Youth Soccer - Questions, Discussion and Stories (1 Viewer)

[SwampDawg]

Opening week of fall sports practices here so my son is preparing for his senior year. Wasn't sure he was going to play because he had a horrible experience last year and after a couple injuries early in the season and just being mentally worn down he had pulled himself off the team. He had a good club season and his friends wanted him to come back and play so he went to the summer kick arounds to see how they went and decided he wanted to play his senior year. We asked him what has changed and he said mostly his attitude and how he is going to approach things and he understands as a team they aren't likely to be good and the quality of the soccer is not going to be high but he is just going to have fun with a few of his buddies and use it almost as a training season for himself to stay in shape for club and to try out some different things. Not that he won't be trying, he's competitive in everything he does, but he's not going to let a 5-1 loss when kids are out of position and won't listen to him on the field bother him the way he did last year. So far he's been holding true to that and having fun at two a days, of course he always likes to watch the kids that did no summer work show up the first day on a full breakfast and then puke during the fitness tests and running. I'm hoping he can maintain that attitude all season and have fun and enjoy it.

On the club front we had a longer break then normal. The last 3 years they had made deep regional and national playoff runs and always played to the end of June, first week in July. This year they were eliminated at the end of the regular season so he had all of June and July off for the first time in a long time. They did have a few practices with the 05 team that was still training for Nationals and he did a couple college ID camps. Important showcase season coming up November and December. He's had good conversations with at least 4 different college coaches and has one official visit weekend lined up for September and will likely have a couple other one day visits to games for a couple other schools.

 

[The Z Machine]

Good update, Swamp. Hope your son enjoys his senior year and then finds a good college that wants him to play and he wants to atrend.

 

[The Z Machine]

Since moving to Switzerland 2 weeks ago, we have been in full resettle mode but our airbnb has a small grass area with a crappy goal that my son has been using to just shoot and handle a ball that just sits out there waiting to be played with.

The school we enrolled the kids in has a "football option" that allows training time during the school day so we put my son in that track while my daughter will do the normal "English native" track.

From the school website:
Integrated into the school curriculum, this new option aims to allow students to learn through their passion. In addition to the three weekly training sessions, part of the pedagological programme is focused on football, including theory lessons on football culture and health. The personal development of the child, in all its dimensions, is at the heart of the approach.

 

[The Z Machine]

I have no idea if the training is any good but it really doesn't matter as my son will not be a pro soccer player. I do want him to be a bit more active as he's looking a little soft and heavier than he has in the past when he was doing more running.

 

[SwampDawg]

Since moving to Switzerland 2 weeks ago, we have been in full resettle mode but our airbnb has a small grass area with a crappy goal that my son has been using to just shoot and handle a ball that just sits out there waiting to be played with.

The school we enrolled the kids in has a "football option" that allows training time during the school day so we put my son in that track while my daughter will do the normal "English native" track.

From the school website:
Integrated into the school curriculum, this new option aims to allow students to learn through their passion. In addition to the three weekly training sessions, part of the pedagological programme is focused on football, including theory lessons on football culture and health. The personal development of the child, in all its dimensions, is at the heart of the approach.

That sounds pretty cool and a good way to get kids interested. Hope you guys are adjusting well.

 

[jabarony]

We asked him what has changed and he said mostly his attitude and how he is going to approach things and he understands as a team they aren't likely to be good and the quality of the soccer is not going to be high but he is just going to have fun with a few of his buddies and use it almost as a training season for himself to stay in shape for club and to try out some different things.

That's about the best approach you can take with HS soccer. My kid is in the exact same spot. He's done with the frustration of bad soccer and is just looking to enjoy the last season.

Dad's disgust with the quality of the soccer will remain sky-high.

 

[⚡DEADHEAD⚡]

My U12 son is experiencing some ups and downs in his soccer life. I'm trying to help him navigate it and some days I think I'm doing a good job, others not so much. This is his 4th year in club soccer, each with a new coach. 3 of the 4 years he's arguably been the best player on the team.

