High school soccer teams all over the country have always shared elite players with club teams. Players often compete in club, then arrive in time for the high school season already in soccer shape, having been taught by top-notch coaches.
So high school coaches - many of them also club coaches themselves - benefit from players competing in club soccer.
But in recent years, prep coaches have been losing more elite players and are becoming increasingly disgruntled because of local soccer academies snatching the top prep players.
Nowhere has that become more apparent than in Southern California. Dave Thorpe of the Daily Breeze reports on the challenges between club and high school in So Cal.
The Los Angeles Galaxy Youth Academy, the Chivas USA Youth Academy and Pateadores OC all field multiple youth teams that compete in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy and are sprinkled with South Bay teenagers who are no longer playing for their respective high schools.
"Academies have expanded their pool of players and are bringing more kids in," Torrance varsity boys soccer coach Eric Spotts said. "It used to be the elite, now it's the elite and near-elite.
"You can't blame the kids; they think they have a shot at playing pro. And while it's a good way for colleges to recruit you, most of the kids are not so good that they are going to play pro."
The U.S. Soccer Development Academy was started in the fall of 2007. Its senior manager of communications, Neil Buethe, said each individual academy club has the option of allowing its players the opportunity to play in high school.
But this season, most academies, including the Galaxy Academy, are not allowing their players to compete for their high schools. As a result, kids are being picked to play academy soccer before they've made a major impact on their high school teams, or in some cases, before they've played any varsity soccer at all.
South Bay high school soccer teams have lost more quality players this season than ever before. Almost every team in the Bay and Pioneer leagues, some teams in the Marine League, and other schools like Bishop Montgomery and Animo have lost players to academies.
"Academies are depriving boys of the high school experience, which I think is a very important experience," Bishop Montgomery boys varsity coach Clive Hulbert said. "If you get to experience academy soccer, great, but to not let kids play high school does a disservice to the kids."
Hey Mike-
ReplyDeleteNice stuff here. As a former club player, I never had to select between club and high school. It was always understood you were going to play high school ball. And, with a strong team that won two state titles, it is hard to imagine I would not have had that opportunity. The game is definitely changing - and sometimes not always for the better.
As a college coach, how do you view this development? Where would you rather see player spending their time?
Very interesting article. I can see this coming on the East Coast too as the Academies gain momentum. The one thing that the whole process does not touch on is the social development of the kids and if pulling them from HS ball impacts that or not.
ReplyDeleteI definitely feel that there are positive attributes that are gained from both high school and club.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the standard of soccer is consistently higher at the youth/club level, the idea of representing your school, town and community that you get in high school cannot be replicated at the club level.
I like the idea of potential college prospects playing both high school and club, as it adds social, emotional and psychological developments to a prospect that is already receiving technical and tactical development at the club level.