Play High School or Not?

Slammerdad said:
Not to rev up an old controversy, but my DD on her High School team started with a roster of 22. They are down to 14, with a balance of injuries that include torn acl, meniscus tear (both from violent collisions), several under concussion protocol(again from violent collisions) and many are forcasted to miss their olders National cup with their club team and possibly next club season. While injuries are inevitable, I watched with a keen eye how many of these occurred. High school seems now to be littered now with oversized and underskilled players who pretty much play the back line (from a TOP coach in OC yelling!) "SEND IT" and a front line. Lost in the HS game is any balance of passing or finesse and it becomes this game of deep kicks with girls collapsing on the balls (and opponents) in a melee that looks more like rugby. It is ugly soccer at best and with my DD starting to converse with a few College coaches, I am re-thinking the HS game from a safety perspective. She likes it but now (as a sophomore playing varsity) sees how bad it really is this year. Do I push her to continue or tell her to maybe skip it? It is really up to her but every game I watch as another ball gets lofted into the air (there are no flat touches) and two girls go full speed for the header......
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I mirror what @Soccer43 wrote and agree.
Your experience is the opposite of our experience. This is probably due to the fact that in our area (Temecula) there is no older DA program (Murrieta Surf stops at the youngers), thus, we have decent talent that could be playing in the DA (we have a few kids with scholarship offers) that are not and while the bottom teams have played poorly, the top 3 teams in the league have played a decent brand of soccer and we have not experienced any injuries that would not have also occurred in club. I do appreciate that I'm watching the Boys, who tend to play a much faster game and are less injury prone. I know that our HS coach really encourages ball control and my boys HS team will often get 12 or more passes in before losing it on a cross in the box or shot on goal. I've been impressed.

If I had a girl that was scholarship material, I would question playing HS for the reason you cite and because many of the pitches are poorly maintained artificial turf. While properly maintained turf can be just as safe as natural grass, poorly maintained synthetic turf is not.
 
My DD freshman playing JV. Has been great, she enjoys the girls and the coaching. It will not replace club (she continuously talks about the bad soccer) but she appreciates the HS for different reasons. The downfall as of last week-- a broken ankle. And not from a bad collision but from poorly maintained turf (my theory). season over and now affecting the club season which is a bummer. life goes on though

We went to pick up our DD from boys JV game only to be greeted by 2 ambulances in parking lot....DD said very well played, fair game that wasn't dirty. 2 boys went up headed each other and ended up on the ground neither moving. Just a fluke.
 
Speed said:
My DD freshman playing JV. Has been great, she enjoys the girls and the coaching. It will not replace club (she continuously talks about the bad soccer) but she appreciates the HS for different reasons. The downfall as of last week-- a broken ankle. And not from a bad collision but from poorly maintained turf (my theory). season over and now affecting the club season which is a bummer. life goes on though

We went to pick up our DD from boys JV game only to be greeted by 2 ambulances in parking lot....DD said very well played, fair game that wasn't dirty. 2 boys went up headed each other and ended up on the ground neither moving. Just a fluke.
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My sophomore girl loved playing varsity soccer last year and hates it this year, she will not be playing next year.
 
Slammerdad said:
Not to rev up an old controversy, but my DD on her High School team started with a roster of 22. They are down to 14, with a balance of injuries that include torn acl, meniscus tear (both from violent collisions), several under concussion protocol(again from violent collisions) and many are forcasted to miss their olders National cup with their club team and possibly next club season. While injuries are inevitable, I watched with a keen eye how many of these occurred. High school seems now to be littered now with oversized and underskilled players who pretty much play the back line (from a TOP coach in OC yelling!) "SEND IT" and a front line. Lost in the HS game is any balance of passing or finesse and it becomes this game of deep kicks with girls collapsing on the balls (and opponents) in a melee that looks more like rugby. It is ugly soccer at best and with my DD starting to converse with a few College coaches, I am re-thinking the HS game from a safety perspective. She likes it but now (as a sophomore playing varsity) sees how bad it really is this year. Do I push her to continue or tell her to maybe skip it? It is really up to her but every game I watch as another ball gets lofted into the air (there are no flat touches) and two girls go full speed for the header......
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HS soccer has a much wider range of skill levels. While not every team plays poor soccer, many do and you are almost certain to run into those teams in the course of the season. The fact that all of the games are played on small football fields decreases the space between players and increases the chances of collisions. Any upper level player with plans to play college should be aware of the issues and play accordingly by minimizing the amount of time they hold onto the ball and declining to go in for contested headers.
 
outside! said:
HS soccer has a much wider range of skill levels.
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Totally agree with this. I would take it a step further and add (probably previously in this thread) that there is a wider range of size levels as well. My (younger side) freshman on JV is playing against kids far larger and some fully bearded kids.
On the skill side, its interesting to see how the kids seem to fall in to the "cant touch the ball more than once without losing it" or "head down trying to dribble the entire defensive line" categories. Our coach works hard at trying to get them to build it out of the back but its tough.

