MUST WATCH!!!!

Luis Andres said:
lol... Tell me about it. My daughter had a hard time finishing high school season as freshman playing varsity. Due to the fires that we had in LA, HS kids were forced to play 3 games a week within the M-F (5 day span). She was playing full games as a winger with no rest. By the end of the HS season she was suffering from shin splints while at the same time battling the flu in the open division playoffs... Totally recipe for disaster. Glad we lost to the #1 ranked team in CA so it was a quick in and out of playoffs. I gave her 3 weeks off after that and now shes 100% again. 1 game a week should be the max. And if kids are going to play multiple games a week, they shouldn't be playing the full game period.
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And this is why high-school soccer shouldn't be left up to parents for ECNL players. There's no reason high level players in the ECNL should be playing recreational CIF soccer. RL & Below - go for it. The ECNL season in SoCal should continue through the winter. Player injuries would go down by 70%-80% during this time span. If your player craves that high-school experience they can play a different sport.

Luis- I don't know who to blame here? The parent - coach - Us Soccer? Is it really worth all the hard work your daughters put in to throw it away on a high school soccer field? Looks like your family learned a valuable lesson this year with out consequences. Lots of broken player dreams over this last winter due to injuries.

US Soccer needs to do a better job protecting its players.
 
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Lemmon Pepper Lou said:
And this is why high-school soccer shouldn't be left up to parents for ECNL players. There's no reason high level players in the ECNL should be playing recreational CIF soccer. RL & Below - go for it. The ECNL season in SoCal should continue through the winter. Player injuries would go down by 70%-80% during this time span. If your player craves that high-school experience they can play a different sport.

Luis- I don't know who to blame here? The parent - coach - Us Soccer? Is it really worth all the hard work your daughters put in to throw it away on a high school soccer field? Looks like your family learned a valuable lesson this year with out consequences. Lots of broken player dreams over this last winter due to injuries.

US Soccer needs to do a better job protecting its players.
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On the boys side players have a choice. The problem there has been ecnl is stingy to keep the competition high limiting it as an option. Eventually the us will be forced to implement a girls academy system that because of the need for a national schedule and fodder for the academy players will restrict high school play. The need for all teams to be there all the time is the only reason mlsn restricts high school play (not player concerns) and why it seems to indicated players will be left out for mls2.
 
Lemmon Pepper Lou said:
And this is why high-school soccer shouldn't be left up to parents for ECNL players. There's no reason high level players in the ECNL should be playing recreational CIF soccer. RL & Below - go for it. The ECNL season in SoCal should continue through the winter. Player injuries would go down by 70%-80% during this time span. If your player craves that high-school experience they can play a different sport.

Luis- I don't know who to blame here? The parent - coach - Us Soccer? Is it really worth all the hard work your daughters put in to throw it away on a high school soccer field? Looks like your family learned a valuable lesson this year with out consequences. Lots of broken player dreams over this last winter due to injuries.

US Soccer needs to do a better job protecting its players.
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Lots of blame to go around. I loved playing HS Sports and when my dd was forced to make a decision of either GDA or HS Soccer, she chose HS Soccer, and I supported her because of how much fun it was for me and her desire to play with her classmates. I 100% agree with you regarding the danger of HS Soccer. The game is played like rugby by most teams, and the refs allow dirty play. If we fixed HS Soccer, it could be amazing. The best of the best (The very best players) probably shouldn't play due to the injury risk. However, I can count on my hand how many of these types of players should skip HS Soccer. My dd did not fall into that category. She lettered 4 years and the life lessons she learned are priceless.
Remember this everyone: Girls just want to have fun and ECNL Travel Soccer is not fun when they get older.

 
Lemmon Pepper Lou said:
And this is why high-school soccer shouldn't be left up to parents for ECNL players. There's no reason high level players in the ECNL should be playing recreational CIF soccer. RL & Below - go for it. The ECNL season in SoCal should continue through the winter. Player injuries would go down by 70%-80% during this time span. If your player craves that high-school experience they can play a different sport.

Luis- I don't know who to blame here? The parent - coach - Us Soccer? Is it really worth all the hard work your daughters put in to throw it away on a high school soccer field? Looks like your family learned a valuable lesson this year with out consequences. Lots of broken player dreams over this last winter due to injuries.

US Soccer needs to do a better job protecting its players.
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US Soccer tried telling us our kids couldn’t play HS. We didn’t like it.

Better question is why CIF needs 2-3 games a week. Would it be all that different if it were just one game a week, and you had to actually win league to make the playoffs?
 
This issue concerns me a bit.

We have four kids. 2 play rec, 2 play club. We’ve not yet had to travel for a tournament.

Our 12 year old just signed on with a MLSn team. In his mind, I’m sure some of that was driven by the patch, and perceived prestige. First in his mind though, is the fact that this particular team for his age is the best team within a 45-60 min drive, and we’ve ruled out traveling. A few kids from this team have been scouted into academies, and he still wants to be a pro. The team he left is going e64, and I think it would have been a fine squad to play with this year, but the costs seemed similar, and this is what he wanted. We have friends on the team that can all share carpool duties, and the Phx/LV travel isn’t a problem for us personally. At this age, he’s not at all yet interested in HS soccer, and maybe he never becomes interested. For us, it seems workable and he choose the path. I’ll report back once we’re through the first season.

