Truth is, what is 15-20 today might be top 5 player 3 years later.
Surf Players Being Discouraged from playing HS?
- Thread starter ecsoccermom
- Start date
I propose Surf, Blues , and Slammers break off and start a super duper league with the other top clubs in the country
homeschool all the players , have some of those wealthy parents finance the charter of jets to weekend games across the country . True academy style , where the kids eat, live and breathe soccer
homeschool all the players , have some of those wealthy parents finance the charter of jets to weekend games across the country . True academy style , where the kids eat, live and breathe soccer
Every year this is a discussion. Some parents come on and say HS is garbage filled with injury risk and site multiple horrific injuries that they have witnessed or experienced. Then other parents come on to refute that and say their high school has quality play with lots of ECNL players scattered on the teams and that it is the best experience. It varies so much based on your high school league, your opinions, and the club you are at. For us, playing HS was the time of their lives and brought a tremendous benefit of community spirit, joy for the game, and high level competition that was safe and fun and a trophy or two along the way. They will cherish those memories and experiences forever. Club was fun and loved the club team but it was always more like a job. Make your own decision. Honor your player's views and feelings about this. It is such a short time that flies by, let them have that joy whether it is no HS or 100% HS. Once they get to college it is all work.
I realize that you're poking fun however...
1. Surf is trying to get a resident player program off the ground.
2. I actually know a couple of player parents with jets that could make this happen. (Sharks parents believe it or not)
Be careful what you wish for. ;-)
Lightning Red
GOLD
Your
My point is that it’s going to take 3/5 years before they could make a true impact if things stayed the same as today’s environment. It has to start with the Younger’s. Most of us on this forum will have aged out before that could potentially happen.
Surf’s rivals are not Sharks or Rebels. Surf’s rivals are Solar, Colorado Rapids, KC Athletics, and LAFC Koge. They judge themselves against those teams. Yes, Surf does want better competition from Sharks…and they are already getting that from Rebels.Of course. Even Pep can't just walk into Norwich City and immediately start beating Liverpool and Chelsea. It takes better, more committed players. Obviously this season is still reflective of the state of the previous club, and future seasons will reflect any changes MW has been able to execute. It starts with the coaching staff, which if the rumors are true, we'll see some new faces wearing Sharks coach kits in the not too distant future. Then it's attracting better players, which I personally think will happen, first through recruiting then organically. The hard part will be getting those parents who are too fixated on results to buy in and see the forest through the trees.
In the end, I see Sharks teams improving competitively across the board in the seasons ahead of us, which is what Surf wants right? Better competition for their teams week in an week out? Or do they want to continue to flex their weekend results against Rebels and Sharks on their Instagram account? Naw .. they couldn't want that.
ecsoccermom
BRONZE
Question...what does Surf offer their teams during winter break to entice girls not to play HS? Is it just extra training/practices?
Top level soccer in Socal is year round for most clubs. In "winter" after league theres Tournamnets both field and futsal for players to participate in. Practice sessions are generally year round.
This is why the top colleges recruit from Socal. High level talent is/are amazing. Even not as high level talent is really really good. Also, players have been through the club meat grinder + typically understand what's expected when a coach recruits you.
1. FOMO
2. Veiled threats…Deza will not support the player in college recruiting if she chooses HS soccer over Surf.
3. 2-3 practices a week and travel to an ECNL showcase playing in the 2005 age group from the pool of approx 40 players in the 05-07 age group who have chosen to stay at Surf over the HS period.
Curious to see how this all works out…
So sad to do this to incoming freshman girls. My dd chose HSS 4 years ago and is so glad she did. Threats were real though and getting blacklisted by the powerful is real.
The threats aren't veiled. And apparently too many girls had FOMO as he only wanted 18 so they will force some out of the winter training to get to 18.
I don't have HS aged kids in soccer but I've heard from parents with olders that some HS coaches (also coaching a club team different than the club your kid is on) force kids to change clubs to his or her team to be able to have any playing time on the HS team. One particular parent I know is considering changing their kid's long time club to another club so the HS coach will see the kid favorably. (The kid really wants to play HSS)
Seems sort of unethical for the HS coach to demand this. Is this typical or widespread?
