Glastonbury's Brinkman Gatorade CT player of the year

[Unregistered]

A little discussed fact - many athletes won't play all four years. Many get cut, quit, injured, burn out or decide to focus on academics. If you're relying on an athletic scholarship to afford school this can be a serious issue. Athletic grants are rarely for all four years so make sure you can afford it bid something happens. Merit money is good for 4 years as long as you maintain a reasonable GPA and financial aid is stable as long as your income is stable

Its like clockwork. The haters emerge trying to tell you what to do. ill put it this way.

Some kids have managed to navigate many different responsibilities - school work, social and sports to this point at a level that is very high.

I applaud them and encourage them to continue for as long as they cann make it work

[Unregistered]

A little discussed fact - many athletes won't play all four years. Many get cut, quit, injured, burn out or decide to focus on academics. If you're relying on an athletic scholarship to afford school this can be a serious issue. Athletic grants are rarely for all four years so make sure you can afford it bid something happens. Merit money is good for 4 years as long as you maintain a reasonable GPA and financial aid is stable as long as your income is stable

Its like clockwork. The haters emerge trying to tell you what to do. ill put it this way.

Some kids have managed to navigate many different responsibilities - school work, social and sports to this point at a level that is very high.

I applaud them and encourage them to continue for as long as they can make it work

[Unregistered]

My dogs future vet doesn't need an Ivy education. Good luck to your kid, hopefully she can crack the next level for soccer, but the odds are against it. Even the dukes of the world only have a boatload of kids who peter out and stagnate. Your kid might not pay for school, but her soccer will impact her academics in college with the increased travel, etc. she will get what she paid for

As competitive as it is to get into the very small number of vet schools, they probably do need an Ivy league education. Plus, the vets might be smarter than the MD's ..... can still charge a boatload to heal your goldfish, lizard, or rabbit and no liability for the boatload of malpractice MD's need. Plus, if they kill a patient, it stinks, but it's not a human!

[Unregistered]

Its like clockwork. The haters emerge trying to tell you what to do. ill put it this way.

Some kids have managed to navigate many different responsibilities - school work, social and sports to this point at a level that is very high.

I applaud them and encourage them to continue for as long as they can make it work

I'm simply pointing out that many get too focused on the wrong things. The primary focus should always be on school. If you get to play school for a few meaningful years then that's fantastic. Not many achieve that. If the above happens and you're at a school you're not crazy about or cannot afford then what?

[Unregistered]

The only thing top soccer schools find impressive is play on the field. Im just pointing out the obvious, nothing against her, but none of that means anything in recruiting terms. I see nothing that makes it a given that she was heavily recruited.

Whether she has more or less accolades than another kid is irrelevant really. Congrats to her, but Im talking recruiting. HS soccer accolades really dont mean much to recruiters at the top soccer schools.

As fas as I can see she is not in the TDS top 150.

https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club...kman/pid-73357

Topdrawer soccer is a highly subjective site based primarily on ecnl connections and contacts among coaches. She chose not to play ecnl. Clearly she could have played with either Ct team if she wanted to. Cfc especially is masterful (to their credit, not an insult) in promoting players to topdrawer, coaches etc. Oakwood is not. that is why the same quality player will be on topdrawer and get more looks than the similar oakwood player. Overheard at the state championship game by a cfc coach, 'if DB played for us, she would have gotten a full ride to an acc school'.

[Unregistered]

Topdrawer soccer is a highly subjective site based primarily on ecnl connections and contacts among coaches. She chose not to play ecnl. Clearly she could have played with either Ct team if she wanted to. Cfc especially is masterful (to their credit, not an insult) in promoting players to topdrawer, coaches etc. Oakwood is not. that is why the same quality player will be on topdrawer and get more looks than the similar oakwood player. Overheard at the state championship game by a cfc coach, 'if DB played for us, she would have gotten a full ride to an acc school'.

