After a few years of all or nearly all the top players in the state playing hs soccer, it seems there is a bit of swing back in the other direction with some of the top younger hs aged players in the area choosing to pass on the hs season. Not sure if it is just XF coaches encouraging players not to play hs, some of the YNT coaches holding that view (even though almost all the YNT players play hs), or parents or kids getting it in their heads that there will somehow be some disadvantage to them in recruiting or in their role on their club team if they play hs.
Having been through the DA era when a lot of the top players weren’t allowed to play hs, having seen top level players play through hs and get a lot out of it, having seen a lot of players who thought and hoped they’d be big time college stars later find out that club and hs were the pinnacle of their soccer careers, and having seen XF pull out of DA supposedly because their players wanted to play hs only to a few years later again discourage playing hs, this doesn’t make much sense to me.
So long as you’re in a solid program in a competitive conference like Metro or KingCo, the positives of playing hs are all pretty significant — depending on age, you’re either playing up against older players or leading younger ones, which is good preparation for college and life generally; in those conferences all the top teams are mostly made up of ECNL or GA players across various age group and play good, competitive soccer; you get to learn from a different group of coaches and teammates; you get to be part of the school community and play in games with sometimes hundreds of people cheering you on; there’s a lot of joy — and development opportunity — in dominating a game and trying new things or playing a different posit-in in a way you can’t in a typical ECNL game. There aren’t club games or regular trainings going on so you aren’t missing out on anything by playing hs, and if you really want to train with boys or get in some technical training for a day or two each week the hs rules allow you to do that too. There aren’t any showcases or ID camps during hs season, and if you are one of the handful of players who need to miss some hs games for a YNT camp or something everyone will understand. No college coach will ever fault you for having played hs— and almost all will ask about hs play during recruiting.
It’s also the case they almost all of the very top players in the country— including recent generational talents like Alyssa Thompson and a Sophia Smith and Mallory Pugh—have still played at least their first couple years of high school and spoken positively of their experiences. I’m curious what whoever is coming up with the idea that these local kids are better off without hs play is thinking, and why some kids and families seem to be listening to them.
Having been through the DA era when a lot of the top players weren’t allowed to play hs, having seen top level players play through hs and get a lot out of it, having seen a lot of players who thought and hoped they’d be big time college stars later find out that club and hs were the pinnacle of their soccer careers, and having seen XF pull out of DA supposedly because their players wanted to play hs only to a few years later again discourage playing hs, this doesn’t make much sense to me.
So long as you’re in a solid program in a competitive conference like Metro or KingCo, the positives of playing hs are all pretty significant — depending on age, you’re either playing up against older players or leading younger ones, which is good preparation for college and life generally; in those conferences all the top teams are mostly made up of ECNL or GA players across various age group and play good, competitive soccer; you get to learn from a different group of coaches and teammates; you get to be part of the school community and play in games with sometimes hundreds of people cheering you on; there’s a lot of joy — and development opportunity — in dominating a game and trying new things or playing a different posit-in in a way you can’t in a typical ECNL game. There aren’t club games or regular trainings going on so you aren’t missing out on anything by playing hs, and if you really want to train with boys or get in some technical training for a day or two each week the hs rules allow you to do that too. There aren’t any showcases or ID camps during hs season, and if you are one of the handful of players who need to miss some hs games for a YNT camp or something everyone will understand. No college coach will ever fault you for having played hs— and almost all will ask about hs play during recruiting.
It’s also the case they almost all of the very top players in the country— including recent generational talents like Alyssa Thompson and a Sophia Smith and Mallory Pugh—have still played at least their first couple years of high school and spoken positively of their experiences. I’m curious what whoever is coming up with the idea that these local kids are better off without hs play is thinking, and why some kids and families seem to be listening to them.
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