of spirit-crushing SHITSHOW that sucks all the joy out of the game. And you know what? I’m done. I'm FUCKING DONE. I’ll stick to Sunday league games where the only drama is who brings the orange slices.

If you read this whole rant, congrats. You probably just wasted 10 minutes of your life, but hey, at least I feel better now. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

For a 15 year old you are an excellent writer. Maybe look into the Journalism Club at your school, I'll bet you become a Varsity contributor.