Agree, but even more important than hams are glutes. I say this as my DD is just now coming back to the field after ACL tear last March. Glutes set the stability for everything else you mention. She's been in the weight room like an animal with squats, ham exercises and overall fitness. Hopefully her new body will at least reduce her risk as she returns.
2020 Recruiting classes
- Thread starter Soccer43
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Most club coaches who are there to make a buck first and then the kid 2nd will tell you all you need to pick one. God forbid you want to play HS Soccer, that's even worse then going for track. Look, the top top soccer players (GOATS) in my dd age are going the home school route. Their is a social reason for that too IMHO.
These days I would agree with you; my player was one of the last few that enjoyed the glory days of HS soccer when all the ringers were allowed to play ;-)
Playing Sports in HS School is super cool if you didn't know and the only way most don;t know it is cool is because they didn;t play sports in HS so they have no clue. Imagine a stud basketball player who could help his HS win but says to all his buddies, "I'm so sorry, HS Hoops sucks and I'm on YNT team and, well, you guys suck and I'm too good to play with you." That wouldn;t fly. Fast frwd to today for girls soccer, "I'm sorry girl friends, I can;t play with all of you because, well, I'm too good and play DA." or "I made the YNT Pool or List or Camp and well, they say you guys suck at soccer and I should stay away and never set foot on our HS Soccer field." All the other athletes at the school play except the very best soccer players skip it all together. Walking around campus telling everyone how great you are is not going to go well for most but that's just my opinion. If you're truly going for the Pros and WNT, go the home school route 
dk_b
GOLD
There's a great Radio Lab episode (from 12/27/19, Man Against Horse) that talks about the evolution of our glutes and how that made us runners (unlike other primates). Worth listening to - it mentions that stability you talk about and how, w/o our glutes firing, we'd always be falling forward if we tried to run.
Our physical therapist was absolutely against specializing before 14. Also said to include sports that dont make you cut like soccer. (Lacrosse and futsal do not count as cross training)
Second the hammy and glutes recommendation. Leg lifts and clamshells every night. So far, with a sample size of 1, it's been good.
Second the hammy and glutes recommendation. Leg lifts and clamshells every night. So far, with a sample size of 1, it's been good.
warrior49
SILVER
Playing Sports in HS School is super cool if you didn't know and the only way most don;t know it is cool is because they didn;t play sports in HS so they have no clue. Imagine a stud basketball player who could help his HS win but says to all his buddies, "I'm so sorry, HS Hoops sucks and I'm on YNT team and, well, you guys suck and I'm too good to play with you." That wouldn;t fly. Fast frwd to today for girls soccer, "I'm sorry girl friends, I can;t play with all of you because, well, I'm too good and play DA." or "I made the YNT Pool or List or Camp and well, they say you guys suck at soccer and I should stay away and never set foot on our HS Soccer field." All the other athletes at the school play except the very best soccer players skip it all together. Walking around campus telling everyone how great you are is not going to go well for most but that's just my opinion. If you're truly going for the Pros and WNT, go the home school route
Interesting take. My DD played HS soccer (varsity) her freshman year. She got chastised by her coach for missing some initial practices to travel to the Thanksgiving Surf Cup, but she brushed it off. Then she came back to her club after the season completely out of shape and noticeably behind the rest of her teammates. She chose to forgo HS soccer and focused on club the rest of the way to college. She definitely wasn't walking around campus saying she was great or better than her HS team. But she did have vary different goals than the majority of the HS team, where most of the girls were there for "social" reasons and admittedly had no aspirations to play soccer past HS.
I've heard stories like that. Some coaches want 100% commitment in November. Club players usually show up after all club is over like late December. That's too bad and my dd would have left too probably. Coach does matter and not all coaches are the same. Thanks for sharing
This may be more suited to the GK forum, but I want to say the same thing to the parents who take their kids out of one team practice day a week to attend club GK training. If at all possible, attend GK training as a third practice day a week and attend all team practice sessions. Then ask your team coach to let your kid participate in all the field players drills and small-sided games during practice. Coaches generally are willing to do that even if they won't play your kid on the field and its very valuable in helping your GK develop touch with both feet etc. Indeed, it's more valuable than field time in games where you might not touch the ball very often anyway. It also effectively gives your player some of the benefits of exposure to two different sports, since GKs and field players often have different types of movements and use different muscles.