The main point is, this team will provide him the most competitive training environment this year, maybe by a lot. Tournaments and league aside, isn’t the training the kids actually run through just as important for development as anything else, if not most? If the best team you can play for is a ‘travel team’, it’s hard to choose, all else equal, a team that you perceive as weaker, isn’t it?

My youngest, turning 8, we’re strongly considering pulling from club after this coming season. We figure for what we pay, we can do flag football, futsal, private sessions, and AYSO for the same or less. If he stays in love with soccer, we’ll put him back in around 11. I think he’ll be a better athlete and player for it.

AYSO is great for my other two. They love it.
 
Orca10 said:
The main point is, this team will provide him the most competitive training environment this year, maybe by a lot. Tournaments and league aside, isn’t the training the kids actually run through just as important for development as anything else, if not most? If the best team you can play for is a ‘travel team’, it’s hard to choose, all else equal, a team that you perceive as weaker, isn’t it?
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I think about this a bit too. Club soccer is expensive, even before travel expenses, and my kid isn't going to be a pro player.

My opinion is that it's really important to be realistic about what your kid will get out of a program, what your collective goals and expectations are, and balancing opportunity costs with resources (financial and time). In my case, I have the financial and time resources to allow my kids to have more opportunities for athletics, and thus we do club/similar. I also agree that the optimal training experience would be with a stronger team in a stronger competitive environment, all other things being equal.

Keep in mind, though: all other things may not be equal, particularly in consideration of the above stated points. For example, if your main goal is developing social relationships and team interaction skills, with some level of athleticism, and particularly without the activity becoming a grind and not fun, the most competitive environment and training may not be optimal. My kid's club has had kids drop down from the top team because of this, explicitly, and if my son ever makes that team, this will be something I would watch closely. It's just important to keep realistic expectations in mind, and not get sucked into the sales pitch of "your kid could get a scholarship if you can just afford this higher level of commitment".
 
Zeke said:
US Soccer tried telling us our kids couldn’t play HS. We didn’t like it.

Better question is why CIF needs 2-3 games a week. Would it be all that different if it were just one game a week, and you had to actually win league to make the playoffs?
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This is 100% the issue. I've seen some HS teams play close to 30 games in a season with playoffs. That's stupid.

Also, the issue has more to do with CIF rules, right? I think CIF needs to re-vamp their rules a bit. Otherwise HS soccer is just going to continue down the rec-path.

I think if they went to one game a week in league and maybe 2-3 pre-season matches, that would be much more sustainable. Should for no more than 15 matches, including playoffs, in a season.
 
NorCalDad said:
This is 100% the issue. I've seen some HS teams play close to 30 games in a season with playoffs. That's stupid.

Also, the issue has more to do with CIF rules, right? I think CIF needs to re-vamp their rules a bit. Otherwise HS soccer is just going to continue down the rec-path.

I think if they went to one game a week in league and maybe 2-3 pre-season matches, that would be much more sustainable. Should for no more than 15 matches, including playoffs, in a season.
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I asked them to fix the short schedule and ref situations and got no response. I also asked the top brass at US Soccer to stop the kickback biz and was told to basically STFU. Good luck everyone.
 
crush said:
Greed?
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Lots of it - but the reality is there's only a handful of mega clubs across the nation. The middle of the pack are the most responsible for the corruption since they just cant pay their coaches enough. This is how you get those parents who "fund" the coaches expenses.

These smaller-mid tier club coaches have the least morals and they don't understand the proper parent coach relationship. As a club coach - no you shouldn't be going to players high-school games and then going out for dinner and drinks with the parents after - even more so in a world where everyone has camera phones.

Small club fund raisers are also a FARSE. Golf Tournaments / Dinner Auctions that sell privates with the club directors are my favorites - in second place - We can golf together coach. Here's a $5k check made out to "Cash" - this should cover things, "right"?

Its not even a fair fight anymore. Its like when the US got involved with Vietnam. The North Vietnamese used guerrilla warfare tactics - hiding in tunnels and using booby traps - it almost seems like these same tactics are being used behind enemy lines at soccer clubs with money being thrown around behind the scenes - even my own analogy has me thinking now.

"Asian influence in Club $occer" - this would make for a very controversial book in the OC and surrounding areas - Maybe even a best seller?
 