Frustrating to watch as a parent and I know it drives my kid nuts but if asked, I would bet he would do it again.
 
Speed said:
My DD freshman playing JV. Has been great, she enjoys the girls and the coaching. It will not replace club (she continuously talks about the bad soccer) but she appreciates the HS for different reasons. The downfall as of last week-- a broken ankle. And not from a bad collision but from poorly maintained turf (my theory). season over and now affecting the club season which is a bummer. life goes on though

We went to pick up our DD from boys JV game only to be greeted by 2 ambulances in parking lot....DD said very well played, fair game that wasn't dirty. 2 boys went up headed each other and ended up on the ground neither moving. Just a fluke.
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Sorry to hear about the injury. Hope she heals quickly and completely!
 
Through my dd's first three years playing HS soccer I did see more injuries (including multiple acl's) and concussions than I every saw in all of the years my dd has played club. Over the last year in DA I have yet to see a serious injury or concussion (keeping my fingers crossed). Maybe that's luck but its hard to tell. Most of the HS teams I have seen play very direct. In that style of play the overly physical type of players make a huge impact as the ball get's booted forward. In a possession game those girls don't even get close to the ball since its always moving away from them. So I would tend to believe its the style of play (likely resulting from the lack of skill) that leeds to more of these injuries.
 
Zdrone said:
Totally agree with this. I would take it a step further and add (probably previously in this thread) that there is a wider range of size levels as well. My (younger side) freshman on JV is playing against kids far larger and some fully bearded kids.
On the skill side, its interesting to see how the kids seem to fall in to the "cant touch the ball more than once without losing it" or "head down trying to dribble the entire defensive line" categories. Our coach works hard at trying to get them to build it out of the back but its tough.

Frustrating to watch as a parent and I know it drives my kid nuts but if asked, I would bet he would do it again.
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Boys or girls?
 
Simisoccerfan said:
So I would tend to believe its the style of play (likely resulting from the lack of skill) that leeds to more of these injuries.
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And the tiny field. It would be great if new high schools would make the fields big enough for soccer and put the football field as a postage stamp in the middle.
 
Slammerdad said:
Not to rev up an old controversy, but my DD on her High School team started with a roster of 22. They are down to 14, with a balance of injuries that include torn acl, meniscus tear (both from violent collisions), several under concussion protocol(again from violent collisions) and many are forcasted to miss their olders National cup with their club team and possibly next club season. While injuries are inevitable, I watched with a keen eye how many of these occurred. High school seems now to be littered now with oversized and underskilled players who pretty much play the back line (from a TOP coach in OC yelling!) "SEND IT" and a front line. Lost in the HS game is any balance of passing or finesse and it becomes this game of deep kicks with girls collapsing on the balls (and opponents) in a melee that looks more like rugby. It is ugly soccer at best and with my DD starting to converse with a few College coaches, I am re-thinking the HS game from a safety perspective. She likes it but now (as a sophomore playing varsity) sees how bad it really is this year. Do I push her to continue or tell her to maybe skip it? It is really up to her but every game I watch as another ball gets lofted into the air (there are no flat touches) and two girls go full speed for the header......
Click to expand...

I have evidently seen a different quality of the HS game than you. I referee both girls and boys teams and have had no kickball teams in the 28 games I have officiated this season. The varsity teams have actually played some decent soccer with most teams building out of the back and using the long ball sparingly. Since HS soccer is about winning and not development, there is nothing wrong with playing direct if you have the right mix of players. Thankfully I have had no players suffer injuries that prevented them from reentering the game, but have had two JV players suffer head injuries. The two head injuries occurred on corner kicks and resulted from contact with teammates. Some of the JV games have been really ugly soccer, but the players seemed to be having a good time. The surprising thing to me is the lack of cards I have issued. I have only issued 9 yellow cards and one red card (profanity) unlike in past years at the same game count I would have issued close to 20 yellows and at least 2 reds for serious foul play or violent conduct. All of the coaches have been good and respectful. So far it has been and enjoyable season and I really like that most San Diego county schools are using 3 referees for varsity league games.
 
