That's my daughters experience. Dance until 9 and homework thereafter. Bulk of homework on weekends.
You have to admit it’s more fun on a flight 1 team sideline though? This is why parents shell out money for private training and extra touches so they get to stay on that cannon fodder mls next/ ecnl sideline.
It's already happening on the boys side. Most of the top players in LA are homeschooled or "academy schooled" (at places like Galaxy, Barca, IMG, etc.). Most will play D1 before they go pro (if they ever do).
Problem with a lot of the "something else" is you've got kids (whether tennis, music, debate or spelling bee) putting in the same amount of time required to become good at soccer/dance etc. So you either just have to accept the splendid mediocrity and accept there will always be kids who are throwing themselves into it and you'll be just so so or join in insanity of "something else". Hence the rat race. My kid was going to do the geo bee circuit but then they cancelled it after COVID (turned out it was too much of a pain in the ass for everyone) and threw himself into soccer (doh!)
and some ongoing ) I've been on flight 1 sidelines and flight 3 sidelines and rec sidelines and yes, top flight sidelines are more fun haha
But what is their GPA? Even most D1 schools don't give full soccer scholarships. If a student doesn't qualify academically all that soccer is irrelevant for college.
This is a misconception and a trap parents get themselves into. I don’t think soccer helps you get into any school. I would even argue, soccer makes it harder for you to get into a particular school due to all the time commitments.
For mere mortal soccer players, academics make a big difference. There are exceptions to every rule, but all things being equal academics make a huge difference and even more so for those attending school were student comes before athlete.
I don't know if it'll hurt, because at these elite colleges, you have to show that you can excel and commit to something. Just like being class president or other ASB positions or volunteering or several other things that are not academic, they all require you to show that you can commit the time outside of school and excel at something other than academics.
An anecdote of this is, we were told by UC Berkeley's head coach that their team's incoming HS average GPA is higher than the school's average GPA.
Colleges love to recruit high GPA kids. It gives them the ability to give out a scholarship that's more academic based and lets them more use of their athletic scholarships.
For football or Futbol?
I know an MLS Next Coach who homeschooled online. They finished their sophomore year of High School in 4 weeks with a 3.9GPA and spent the rest of the year playing soccer. This was actually a selling point for them on why kids should homeschool if they play MLS Next.
My wife's nephew was presented with an opportunity to play MLS Nest soccer full time going into his Fr year of HS, do online school and give it a go and give up high school life and high school soccer. They talked with me for advice. I saw him play a few times and he's really good, but not pro. Plus, he's smart as hell. I told him I would only do it if it's your dream to be a pro and he looked at me and said, "I'm not good enough." He's now a sophomore, getting straight A's, playing Academy and playing HS Soccer and loving life. The MLS Next club told him no HS Soccer or HS life.
Soccer
I have heard from numerous soccer coaches at high-academic schools that they want their team's average GPA to be the same as the school's average GPA. Some schools are more athletically inclined (usually schools with high-level football or basketball teams) and are more willing to bend the rules, but you should shoot for the average GPA.