soccer661
SILVER ELITE
100% agree with this for GK's
Simisoccerfan
PREMIER
The two years my dd played DA was the least amount of games she played during her club years. Rarely did we play two games a week and we had many open weekends. With the tournament rules there were no two games per day either. Prior to that playing club and HS was non stop games with a fall club season of two games per weekend, league cup with two games a day, HS season with 2 games per week and tournaments on some weekends with two game per day, then National Cup along with various tournaments and showcases that could be up to 4-5 games per weekend. By the way HS soccer is 5-6 days per week. The DA schedule allowed for better recovery and not all of those 4 practices are the same intensity.
The bottom line is No kid over the age of 12 should be playing two games per day.
Simisoccerfan
PREMIER
Though my dd has already made a successful return from acl/meniscus surgery she is still working hard in the weight over winter break. She was telling me last night how sore here hamstrings are from doing deadlifts. All girls soccer players should be lifting at least twice per week. If you can't afford a gym membership and can't get her to a gym, at least buy a used bench with a squat rack for home.
dk_b
GOLD
Yes! It’s a cash cow for tournaments unless they all move to Showcases (“but we need a champion!”) or add days (“more missed school! More $$$ for lodging and food!”). We need to recalibrate our expectations for outside of league or cup competitions. That’s an area where ECNL and DA has it right for in season showcases (I think all the national championship formats - DA, ECNL, USYS, NPL - do only one game per game and most (all?) add rest days. (I remember a year when Vegas Cup scheduled 3 games in 24 hrs (5p, 9a and 3p or something like that))
Nice post! Totally agree. My DD GK had the same club coach from 12-15 yo. GK training days were the same days as her team practices. She would ask if she could run over and train with GK coach he said absolutely not lol! He had her on the field with team running same drills as field players, at the time I thought it kinda sucked but looking back it's the best thing he could have done for her and I've told him that. He would also let her play the field in league games (if we had a nice lead lol) As she grew older her collection and movement with the ball and distribution was what attracted college coaches in the future. She's a Sophomore in college now playing the position she loves. I encourage every GK parent to get their GK on the field it will only benefit them down the line. BTW she trained 2 other days with GK coach,
Side note: Once she was 16 field play was non-existent full time Keeper and happy with it.
Lambchop
GOLD
Some sports are year round. You can play as many sports as you want, you don't need a school uniform or patch to play a sport (especially in southern California)! Anyone who believes the only sports are those played in high school or for a club team will miss out on a lot of fun after their later "professional" days are over.
Both my daughters are involved with DA and their club twice a week has weight training and preventive strength training workouts (non weight bearing). I have seen the difference it has made on them. When I look at the number of players in the club who have had knee surgery there is less than a handful over the last three years. This number is small and I can only contribute it to the measures taken.
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This is just my opinion on HS Sports and how cool it is for most and how fun it is for kids at school. I never said you can't play sports outside of HS to play year around. HS Sports rule the world IMHO!!!! It's free too except some fundraising. I love high school TEAM sports, I think everyone knows that. If soccer goat walks around with attitude of, "I'm too good for you guys." it might be tough socially on goat but that it is just my take on that
You better hope they change the way college is played. My dd HS game last night was very physical and the refs called three yellow. It wasn't out of control either. These girls get freaking mean & tough and they turn into beasts on the field. I know how calm and soft the DA is. I like it actually, but when the real fight comes in college all bets are off and Ganas takes over. CDM played calm for first 15 minutes but we were controlling the game with desire and school pride. I watched those top CDM players turn it up a notch and we had to survive attack after attack. It was awesome to watch!!!
My dd had to take on CDMs stud U of A commit who is one of the most physical players I have seen play so far. Blues Bakers player too. Not out of control. Just pure toughness and heart!!! My dd is very tough too and she had to make some early decisions. Do I go into these insane plays where one can easily get hurt or do I play safe and look for my spots? To my dd credit, she stayed out of those big jump balls and tried to contain and shield her. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. IQ in this sport can go along way and my kid is very smart when it comes to street ball. One needs to know their limitations and 100% stay out of the ACL, broken nose, cut lip type of plays
Ha...more proof you do t know sh*t!!!!