outside! said:
And the tiny field. It would be great if new high schools would make the fields big enough for soccer and put the football field as a postage stamp in the middle.
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Usually the problem is not the football field - it's the track. Inside the typical high-school 400-meter track with circular curves at each end, the largest field that will fit is about 120 yards by 65 yards, such as at Poway HS. If the longjump pits are inside the track, it's even tighter, such as at Rancho Bernardo HS (who also put the goals on the football goal lines, so the field is 100 yards by 56 yards). Cathedral Catholic tried a slightly different design with elliptically-flattened curves at each end, which allows them to have a 112-yard by 65-yard field, even with the jump pits inside the track.
 
outside! said:
And the tiny field. It would be great if new high schools would make the fields big enough for soccer and put the football field as a postage stamp in the middle.
Click to expand...

Hilltop HS new turf field is really large (college size) both in length and width. The HS field I dislike because of its size is Rancho Bernardo HS because it is really short and narrow. It is only 100 yards long and the touch line is only about one yard from the football sideline. There is not enough room for players to spread out so teams, especially RB, tend to play very direct and there are a lot of fouls.
 
Surfref said:
I have evidently seen a different quality of the HS game than you. I referee both girls and boys teams and have had no kickball teams in the 28 games I have officiated this season. The varsity teams have actually played some decent soccer with most teams building out of the back and using the long ball sparingly. Since HS soccer is about winning and not development, there is nothing wrong with playing direct if you have the right mix of players. Thankfully I have had no players suffer injuries that prevented them from reentering the game, but have had two JV players suffer head injuries. The two head injuries occurred on corner kicks and resulted from contact with teammates. Some of the JV games have been really ugly soccer, but the players seemed to be having a good time. The surprising thing to me is the lack of cards I have issued. I have only issued 9 yellow cards and one red card (profanity) unlike in past years at the same game count I would have issued close to 20 yellows and at least 2 reds for serious foul play or violent conduct. All of the coaches have been good and respectful. So far it has been and enjoyable season and I really like that most San Diego county schools are using 3 referees for varsity league games.
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Sounds like heaven for a ref, you must set the tone early.
In the 6 or 8 games I have watched [girls] there has been at least 10 yellows and 1 red with 3 or 4 non returning injuries.
North OC. I know nothing about refereeing, but I would be dishing many more yellows than I have seen given.
 
Our daughter who played for 4 years will tell you one of her fondest memories was a 2ot thriller against a fierce local rival.

She assisted a senior who scored her one and only goal in 4 yrs to win it & send the team through. One of the most exciting games she every played in a driving rain 2 OT's with last min goals 2x. Priceless the joy that came out her desire to help her friend score, tried so many times over the years and to finally get it done was a special moment for everyone.
 
Surfref said:
Hilltop HS new turf field is really large (college size) both in length and width. The HS field I dislike because of its size is Rancho Bernardo HS because it is really short and narrow. It is only 100 yards long and the touch line is only about one yard from the football sideline. There is not enough room for players to spread out so teams, especially RB, tend to play very direct and there are a lot of fouls.
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Home games are an advantage for RB; away games not so much (Poway 2-1 RB at Poway last night).
 
Varsity HS games I've seen look pretty physical, especially the league games. JV and Frosh/Soph not too bad. Dirtiest teams I've seen are still club teams (by far) but the soccer is obviously better at club.
 
TangoCity said:
Varsity HS games I've seen look pretty physical, especially the league games. JV and Frosh/Soph not too bad. Dirtiest teams I've seen are still club teams (by far) but the soccer is obviously better at club.
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Agreed, they try to do it and most high schoolers cant help themselves.
 
jpeter said:
Our daughter who played for 4 years will tell you one of her fondest memories was a 2ot thriller against a fierce local rival.

She assisted a senior who scored her one and only goal in 4 yrs to win it & send the team through. One of the most exciting games she every played in a driving rain 2 OT's with last min goals 2x. Priceless the joy that came out her desire to help her friend score, tried so many times over the years and to finally get it done was a special moment for everyone.
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YLHS?
 
High school soccer has been a great experience for my daughter. She’s a freshman starting on the varsity. The soccer definitely is many levels below what she is used to playing in he club team. It’s more direct and the ball is in the air a lot more often, but she finds it enjoyable anyway because of the social aspect and the fact that she feels a lot less pressure than in club. She feels she can try new things and feels more freedom to make mistakes.

As far as physical play, from what I have observed so far, high level club soccer is A LOT more physical than high school. No serious injuries that I’ve observed or heard of so far halfway through her first season of high school.

It’s definitely been a positive for her, a welcome break and change of pace from club, and will eagerly do it again next year.
 
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