Lemmon Pepper Lou said:
Lots of it - but the reality is there's only a handful of mega clubs across the nation.
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Youth soccer is like a cult with some of the mega clubs, like mega churches in the USA. Don't you dare complain to The Boss. Pay to be loved and saved or go to hell!!! Pay to play, pay to stay, pay for extra play and of course kickback with the coach at the bar and learn about the kickback side hustle. I knew a coach that played poker with some of the dads and then sure enough, daddy's child is now in the starting line-up.
 
crush said:
Youth soccer is like a cult with some of the mega clubs, like mega churches in the USA. Don't you dare complain to The Boss. Pay to be loved and saved or go to hell!!! Pay to play, pay to stay, pay for extra play and of course kickback with the coach at the bar and learn about the kickback side hustle. I knew a coach that played poker with some of the dads and then sure enough, daddy's child is now in the starting line-up.
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It's funny how these players rise from the dead and end up starting. Can anyone confirm what it costs these days to be a paid starter on an ECNL boys or girls team. I've been told numerous amounts. Know there's a "fictitious method" (I say fictional so the guilty can still pretend their DD and DS earned everything) This usually can be done Christmas time before a break. A simple card with a blank check (if you're a big baller) typically gets the starter message across plus the bonus notification to the DOC that your child's ready for the next YNT Camp.
 
Lemmon Pepper Lou said:
It's funny how these players rise from the dead and end up starting. Can anyone confirm what it costs these days to be a paid starter on an ECNL boys or girls team. I've been told numerous amounts. Know there's a "fictitious method" (I say fictional so the guilty can still pretend their DD and DS earned everything) This usually can be done Christmas time before a break. A simple card with a blank check (if you're a big baller) typically gets the starter message across plus the bonus notification to the DOC that your child's ready for the next YNT Camp.
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This reminds me of a conversation I had with a mom at a Mega club. She was leaving and I was joining the mega "church." She warned me of the pastors (doc & coaches) and the games they played with some of the moms for playing on the A Team. I laughed it off as her bitterness for her dd not making the cut. This mom was very beautiful, and she basically told me to get your kid on the A team requires sleeping with the pastor of the team and she would not have anything to do with that kind of pay for play. I told my wife to stay home and let me handle things with pastor, just in case this mom was right. It's sad to say, she was right.
 
crush said:
This reminds me of a conversation I had with a mom at a Mega club. She was leaving and I was joining the mega "church." She warned me of the pastors (doc & coaches) and the games they played with some of the moms for playing on the A Team. I laughed it off as her bitterness for her dd not making the cut. This mom was very beautiful, and she basically told me to get your kid on the A team requires sleeping with the pastor of the team and she would not have anything to do with that kind of pay for play. I told my wife to stay home and let me handle things with pastor, just in case this mom was right. It's sad to say, she was right.
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So you slept with the coach instead of your wife?
 
Luis Andres said:
lol... Tell me about it. My daughter had a hard time finishing high school season as freshman playing varsity. Due to the fires that we had in LA, HS kids were forced to play 3 games a week within the M-F (5 day span). She was playing full games as a winger with no rest. By the end of the HS season she was suffering from shin splints while at the same time battling the flu in the open division playoffs... Totally recipe for disaster. Glad we lost to the #1 ranked team in CA so it was a quick in and out of playoffs. I gave her 3 weeks off after that and now shes 100% again. 1 game a week should be the max. And if kids are going to play multiple games a week, they shouldn't be playing the full game period.
Click to expand...
I was shocked last year when my daughters got a new HS coach and they had 2-3 matches scheduled per week with 2 hour training sessions on the off days. Both picked up nagging injuries as did half the team. And once HS tryouts conclude, they have about a week before they are into their first matches. The schedule is compressed and because of the way CIF qualifies on points relative to strength of competition, schools stack games just to qualify. At no point is the health of the players a priority.

On the tournament side, my younger team just played a tournament where if we had gone to the final, we would have played 6 matches in less than 3 days. We had a great tournament but went out in the Quarterfinal on a last second shot. I was absolutely not disappointed. We achieved what we wanted to, and the kids didn’t get worn out in the process.
 
Syrix said:
I was shocked last year when my daughters got a new HS coach and they had 2-3 matches scheduled per week with 2 hour training sessions on the off days. Both picked up nagging injuries as did half the team. And once HS tryouts conclude, they have about a week before they are into their first matches. The schedule is compressed and because of the way CIF qualifies on points relative to strength of competition, schools stack games just to qualify. At no point is the health of the players a priority.

On the tournament side, my younger team just played a tournament where if we had gone to the final, we would have played 6 matches in less than 3 days. We had a great tournament but went out in the Quarterfinal on a last second shot. I was absolutely not disappointed. We achieved what we wanted to, and the kids didn’t get worn out in the process.
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Can you elaborate on what you meant about CIF rules?

Do you mean they go by total wins and losses, instead of just won/loss ratio?
 
Zeke said:
Can you elaborate on what you meant about CIF rules?

Do you mean they go by total wins and losses, instead of just won/loss ratio?
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There's a ranking algorithm that ranks HS teams according to who they play and who they beat, and by how much. https://www.maxpreps.com/ca/southern-section/soccer/girls/winter/rankings/1/
It's the same concept as the Soccer Rankings app, but I have no idea if they are using the same algorithm or how they differ. In both systems, you get more credit for losing to a team that is winning all its games in a tough conference than if you lose to a weak team. In other words, the strength of your schedule can get you rated higher, and the 8 highest ranked teams go to the Open Division playoffs. Then the next 32 highest ranked teams go to Division 1 playoffs. And so on and so .... There's a little bit more to it than that, but basically that's it.
 
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