He switched clubs after last season, moving to a team that will play two flights higher than his previous team (Premier). He left because he wanted to play with and against better players. He was a top player and starting striker on his previous team, and he's the same on his current team. And captain too. But truth be told, I'm not sure there's a huge difference between his old and current teams. His new team plays much better defense, but the wingers, though skilled, are smaller and weaker and not as solid as he's used to. If these teams played each other, his current team wins maybe 7/10 times.

He's on the second team, and gets to practice with the top team 1x/week and guest plays for them too. He does well there. Better, in fact, than when he plays for his team. The coach sees that and wants him to join the team fulltime in the spring. He does some group session training, occasional 1:1 training, and he and I practice together too. We've developed a great bond through soccer, whether real life, on tv, and video games. But he has never really experienced winning, and he's never really experienced playing collectively really good soccer. I'm feeling a bit down about it all given how much work he puts in. And I question how much he can grow in this environment. He and I agree this year is just for improvement to position himself for U13, which is a different ball of wax (U11, ECNL, etc.) That said, he doesn't seem to care that much. He's just rolling with it. Maybe it's just me and I shouldn't sweat it.

 

[The Z Machine]

Maybe it's just me and I shouldn't sweat it.

That's probably for the best.

What's the goal here for him? Does he have a legitimate chance at a pro career? Are you trying for a route to college? Or is this for just fun competition?

 

[houston]

Never would’ve thought there was a youth sports world crazier than the baseball one. As I begin to experience soccer, it sure a strong contender.

Soccer does seem more organized with the affiliations with US Soccer. League collaboration to schedule games like a high school conference does sure is different from the baseball tournament world. Still lots of crazy with the football. And so many kids playing. And so many kids who I can’t believe are playing at advanced/expensive levels.

 

[⚡DEADHEAD⚡]

Maybe it's just me and I shouldn't sweat it.

That's probably for the best.

What's the goal here for him? Does he have a legitimate chance at a pro career? Are you trying for a route to college? Or is this for just fun competition?

The goal is for him to realize his fullest potential, and the goal for me is to help clear the obstacles in his way so he can. I have a friend who cautions me with a "he's not going to be Messi" comment. IMO, that's a silly thing to say, and she's a parent. I have no interest in him being a pro. I am interested in him developing as a player, exploring his boundaries, experiencing breakthroughs, and over time, learning how to manage himself. And later, after he experiences success and failure, he'll be better prepared for life. But, yeah, college would be nice if he wants it.

He's a natural athlete - coordinated, quick, pretty fast for his size - coachable, and passionate about the sport. He's benefitting from working hard in that he's playing at an increasingly higher level, but he's experiencing more than his fair share of losing. Really his only deficit right now is his size. He's 50th percentile, but that will probably change as I'm 6'2".

 

[⚡DEADHEAD⚡]

Never would’ve thought there was a youth sports world crazier than the baseball one. As I begin to experience soccer, it sure a strong contender.

Soccer does seem more organized with the affiliations with US Soccer. League collaboration to schedule games like a high school conference does sure is different from the baseball tournament world. Still lots of crazy with the football. And so many kids playing. And so many kids who I can’t believe are playing at advanced/expensive levels.

The face of sports is changing in this country. Soccer is moving up fast, at the expense of other sports, namely baseball and football. Wonder if there's data out there on this.

 

[jabarony]

Maybe it's just me and I shouldn't sweat it.

That's probably for the best.

What's the goal here for him? Does he have a legitimate chance at a pro career? Are you trying for a route to college? Or is this for just fun competition?

The goal is for him to realize his fullest potential, and the goal for me is to help clear the obstacles in his way so he can. I have a friend who cautions me with a "he's not going to be Messi" comment. IMO, that's a silly thing to say, and she's a parent. I have no interest in him being a pro. I am interested in him developing as a player, exploring his boundaries, experiencing breakthroughs, and over time, learning how to manage himself. And later, after he experiences success and failure, he'll be better prepared for life. But, yeah, college would be nice if he wants it.

He's a natural athlete - coordinated, quick, pretty fast for his size - coachable, and passionate about the sport. He's benefitting from working hard in that he's playing at an increasingly higher level, but he's experiencing more than his fair share of losing. Really his only deficit right now is his size. He's 50th percentile, but that will probably change as I'm 6'2".

