High School Soccer playing levels

[Unregistered]

I watched a couple HS teams play this past week, both D1 girls and boys. Got me thinking....what level play is quality level D1 soccer equivalent too in club soccer? Top level of NEP premiership? NPL? Just curious. I know there are some quality players that will play in college so I’m not bashing HS players, just wondering what the level of play is equivalent too with clubs.

[Unregistered]

Depending on the team Ecnl and DA.

[Unregistered]

Depends on the school. I would say with a mix of ecnl and premiership 1 players a team is equivalent to npl/ecnl regional on the girls side. (Lower tier teams) For the boys not so sure.

[Unregistered]

Depending on the team Ecnl and DA.

I can sense your sarcasm

[Unregistered]

League 1 at best for most high schools. Not due to the talent of the players but the uselessness of most high school coaches. When you hire a science teacher to coach...

[Unregistered]

Unfortunately, I have to agree, a great high school coach is somewhat rare. I just got a story the other day about a coach calling out a player during game review. Every girl in the room knew the coach was wrong. That's rough. But maybe good that the kids know the game well enough to know what's what?

[Unregistered]

Meant to add that I think our high school team could be quite a bit better with a few tweaks. I was saying it was a shame to another parent and they kind of called me out and said "well what would you do differently?" I told said parent and they were like "ohhhhh, huh, that would work so well." A lot of coaches I have seen are kind of stuck in an older style soccer that kids aren't in favor of and isn't being taught at the club level. High school coaches don't trust their players.

[Unregistered]

League 1 at best for most high schools. Not due to the talent of the players but the uselessness of most high school coaches. When you hire a science teacher to coach...

Fine with me. If a school has limited funds, It should prioritize its spending toward academics vs sports. Public schools don’t have the funds to pay big bucks to athletic coaches. Their priority is educating its students, not training Leo and Mia for the next World Cup and olympics.

[Unregistered]

We have a mix between all and we are a competitive team. Two ECNL, a handful of NPL and the rest NEP level. Some of our defenders do no or little club and it shows but they are big and out there for the muscle.

[Unregistered]

We have a mix between all and we are a competitive team. Two ECNL, a handful of NPL and the rest NEP level. Some of our defenders do no or little club and it shows but they are big and out there for the muscle.

The variety in levels is what makes the HS game so much worse than the club game. When a team has players on the field that have neither the skill nor the game knowledge that its top players have, it can't play in a coordinated fashion. It pretty much has to default to the style of play that its least experienced players can play.

When the skill and experience level is consistent from top to bottom, all players are playing closer to their "best" potential - even if they are mid-level club players.

I suppose the exception to all that is if the most skilled and experienced players on the team are playing GK, or maybe CB. Most other positions connect the team and rely on other players to know the game and have the right skills in order to play well.

I've seen too many experienced forwards make run after run and never get the ball because the midfielder with the ball can't control it and can't see what's supposed to happen next, and the forward eventually just stands there and waits for the slug to boot it to the corner so that someone can go chasing after it. Or an open midfielder watch as another defender pounds the ball as far as she can (under no pressure) over her head.

[Unregistered]

The variety in levels is what makes the HS game so much worse than the club game. When a team has players on the field that have neither the skill nor the game knowledge that its top players have, it can't play in a coordinated fashion. It pretty much has to default to the style of play that its least experienced players can play.

When the skill and experience level is consistent from top to bottom, all players are playing closer to their "best" potential - even if they are mid-level club players.

I suppose the exception to all that is if the most skilled and experienced players on the team are playing GK, or maybe CB. Most other positions connect the team and rely on other players to know the game and have the right skills in order to play well.

I've seen too many experienced forwards make run after run and never get the ball because the midfielder with the ball can't control it and can't see what's supposed to happen next, and the forward eventually just stands there and waits for the slug to boot it to the corner so that someone can go chasing after it. Or an open midfielder watch as another defender pounds the ball as far as she can (under no pressure) over her head.

Sounds like many club teams too. Does it really matter? If your kid is truly a high level player, they shouldn’t be depending on their high school team’s level to keep them up to par.

[Unregistered]

Sounds like many club teams too. Does it really matter? If your kid is truly a high level player, they shouldn’t be depending on their high school team’s level to keep them up to par.

Agreed. The kids that are at the top of the roster should just have fun, enjoy playing with class mates and the social aspect of it, and try to be positive role models for how to play a team game. My kid loved her high school experience, even though the overall quality of the team changed greatly over the course of 4 years.

She quickly learned that constantly comparing HS to club or HS teammates to club teammates ("...xyz would have made that shot...") was just a waste of time and energy, and would suck the fun out of playing with school mates. She focused instead on trying to make every rep the best she could, make every pass as perfect as possible, be a constant source of positive energy, and let the results fall where they may.

[Unregistered]

I watched a couple HS teams play this past week, both D1 girls and boys. Got me thinking....what level play is quality level D1 soccer equivalent too in club soccer? Top level of NEP premiership? NPL? Just curious. I know there are some quality players that will play in college so I’m not bashing HS players, just wondering what the level of play is equivalent too with clubs.

If question is limited to only top 5 or 6 teams in state, my observation for girls is a mid-pack NPL. The best HS teams are loaded with club players from ECNL and NPL teams across age groups. Valid points about most HS coaches screwing it up, but the coaches of the better teams are good.

[Unregistered]

Many of the better HS programs have coaches who also coach club. The science teach/soccer coach is rarely the case for the better teams - in addition to the club soccer talent at the bigger and most times better off high schools

[Unregistered]

Many of the better HS programs have coaches who also coach club. The science teach/soccer coach is rarely the case for the better teams - in addition to the club soccer talent at the bigger and most times better off high schools

Some of the bigger programs cut club soccer players