Any list that takes payments is immediately suspect

[Unregistered]

so your point is that its suspect enough to not put a full ride ACC player in the top 150 ? ok. So to make your case, you discount the whole list?

Your other point is at a HS game a coach said full ride ACC..ok.

[Unregistered]

Topdrawer soccer is a highly subjective site based primarily on ecnl connections and contacts among coaches. She chose not to play ecnl. Clearly she could have played with either Ct team if she wanted to. Cfc especially is masterful (to their credit, not an insult) in promoting players to topdrawer, coaches etc. Oakwood is not. that is why the same quality player will be on topdrawer and get more looks than the similar oakwood player. Overheard at the state championship game by a cfc coach, 'if DB played for us, she would have gotten a full ride to an acc school'.

Horse sheet.....my kid has played ecnl for a couple years. No cfc united coach has ever recommended paying for top drawer or any recruiting service or site. Never.

Promoting to coaches....to an extent. They are not going to over promote a kid if they don't think they can play at the level required for the school. It is thier rep and they would never get that coach to take them serious again if they hoodwinked them.

I have seen the kid play. Not getting full ride to acc, but she for sure would have ended up with better than she got.

[Unregistered]

The moral of the story here is that if your kid has an interest in D1 soccer beyond U of Hartford you don't stay at Oakwood. They do a great job teaching the game but are pathetic on the college front.

[Unregistered]

so your point is that its suspect enough to not put a full ride ACC player in the top 150 ? ok. So to make your case, you discount the whole list?

Your other point is at a HS game a coach said full ride ACC..ok.

The true top players are at the top for a reason. But lower down the system starts to seriously falter. There's lots of talent not represented and lots of lack luster talent on lists.

[Unregistered]

The true top players are at the top for a reason. But lower down the system starts to seriously falter. There's lots of talent not represented and lots of lack luster talent on lists.

I agree. so the point is that in the top 150, maybe the order is wrong and maybe 30 dont belong, but still its not totally irrelevant. I dont think there are many full ride ACC talents NOT in the top 150.

[Unregistered]

I agree. so the point is that in the top 150, maybe the order is wrong and maybe 30 dont belong, but still its not totally irrelevant. I dont think there are many full ride ACC talents NOT in the top 150.

There aren't many full ride ACC players period. ACC teams can't rely on 1 or 2 full ride players to carry the team. The coach needs to split the money between lots of talent. 50-75 percent scholarship is much more likely.

[Unregistered]

There aren't many full ride ACC players period. ACC teams can't rely on 1 or 2 full ride players to carry the team. The coach needs to split the money between lots of talent. 50-75 percent scholarship is much more likely.

Cant comment on that. I think there are more than you think, but either way my point stands. You cant dismiss TDS as completely useless and most big time ACC prospects are in the top 150.

Im sure this kid is a fine player, but i think it was a fair question to ask why it was assumed that she would be heavily recruited.

if you remove the vitriol from this thread it has been quite informative

[Unregistered]

Cant comment on that. I think there are more than you think, but either way my point stands. You cant dismiss TDS as completely useless and most big time ACC prospects are in the top 150.

Im sure this kid is a fine player, but i think it was a fair question to ask why it was assumed that she would be heavily recruited.

if you remove the vitriol from this thread it has been quite informative

More importantly do college coaches use TDS? From discussions with some coaches myself and what I've heard from others the answer is almost universally no or at least very rarely. Top talent is readily identified, readily given accolades to draw attention to them, and will be readily scouted. If your player gets on the list on their own merit or a gentle nudge from a club (knowing TDS scouting is very limited) that's one thing. If your player can't get on without paying? That's where the lists lose credibility.

[Unregistered]

There aren't many full ride ACC players period. ACC teams can't rely on 1 or 2 full ride players to carry the team. The coach needs to split the money between lots of talent. 50-75 percent scholarship is much more likely.

I suspect EVERY ACC team, D1 even, has more than 2 full ride players. In fact the number is probably closer to 2-3 per graduating class.