The only thing I'll suggest you're doing wrong is worrying about the losing. I say that because for the most part, you have no control over that. Everything else you've posted is a great approach. Keep having him try out for better teams and until he finds a team where he's not clearly in the top couple of kids or the bottom couple of kids. Larger clubs are better for this, if available. Chances are if there are 4 teams per age group, the disparity between the best and worst kids on each team will be smaller than say a club with only 2 teams in an age group. If he gets on the right team, the winning will eventually come. And if it doesn't, just put him on a rec team and have him dominate!

As for college, I can only speak for the group of kids and club I know, if he's a very good player, he'll be able to play college if he really works at it. Things like D1, being recruited, offered $, playing time, etc. are going to be tough for anyone. But if he just wants to be on a team, play a bit, etc. D2/D3/NAIA bench spots are realistically attainable.

To expand a bit more - my son's club has a college recruiting coordinator. He hosts a meeting each year with the boys & parents talking about the process. He's brutally honest in only the smallest % of them are going D1 or getting scholarships, even if they're the best around their neck of the woods. Reason being most of the college coaches want to win to keep their jobs, and the easiest way to do that is to bring in EU or SA men, not boys. Some of these teams have rosters averaging 24 to 26 year olds. Tough to crack into that as an 18 year old.

Circling back a bit - don't worry too much about the future. If he's enjoying where he's at, try to do the same. It goes by fast.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

At my first tournament for my 10yr old today. Interesting dynamics at play with certain parents. Lol

 

[The Z Machine]

At my first tournament for my 10yr old today. Interesting dynamics at play with certain parents. Lol

Yup. That seems par for the course

 

[SwampDawg]

At my first tournament for my 10yr old today. Interesting dynamics at play with certain parents. Lol

Interestingly we just got notification from our club via EPYSA that US Soccer is making procedural changes and coaches will be removed based on parent sideline behavior. I haven't had a chance to watch the presentation yet to get the exact details.

 

[SwampDawg]

Maybe it's just me and I shouldn't sweat it.

That's probably for the best.

What's the goal here for him? Does he have a legitimate chance at a pro career? Are you trying for a route to college? Or is this for just fun competition?

The goal is for him to realize his fullest potential, and the goal for me is to help clear the obstacles in his way so he can. I have a friend who cautions me with a "he's not going to be Messi" comment. IMO, that's a silly thing to say, and she's a parent. I have no interest in him being a pro. I am interested in him developing as a player, exploring his boundaries, experiencing breakthroughs, and over time, learning how to manage himself. And later, after he experiences success and failure, he'll be better prepared for life. But, yeah, college would be nice if he wants it.

He's a natural athlete - coordinated, quick, pretty fast for his size - coachable, and passionate about the sport. He's benefitting from working hard in that he's playing at an increasingly higher level, but he's experiencing more than his fair share of losing. Really his only deficit right now is his size. He's 50th percentile, but that will probably change as I'm 6'2".

The only thing I'll suggest you're doing wrong is worrying about the losing. I say that because for the most part, you have no control over that. Everything else you've posted is a great approach. Keep having him try out for better teams and until he finds a team where he's not clearly in the top couple of kids or the bottom couple of kids. Larger clubs are better for this, if available. Chances are if there are 4 teams per age group, the disparity between the best and worst kids on each team will be smaller than say a club with only 2 teams in an age group. If he gets on the right team, the winning will eventually come. And if it doesn't, just put him on a rec team and have him dominate!

As for college, I can only speak for the group of kids and club I know, if he's a very good player, he'll be able to play college if he really works at it. Things like D1, being recruited, offered $, playing time, etc. are going to be tough for anyone. But if he just wants to be on a team, play a bit, etc. D2/D3/NAIA bench spots are realistically attainable.

To expand a bit more - my son's club has a college recruiting coordinator. He hosts a meeting each year with the boys & parents talking about the process. He's brutally honest in only the smallest % of them are going D1 or getting scholarships, even if they're the best around their neck of the woods. Reason being most of the college coaches want to win to keep their jobs, and the easiest way to do that is to bring in EU or SA men, not boys. Some of these teams have rosters averaging 24 to 26 year olds. Tough to crack into that as an 18 year old.

