After many years in the trenches and talking with other players/coaches in club soccer, the one common theme I’ve noticed with kids, is that parents start them in club soccer and simply go along for the ride for the first few years, seeing how high their soccer talent takes them. For the first few years, this is pretty harmless, but then all of a sudden, they close in on the U15 and above years, and some are now paying big big bucks, and traveling everywhere for top teams without yet ever reassessing what their end goal and potential is, and whether they needed to actually go to or stay at the very top of the youth soccer pyramid at all.
Now, if you are a family that has the disposable income, and available schedule time to spend and travel for one of these top teams, and your child is happy there, then by all means have it and more power to you. But more and more, I have seen many families struggle to keep up with the costs and travel, as well as kids losing the love of the game due to the commitment and stress of all the sacrifice in the name of “elite” level soccer (and sports in general). If this is the case, its time to do that assessment NOW, and hopefully some newbies will go into in with their eyes a bit more open. Obviously the youth soccer landscape seems to change ALL THE FREAKING TIME, so this assessment grid would need to be updated continuously to reflect changes. But here it is as I see it right now.
ASSESMENT GRID -
*** If money, time, commitment, sacrifice and happiness is no issue - By all means keep following the soccer pyramid up as high as your child’s talent will take them.
*** If one or more of these above factors start becoming an issue, its time to assess what soccer level your child NEEDS (at minimum) to play at, in order to reach their desired goals, assuming that the talent level is present to realisitically meet those goals (unicorns and rare outliers not included. There are exceptions to all of these, but this is a GENERAL guideline).
DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY: NT and High Level D1 Soccer as end goal. No High School Soccer allowed, and other serious sport commitments are very unrealistic based on training and travel commitments of most every DA team/club.
ECNL: NT and High Level D1 Soccer as end goal. Other serious sport committments are very unrealistic based on training and travel commitments of most every ECNL team/club.
TOP HALF NPL: Mid to low D1, D2, or D3 Soccer as end goal. Will need to work to get in front of targeted college coaches a bit more especially for D1 level, but it can be done. Other serious sports commitments are harder to pull off, but can usually be managed if soccer always comes first, and you have the right coach situation on both ends.
BOTTOM HALF NPL: Low D1, D2, or D3 Soccer as end goal. As with Top Half NPL, your player will need to work harder to get in front of the targeted college coaches, but it can be done. Other serious sports commitment are a bit easier to participate in, but you still might find heavy resistance from some coaches to allow you to always put another sport first.
TOP HALF NEP/SOME TOP NSL: Some low D2 and mid to Low D3 soccer as end goal. Top players on these teams can find a home on one of these college rosters if they want one. Much more freedom to participate in other sports at a high level.
REST OF NEP/NSL: Varsity High School Soccer as end goal.
Now, if you are a family that has the disposable income, and available schedule time to spend and travel for one of these top teams, and your child is happy there, then by all means have it and more power to you. But more and more, I have seen many families struggle to keep up with the costs and travel, as well as kids losing the love of the game due to the commitment and stress of all the sacrifice in the name of “elite” level soccer (and sports in general). If this is the case, its time to do that assessment NOW, and hopefully some newbies will go into in with their eyes a bit more open. Obviously the youth soccer landscape seems to change ALL THE FREAKING TIME, so this assessment grid would need to be updated continuously to reflect changes. But here it is as I see it right now.
ASSESMENT GRID -
*** If money, time, commitment, sacrifice and happiness is no issue - By all means keep following the soccer pyramid up as high as your child’s talent will take them.
*** If one or more of these above factors start becoming an issue, its time to assess what soccer level your child NEEDS (at minimum) to play at, in order to reach their desired goals, assuming that the talent level is present to realisitically meet those goals (unicorns and rare outliers not included. There are exceptions to all of these, but this is a GENERAL guideline).
DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY: NT and High Level D1 Soccer as end goal. No High School Soccer allowed, and other serious sport commitments are very unrealistic based on training and travel commitments of most every DA team/club.
ECNL: NT and High Level D1 Soccer as end goal. Other serious sport committments are very unrealistic based on training and travel commitments of most every ECNL team/club.
TOP HALF NPL: Mid to low D1, D2, or D3 Soccer as end goal. Will need to work to get in front of targeted college coaches a bit more especially for D1 level, but it can be done. Other serious sports commitments are harder to pull off, but can usually be managed if soccer always comes first, and you have the right coach situation on both ends.
BOTTOM HALF NPL: Low D1, D2, or D3 Soccer as end goal. As with Top Half NPL, your player will need to work harder to get in front of the targeted college coaches, but it can be done. Other serious sports commitment are a bit easier to participate in, but you still might find heavy resistance from some coaches to allow you to always put another sport first.
TOP HALF NEP/SOME TOP NSL: Some low D2 and mid to Low D3 soccer as end goal. Top players on these teams can find a home on one of these college rosters if they want one. Much more freedom to participate in other sports at a high level.
REST OF NEP/NSL: Varsity High School Soccer as end goal.
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