Seems sort of unethical for the HS coach to demand this. Is this typical or widespread?
If you have solid evidence, inform the school's AD and Principal. The coach should be sacked.
Yikes!!! I can see all the interest in the conflicts of interest and the use of power over one's head would be horrible if true. You really think a coach would demand a player quit their club family team and play for his club team and hss team to insure all goes well? If this is true, then this takes pay to play to a whole new level I have never ever heard of.
GoldenGate
GOLD
I love this talk about Deza by people who have no idea what they're talking about. For the record, Deza never kicked a kid off his club for playing HS although he has encouraged their exit for lack of commitment combined with lack of sufficient ability. Even when US Soccer kicked his Quakes players out of GDA, he assured them he'd find a way to work around it, and he did. In fact, his going rogue on US Soccer by supporting his HS players contributed greatly to the demise of GDA. Deza will absolutely support his players in college recruiting even if they play HS, just as he always has. But it comes with caveats, because there are always consequences to decisions. He will be candid with your kid about those consequences, but don't confuse honesty with "threats" just because you don't want to hear the truth.
Specifically, Deza will discourage HS because the fact of the matter is a kid will not get better quality training playing HS, they run higher injury risks, and it is harder for a kid to get recruited when they miss ECNL showcases because they are missing 50 or more college coaches getting to see them play. That is just how it is. Also, when a bunch of players miss showcases because they're playing HS, it hurts not only their recruiting opportunities, but also their teammates opportunities because the team and remaining players just aren't going to perform as well in front of a large audience of college coaches when they're missing a lot of kids. From a club's perspective it is pretty messed up when the club's objective for a team is to get them ALL recruited for college, but there are families that don't give a shit about anyone other than themselves.
Regardless, if your kid can really play, Deza isn't going to kick then out. They run the risk of reduced playing time or being moved to a lower team because another kid may come along while your kid is gone or an existing one improves to the point that they pass your kid. Playing time may suffer for a while because his job is to get kids recruited, and he's going to make a priority of those who show that getting recruited is a priority to them. Anyone who thinks being told these truths is a "threat" is just a typical stupid soccer parent who refuses to accept that there are consequences for decisions. They also probably refuse to accept that their kid just isn't good enough to guarantee that they can miss three months of club without getting passed up. If you want your kid to play HS and continue starting ECNL at Surf, they need to be really good. If they aren't, they take their chances. That is how life works.
Oh, and Deza has never wanted a small roster in his life. Maybe he can bring only 18 to a game, but claiming that he only wants 18 kids to train is just a lie.
The bigger question is why is HSS and ECNL in conflict at all? Would it be so difficult for ECNL to schedule around the short HSS period so players can choose both if they want without missing out on the showcases?
dk_b
GOLD
Has something changed in the past few years? ECNL always allowed clubs/regions to break for HS. That break is different depending on the state (about 5 or 6 for Winter HSS and then split about evenly among the other states between Fall and Spring)? My daughter's club always participated in the Nov and April PHX showcases and then the PDA showcase over Memorial Day Weekend, breaking for HS between about Nov 20 or so and then when the HS season ends. The rate of HS participating among Northern California ECNL players was always really high and because CIF does not permit both, it was not b/c of ECNL but CIF that they shut down for that stretch.
dk_b
GOLD
Such a great question.
GoldenGate
GOLD
ECNL is not in conflict with HS generally. Not all HS seasons line up nationally, often due to weather. ECNL provides a lot of showcase options and league scheduling flexibility to work around different HS seasons, minimize the risk of weather problems at showcases, address other geographic challenges depending on where the club and league is located, and to account for the different priorities at different clubs.
The "problem" is that not all ECNL clubs have the same goals and priorities, nor should they. One of Deza's main goals is to get kids recruited for college and HS tends to get in the way of it. Participating at a showcase in front of 50 college coaches per game is a big deal. When kids miss it because they're playing HS, it hurts their ability to get recruited, and it also hurts the ability of those who are there if the team is missing a lot of its regular players. That is how it is. Some ECNL clubs don't care so much. Some do. Some ECNL clubs can't afford to send teams all over the place all the time to get seen, while others can.