Turning Pro at 13

Vince Vaughn seemed to have a really good time in Old School. Heck- he got snoop to play at a house party. And he owned 6 speaker cities.
 
oh canada said:
nah - women don't have a similar upside as men to justify 4x/week practice requirements and US Soccer controlling parent/student decisions re playing high school soccer, playing other sports, playing futsal, and missing significant amounts of class time. Unless in your 5 years the women's pro league has transformed into a profitable operation with a TV deal (they lost their last one), and a base salary of $75K-100K. Or, if girls DA becomes fully funded for many of the girls programs just like on the boys side. I don't see either of those scenarios occurring anytime soon.

And as far as Pugh, you can read interviews with her and it's clear she is not happy and regrets her decision to forego college. She'll never say that outright, but you can read between the lines. Being a pro athlete can be a lonely life, especially for women...especially for 18 year old girls. Everyone always says, oh you can go back to college any time...true, but do you want to be the female Vince Vaughn version in Old School at UCLA or attend when you are the same age as 95 percent of the student body...especially as a female.

now for some Advil and water as my Raptors victory hangover is intense, but oh so worth it!!! ;)
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She comes to a lot of the games and tells the girls that she wishes that she had played with them. The money was there for her and Jill put her in a tough spot. She is a sweet kid and could have really benefited from playing with Fleming. The few scrimmages that she played in she really blended well with her and with Sanchez, Rodriguez and Mace it could have been special. Oh well.
 
Fleming is doing it the right way. Jordyn Huitema (Canadian 18yt old striker who signed with PSG this year) should have followed her lead.

However, like Fleming, she did play multiple sports through high school, something else that girls here in the US are no longer doing....“Growing up we all played three or four sports until we were 15 or 16, until we had to choose a direction to go with our careers,” Huitema said. “I’d say when I hit about 14 or 15 was when I had to choose between hockey and soccer. I was kind of torn on both, I didn’t know what direction I wanted to go, I loved them both.
 
oh canada said:
Fleming is doing it the right way. Jordyn Huitema (Canadian 18yt old striker who signed with PSG this year) should have followed her lead.

However, like Fleming, she did play multiple sports through high school, something else that girls here in the US are no longer doing....“Growing up we all played three or four sports until we were 15 or 16, until we had to choose a direction to go with our careers,” Huitema said. “I’d say when I hit about 14 or 15 was when I had to choose between hockey and soccer. I was kind of torn on both, I didn’t know what direction I wanted to go, I loved them both.
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She is such an all around well balanced and amazing young women with a wonderful and supportive family. She had her old national team coach trying to pressure her to go pro early but she didn’t care. She is a special person.
 
MakeAPlay said:
She is such an all around well balanced and amazing young women with a wonderful and supportive family. She had her old national team coach trying to pressure her to go pro early but she didn’t care. She is a special person.
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You hit on an important concept here at the core of the dilemma posed by this thread - becoming a well-balanced person. OM is an amazing soccer player, and may indeed be an amazing kid, but the development challenge she faces personally is a lot greater than the one she faces athletically. Becoming a well-balanced person who can thrive, with or without soccer, is more important in the long term than making the national team in the next 5 years. Will her unusual path provide her with an environment that facilitates that type of growth? I really do not know.

I am stunned by many of the amazing young women my daughter plays with. Not by the sacrifices they have made for athletics, but by their character, confidence and their grace. That is the common ground we share — our daughters being a member of that special group.
 
Chalklines said:
https://www.espn.com/soccer/club/un...eddy-adu-exclusive-im-not-ready-to-give-it-up
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heres some good takes from the article where OM can learn.

"Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that Adu's efforts were almost exclusively confined to taking the ball and putting it in the net. He turned to Jenkins. "It doesn't bother you that he doesn't work that hard on the field?" he asked. Jenkins shook his head. "He's only working as hard as he has to."

""He was touted before it was deserved, and before he was ready to handle it," said Jason Kreis, who was Adu's teammate and then his manager at Real Salt Lake in 2007, and now coaches the U.S. U-23 team. "He couldn't cope with it. He believed what he was reading. He believed he was worth all the money he was being paid."

The articles a good one. It spoke about how lazy Adu became on and off the field from all the hype generated at a young age.

One cant forget you need to always work to stay on top.
 
Chalklines said:
heres some good takes from the article where OM can learn.

"Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that Adu's efforts were almost exclusively confined to taking the ball and putting it in the net. He turned to Jenkins. "It doesn't bother you that he doesn't work that hard on the field?" he asked. Jenkins shook his head. "He's only working as hard as he has to."

""He was touted before it was deserved, and before he was ready to handle it," said Jason Kreis, who was Adu's teammate and then his manager at Real Salt Lake in 2007, and now coaches the U.S. U-23 team. "He couldn't cope with it. He believed what he was reading. He believed he was worth all the money he was being paid."

The articles a good one. It spoke about how lazy Adu became on and off the field from all the hype generated at a young age.

One cant forget you need to always work to stay on top.
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I was at the US-Sweden game at USD when Adu got his first cap. He came in as a late sub and quickly earned a yellow card for a harsh foul. I don't remember anything more about his performance there.
 
I’d argue tho that hard work is not a legitimate knock against OM. She seems to be an extremely hard worker. It actually seems I’d argue the other way. She’s so single minded at the expense of all else and it seems as if no one (parents, coaches, advisors) are helping her by teaching balance and well roundedness.

If it’s my kid and they are super gifted and other worldly in focus and single mindedness I’d be working extra hard to rein her in. How many examples do we need to see of prodigies in every walk of life whose entire identity is _______ and even if they reach the pinnacle of whatever they are broken and hurting people. That’s my take. They are putting her in this spot so early for what gain? Not that much money and a path to pro that would be open to her anyways. But the parents seem all about it. I’d be fighting hard for normal and as much balance of being a kid with a unicorn ability cuz we all know how fleeting childhood is and how long and painful life is if your foundation is shaky and identity is in something that can end at any moment and will end before you know it.
 
More interesting to see how she plays in a game under pressure with opponents in her face pushing and pulling on her and knocking her off the ball and needing to make decisions in the heat of the moment.
 
RocketFile said:
I think she is amazing and has a big future. Nothing but impressed here.
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She is the type of player that US Soccer is looking for. Totally focused on the prize. 100% loyalty to the sport. My dd played against her for two years during practices at Blues every week when she was 9 and 10. Very committed, confident and determined player back then. Props to her and the fam :) I just hope US Soccer adds a little "social sugar" to the team........
 
Watched the Thorns/Pride game with my daughter, who asked after lineups were announced "Where is OM, the 13-year old who turned Pro, I thought she was on the Thorns?" When I commented that I believe her pro contract is with Nike, and she is not necessarily being paid by or playing with the Thorns, she looked at me like I had two heads and said "What is the point of turning pro if you are not playing in the pros?"

As for the game, it was very exciting, a surprisingly entertaining game to watch in the second half, with some very good football (after a pretty uneven start for Orlando). I hope OM makes it out there quickly, but the speed of play and often physical nature of the game are a combination a non-fully developed athlete should not be exposed to. For elite girls, I would expect 16-17 to be the earliest their bodies could be ready for the rigors of the NWSL.
 
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