Oakwood

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I have a kid at a big club other than Oakwood so no real dog in this hunt. But this feels like moving the goal posts. You're telling me GDA is bad everywhere now? I get it's weak in the N.E. where the stronger clubs are ECNL (PDA, FCStars, depending on age groups Matchfit, etc.), but these clubs can't all be crap. I mean the other group winners at U15 aside from Oakwood included LA Galaxy San Diego, San Diego Surf and Real Colorado. Those are all big time clubs with lots of history of sending top girls to college.

Subjectivity aside; the u15 OW team is the real deal. Parents suck, but the kids are good. That’s the only team; the others are awful.

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Giving up high school soccer is absurd for any kid except the absolute top level pro prospect. Even for the kids who will play college being able to play for their high school with their friends is what playing youth sports is all about. Talking a kid into giving up that fun is really just the parents turning this whole process into a business. The same scholarships are available through the ecnl route if you are a top player. It really doesn’t make any sense in the us. You can’t get those high school memories back.

Why? What if the kid has more fun playing with their Club friends vs. school friends? What if they can create HS memories in other ways?

Those so hung up on the "HS memories" are the ones we should be worried about. They are pushing their memories onto their kids and hope they can have them recreated.

Give it up already. Your HS days were long ago. Take your letter jacket out of the mothballs here and there if you like, but let your kid choose their own path.

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Why? What if the kid has more fun playing with their Club friends vs. school friends? What if they can create HS memories in other ways?

Those so hung up on the "HS memories" are the ones we should be worried about. They are pushing their memories onto their kids and hope they can have them recreated.

Give it up already. Your HS days were long ago. Take your letter jacket out of the mothballs here and there if you like, but let your kid choose their own path.

Thanks MC

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High school

I agree it could be possible that a kids club team could be more fun than a high school team. So if that is the case have at it. But I have been around club soccer for a long time and this isn’t usually the case.

But with the ecnl route you get both. You get high school for 3 months and club for 6. I just don’t see the upside of da unless you are the very top end player. Even if the high school league is less competitive just let the kid have fun. Soccer doesn’t need to be a job. High school success is a big part of the end game for many of these kids. Even with top players....Many don’t want to play college, many quit during their college years, many sit the bench in college etc. not a lot of kids will end up starring in college. That is just reality.

I guess it has to be true kids decision but giving up high school seems like something that will be regretted down the road.

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Subjectivity aside; the u15 OW team is the real deal. Parents suck, but the kids are good. That’s the only team; the others are awful.

Yep, they got an outside player injection 2 years ago (par for the Oakwood course). Top 2 scorers came from Sporting and Ginga 2 years ago. They got others too. Still think they develop?

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Thanks MC

You're welcome LawnMower Mom

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Yep, they got an outside player injection 2 years ago (par for the Oakwood course). Top 2 scorers came from Sporting and Ginga 2 years ago. They got others too. Still think they develop?

that happens every year at u14 at ow

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I agree it could be possible that a kids club team could be more fun than a high school team. So if that is the case have at it. But I have been around club soccer for a long time and this isn’t usually the case.

But with the ecnl route you get both. You get high school for 3 months and club for 6. I just don’t see the upside of da unless you are the very top end player. Even if the high school league is less competitive just let the kid have fun. Soccer doesn’t need to be a job. High school success is a big part of the end game for many of these kids. Even with top players....Many don’t want to play college, many quit during their college years, many sit the bench in college etc. not a lot of kids will end up starring in college. That is just reality.

I guess it has to be true kids decision but giving up high school seems like something that will be regretted down the road.

Again, why play the 3-4 months of HS when you can have those with your club friends instead. Let go of your past experiences and let your kids have their own.

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Again, why play the 3-4 months of HS when you can have those with your club friends instead. Let go of your past experiences and let your kids have their own.

Seeing club teammates a few hours a week isn't the same. They see each other then go their separate ways; maybe have a group text going on. You see your HS teammates every day in school, at school events, and have know many of them for years and years. You do corny spirit days and pasta parties. It's also great to get spectators at games besides a few parents and their dogs. If you want a DA environment then great, you've go it now. I know some players want it. But clearly HS is still meaningful to many players. Some clubs and players will even break the rules or skirt them to do so.