Circling back a bit - don't worry too much about the future. If he's enjoying where he's at, try to do the same. It goes by fast.

Excellent points by @jabarony , So many people have unrealistic expectations of their kids abilities (in all sports not just soccer). I was probably the opposite, I didn't believe my son was as good as he is when people were telling me when he was younger. It took until he moved to his current club and about U16 and we were at showcases and college coaches were showing up to watch them play and then he did a couple ID clinics and had coaches reach out and say stay in touch that I really started to believe. That said I totally agree play at the highest level you can if you are looking to develop. Every year i would have the conversation with my son is this what you want or do you want to step back down a level and just play for fun. He's always picked to challenge himself and not worry about starting every game or being the star of the team.

And if his goal is to play in college don't believe the people that say what league you play in doesn't matter. Sure can you get there playing in a third tier league, if you are special and if you happen to be seen it's possible but you are fighting an up hill battle. Coaches are going to go where they can watch quality players in every game (MLS Next, ECNL, NAL) versus going where they might see a handful of kids they could be interested in.

 

[Redwes25]

So my son (will be a Freshman) went to high school tryouts last week and he got added as a flex player to varsity team. So he practices with Varsity but think he will be playing mostly junior varsity. Also his club team is doing a shorten season to let him and other kids play on high school team if they want.

One other Freshman also got this flex role plus a couple of sophomores. Kind of happy with result as he is a small kid for his age and hasn’t fully hit puberty but he has good ball skills and excellent vision for the game. He always knows where to make the pass or to start a run. He is honestly a very creative player for his age.

His high school is a NYC private school with a very good sports program. He has been describing the film work he has been doing to me at night after practice. I can’t even imagine that from my high school days.

I also hadn’t realized his club team did this shortened season, which is nice though I imagine come November when I am watching him play in freezing weather I may regret it.

Lastly I got roped into being an assistant coach on one of my younger daughter’s rec teams. Going to be a busy season of soccer in my house.

 

[⚡DEADHEAD⚡]

He switched clubs after last season, moving to a team that will play two flights higher than his previous team (Premier). He left because he wanted to play with and against better players. He was a top player and starting striker on his previous team, and he's the same on his current team. And captain too. But truth be told, I'm not sure there's a huge difference between his old and current teams. His new team plays much better defense, but the wingers, though skilled, are smaller and weaker and not as solid as he's used to. If these teams played each other, his current team wins maybe 7/10 times.

So, you don't know what you don't know. Coach tells me earlier this week that he's thinking of moving my son to the 10, and considering a change at the 9. Turns out, a new boy joined my son's team, a talented striker. Faster, taller, though maybe not as skilled on the ball, first touch, etc.

I tell my son this, and he says that's great news and he cannot wait to going back to playing the 10. The 10 is a hard spot, and he knows less about playing it than the 9. But he's excited. So I'm gonna ride that.

 

[SwampDawg]

Half way through the HS season as of last night and they are sitting at 5-4 which is about as good as I could have hoped for. They've got two more what should be "sure" wins on the schedule, two league teams that we've already beaten once. Also have a rematch with the team we beat last night 3-2 in double OT but that is going to be an away game, that I would say is a toss up. Two other games I feel we are the under dog but if we play our best we have a chance and three others that it would be a miracle if we won. Considering last year they only won 4 games and had a -40 goal differential to have already won more games and a 0 goal differential is pretty good. Defense is definitely helped by having my son back this year and they have a few freshman starting to contribute some meaningful minutes.

As for my son he is bouncing between playing CDM and CB. He plays LB and RB for his club and that is what colleges are looking at him for but in HS you simply can't have one of your best players isolated on the outside. He gets frustrated with both because when he is at CDM he does a great job pushing the ball down the field and distributing but the back line is very shakey and they have a hard time actually playing a ball to him because they can't play anything one touch with accuracy so they panic and tend to just boot it long. When he plays at CB a few of the other kids refuse to listen to him on positioning and it drives him nuts. He's a captain, a senior and plays year round at a high level and they either refuse to move the way he wants as a unit or just don't get it and he gets frustrated. All that said he is still having fun, they have a core group that are having fun like going out Applebees for appetizers or going to the girls teams games together.

