HS Soccer Sucks!!

[Unregistered]

High School Soccer is awful.

90% of coaches should not be coaching. They are afraid to loose so they kick and run. Never willing to take the chance and try and develop the players and a respectable style of play. The really bad ones take a football type approach and try to encourage excessive physical contact to take the other teams best players out of the game.

The referee’s are a disgrace. The 2 man system does not work worth a damn. A bunch of them are retired men with big guts who can hardly move. How did they ever pass a fitness test? Do they never make them retake it? They also turn a blind eye to the excessive physical contact forcing real players into hand to hand combat for their lives.

I assume they do a 2 man system to save money however they pay each referee $100. That’s $200 for a game. A 3 man system for high school age games in the DA and ECNL is almost the same cost. So not really saving money but provide an inferior product.

High School is just bad rec soccer. Not the kids fault. The adults are to blame. From coaches to Reffs to CIAC.

Agree about the refs, but two man system is not due to the money; there aren’t enough refs.

[Unregistered]

There are a lot of complaints about HS soccer, but has anyone quit HS to focus on private training in the fall and getting ready for club soccer? If so, how has that worked out?

[Unregistered]

There are a lot of complaints about HS soccer, but has anyone quit HS to focus on private training in the fall and getting ready for club soccer? If so, how has that worked out?

A few clubs have tried to have fall sessions for HS aged players but it never went anywhere. Doing it on your own takes discipline and private training costs a lot.

[Unregistered]

Agree about the refs, but two man system is not due to the money; there aren’t enough refs.

I believe that to be true. Not enough reffs. It is not as bad as it was 2 years ago however.
So what is being done to address it by CIAC or CT Referee Association. Nothing from what I know of. Is it generally acceptable to have such an inferior product? The matches can be so adversely affected that the outcomes are not what they should be. Sometimes I think I would rather put the 2 coaches out on the field to reff the games.
To make it more difficult to have officials is the 3:45 pm start times. Makes it impossible for the part time reffs with day jobs to make games. If more schools had lights and did evening games you could get more reffs. These reffs are also generally younger and at least physically capable of doing the job. Same goes for weekend games.
The clubs are able to field reffs for their games. Those reffs generally do much better then the High School reffs. While there is cross over between the two, I see many reffs at high school games that do not reff club. These are generally the older pot bellied men. Maybe they reff town travel or recreation leagues. These guys are a joke for boys high school soccer where the coach pumps up the players who are already fueled with adrenaline and testosterone.

[Unregistered]

I believe that to be true. Not enough reffs. It is not as bad as it was 2 years ago however.
So what is being done to address it by CIAC or CT Referee Association. Nothing from what I know of. Is it generally acceptable to have such an inferior product? The matches can be so adversely affected that the outcomes are not what they should be. Sometimes I think I would rather put the 2 coaches out on the field to reff the games.
To make it more difficult to have officials is the 3:45 pm start times. Makes it impossible for the part time reffs with day jobs to make games. If more schools had lights and did evening games you could get more reffs. These reffs are also generally younger and at least physically capable of doing the job. Same goes for weekend games.
The clubs are able to field reffs for their games. Those reffs generally do much better then the High School reffs. While there is cross over between the two, I see many reffs at high school games that do not reff club. These are generally the older pot bellied men. Maybe they reff town travel or recreation leagues. These guys are a joke for boys high school soccer where the coach pumps up the players who are already fueled with adrenaline and testosterone.

the last well ref'ed game I have witnessed was 2017 state semis
every one before or since has been a shlitshow
this isn't partisan, they are bad for both teams usually
there is just no consistency- its either a brawl or you cant even look at another player
offsides is a crap shoot, you cant be off an inch but you can be off 5 yds

[Unregistered]

A few clubs have tried to have fall sessions for HS aged players but it never went anywhere. Doing it on your own takes discipline and private training costs a lot.

That is just stupid. Either you commit to Academy or you play HS. Stop trying to pretend you are something you are not.