[Unregistered]

I agree it could be possible that a kids club team could be more fun than a high school team. So if that is the case have at it. But I have been around club soccer for a long time and this isn’t usually the case.

But with the ecnl route you get both. You get high school for 3 months and club for 6. I just don’t see the upside of da unless you are the very top end player. Even if the high school league is less competitive just let the kid have fun. Soccer doesn’t need to be a job. High school success is a big part of the end game for many of these kids. Even with top players....Many don’t want to play college, many quit during their college years, many sit the bench in college etc. not a lot of kids will end up starring in college. That is just reality.

I guess it has to be true kids decision but giving up high school seems like something that will be regretted down the road.

Top players don't need GDA. BDA is a bit more of necessity on the men's side, but not the women's. Many players are still getting recruited to great programs and finding college success from ECNL, with local variations of course. CA, TX etc have always been territories for top talent so there's a bit of the chicken or the egg question there. But we're not in CA.

I'm not knocking kids that want GDA, I know some do. But let's not pretend it's been soccer nirvana. Some are doing it just because their other options are worse (HS or club or both).

[Unregistered]

I agree it could be possible that a kids club team could be more fun than a high school team. So if that is the case have at it. But I have been around club soccer for a long time and this isn’t usually the case.

But with the ecnl route you get both. You get high school for 3 months and club for 6. I just don’t see the upside of da unless you are the very top end player. Even if the high school league is less competitive just let the kid have fun. Soccer doesn’t need to be a job. High school success is a big part of the end game for many of these kids. Even with top players....Many don’t want to play college, many quit during their college years, many sit the bench in college etc. not a lot of kids will end up starring in college. That is just reality.

I guess it has to be true kids decision but giving up high school seems like something that will be regretted down the road.

I agree with everything except "very top end player". In CT, the vast majority of very top end players are playing ECNL. DA is not even relevant in this state

[Unregistered]

Seeing club teammates a few hours a week isn't the same. They see each other then go their separate ways; maybe have a group text going on. You see your HS teammates every day in school, at school events, and have know many of them for years and years. You do corny spirit days and pasta parties. It's also great to get spectators at games besides a few parents and their dogs. If you want a DA environment then great, you've go it now. I know some players want it. But clearly HS is still meaningful to many players. Some clubs and players will even break the rules or skirt them to do so.

DA players break and skirt the rules too. its all good...

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DA players break and skirt the rules too. its all good...

That's what I said. Some still want HS enough they're willing to do what it takes. if everyone wanted DA so badly, why do so many take advantage of the loopholes? Or some even flat out break the rules?

[Unregistered]

Top players don't need GDA. BDA is a bit more of necessity on the men's side, but not the women's. Many players are still getting recruited to great programs and finding college success from ECNL, with local variations of course. CA, TX etc have always been territories for top talent so there's a bit of the chicken or the egg question there. But we're not in CA.

I'm not knocking kids that want GDA, I know some do. But let's not pretend it's been soccer nirvana. Some are doing it just because their other options are worse (HS or club or both).

Nobody NEEDS any of this. Some WANT to. That's the point. I really don't understand why it's so difficult for some to realize not everyone agrees with pushing their HS memories onto their kids.

[Unregistered]

Seeing club teammates a few hours a week isn't the same. They see each other then go their separate ways; maybe have a group text going on. You see your HS teammates every day in school, at school events, and have know many of them for years and years. You do corny spirit days and pasta parties. It's also great to get spectators at games besides a few parents and their dogs. If you want a DA environment then great, you've go it now. I know some players want it. But clearly HS is still meaningful to many players. Some clubs and players will even break the rules or skirt them to do so.

Yep...the see their HS classmates all day every day. I think it's great that my daughter's best friends are both within her town and outside (her Club). I think her best friend lives two towns away and is from her Club.

Guess what? She also has friends from the horse barn she works and rides at and they are not part of her school's equestrian club. She also snowboards with a bunch of friends, some are schoolmates and some are not.

I think the HS crowd is becoming a cult. I get it. It's not natural for so many of you ex-HS jocks. You can't fathom your kid not being the superstah in school and getting the accolades at the grocery store. Just let them grow up on their own, let them choose their own path and let them live their own lives instead of you regurgitating yours for them.