Light non-contact club practices have started on Sunday's so another few weeks his senior HS season will be over and they will start training for the the Nov/Dec showcases. Two here in the northeast and a USYS qualifier in AZ this year.

 

[SwampDawg]

First "official" visit for my son over the weekend at DII program he is very interested in. Spent the weekend with the team from Friday to Sunday morning. He got along really well with the players and from what he saw at their game he said he felt he could play at that level, might need to hit the weight room a little with how physical it was but felt he had the speed and technical ability needed.

 

[Redwes25]

So my son's HS soccer season is almost over and think he has only 3 JV games left. He has been playing as a "flex" player (which means he has played on the JV team for games but practiced with Varsity). He even got called up to a Varisty game once when a kid was injured (though he didn't play in that game). He will likely be moved full-time to Varsity once JV season ends and HS team is post-season.

I have been very impressed with HS coaching and varisty coach is the best coach I have seen in youth soccer. His JV coach is a level below his club coaches but has been ok. JV team plays a 4-3-3, which matches his club team so he knows the system. My son is really is a creative midfielder and early season on JV felt like he was being missused a bit playing in a double pivot with him as one of the two CDMs but last few games he has played the 10 (CAM) and they have ditched the double pivot playing with a 6, 8 and 10. He has managed a couple of assists as a result. He hasn't scored but has hit the pole and cross bar in those games as well. Overall it has been a good experience especially as the midfiled on the JV team is all made up of freshman flex players and they all seem to play well together. Varisty coach told me he was excited to work with them all the next few years as I think he sees a future starting midfield group. Team record is a bit over 50%

In addition, to JV I have managed to watch a few of the Varisty games as my son goes to them if he doesn't have a JV game. The system is very interesting and designed to use their best players and take advantage of what they have. They play a 5 2 3 in defense with wing backs. The two best players on the team are the two of the centerbacks and they are encouraged to push forward in attack if opportunity presents itself. They are very well coached and will likely see the wing backs push up on outside and one of the two very good centerbacks pushing up as well (depending on positioning, where ball is, etc. one of the CBs makes the move). The weakest CB is definately in a true hold position. In possession are a more of a 3-4-3 as a result sometimes leaving just two CBs back. In one game one of those CBs managed three assists. Team has lost one game so far. Somethng really cool is that the Varisty team is now in the second half of the season and have played all opponents at least once so they are now doing film work before each game breaking down how the other team played them in prior game and how to take advantage of it. Very high level stuff for HS soccer but really cool my son is part of it even if he isn't really playing for them. He is very excited to be fully on the Varisty team.

His club hasn't had any games yet though they start early November. He has been making practices for club team unless a HS game conflicts. Sometimes he ends up with two practices in a day which he says he loves but is keeping him super busy plus added school work of being a Freshman. He typically plays 8 or 10 for his club team.

 

[acarey50]

His club hasn't had any games yet though they start early November. He has been making practices for club team unless a HS game conflicts. Sometimes he ends up with two practices in a day which he says he loves but is keeping him super busy plus added school work of being a Freshman. He typically plays 8 or 10 for his club team.

Interesting that he's allowed to participate in club activities while high school is in season. It would be a CIF violation to do that here in California.

 

[Redwes25]

His club hasn't had any games yet though they start early November. He has been making practices for club team unless a HS game conflicts. Sometimes he ends up with two practices in a day which he says he loves but is keeping him super busy plus added school work of being a Freshman. He typically plays 8 or 10 for his club team.

Interesting that he's allowed to participate in club activities while high school is in season. It would be a CIF violation to do that here in California.

Never heard of that issue here in NY. More so I have heard of club teams not wanting kids to play on HS team due to injury risk. While my son is pretty good, he is no were near a MLS academy player so club is more laid back about it. Initially, I had thought he was just going to play club in the fall and wondered if he could commit to HS team. Either way club practices tend to just be two days a week at this point and they haven't played any games or joined a tournament yet this year so club is been pretty light.

 

[acarey50]

His club hasn't had any games yet though they start early November. He has been making practices for club team unless a HS game conflicts. Sometimes he ends up with two practices in a day which he says he loves but is keeping him super busy plus added school work of being a Freshman. He typically plays 8 or 10 for his club team.

Interesting that he's allowed to participate in club activities while high school is in season. It would be a CIF violation to do that here in California.

Never heard of that issue here in NY. More so I have heard of club teams not wanting kids to play on HS team due to injury risk. While my son is pretty good, he is no were near a MLS academy player so club is more laid back about it. Initially, I had thought he was just going to play club in the fall and wondered if he could commit to HS team. Either way club practices tend to just be two days a week at this point and they haven't played any games or joined a tournament yet this year so club is been pretty light.

Interesting. California is pretty strict about the playing club/any other organized activity in the same sport during a high school season. Many of the kids that play EA have to join their high school team's here late because of the timing of the showcase tournaments. As I recall, the EA showcase is usually the first or second weekend in December, but the high school season starts in early/mid November.

And yes, most MLS Next kids are not allowed to play for their high school teams. They used to give exceptions to the kids that were being given financial aid for playing soccer at some of the more prestigious private schools, but recently the MLS programs have been stopping the kids from even being able to do that, which puts the kid's in the predicament of sometimes having to leave the private schools because they can not afford the tuition outright, or being replaced on their MLS teams.

 

[Redwes25]

His club hasn't had any games yet though they start early November. He has been making practices for club team unless a HS game conflicts. Sometimes he ends up with two practices in a day which he says he loves but is keeping him super busy plus added school work of being a Freshman. He typically plays 8 or 10 for his club team.

Interesting that he's allowed to participate in club activities while high school is in season. It would be a CIF violation to do that here in California.

Never heard of that issue here in NY. More so I have heard of club teams not wanting kids to play on HS team due to injury risk. While my son is pretty good, he is no were near a MLS academy player so club is more laid back about it. Initially, I had thought he was just going to play club in the fall and wondered if he could commit to HS team. Either way club practices tend to just be two days a week at this point and they haven't played any games or joined a tournament yet this year so club is been pretty light.

Interesting. California is pretty strict about the playing club/any other organized activity in the same sport during a high school season. Many of the kids that play EA have to join their high school team's here late because of the timing of the showcase tournaments. As I recall, the EA showcase is usually the first or second weekend in December, but the high school season starts in early/mid November.

And yes, most MLS Next kids are not allowed to play for their high school teams. They used to give exceptions to the kids that were being given financial aid for playing soccer at some of the more prestigious private schools, but recently the MLS programs have been stopping the kids from even being able to do that, which puts the kid's in the predicament of sometimes having to leave the private schools because they can not afford the tuition outright, or being replaced on their MLS teams.

Interesting on private school thing but now really top kids in MLS system get their education through the MLS clubs. My brother-in-law’s nephew is now getting is education from the Chicago Fire.

 

[The Z Machine]

recently the MLS programs have been stopping the kids from even being able to do that, which puts the kid's in the predicament of sometimes having to leave the private schools because they can not afford the tuition outright, or being replaced on their MLS teams.

That's pretty sad.

 

[SwampDawg]

His club hasn't had any games yet though they start early November. He has been making practices for club team unless a HS game conflicts. Sometimes he ends up with two practices in a day which he says he loves but is keeping him super busy plus added school work of being a Freshman. He typically plays 8 or 10 for his club team.

Interesting that he's allowed to participate in club activities while high school is in season. It would be a CIF violation to do that here in California.

Pretty normal here in the northeast, especially because the most important showcases are the end of November and depending how far you go high school state playoffs can run up until that week. For kids looking to play in college how they do in the showcases with their club is way more important then high school games so they need to co-exist. My sons club team has optional trainings on Sundays that are no contact, all technical and positioning and strategy work. Then in another week or so as HS teams regular seasons get over they will start training as normal during the week with those kids whose HS teams are done but they may not have the whole team until the week before the first showcase.

 

[SwampDawg]

And yes, most MLS Next kids are not allowed to play for their high school teams. They used to give exceptions to the kids that were being given financial aid for playing soccer at some of the more prestigious private schools, but recently the MLS programs have been stopping the kids from even being able to do that, which puts the kid's in the predicament of sometimes having to leave the private schools because they can not afford the tuition outright, or being replaced on their MLS teams.

That is not across the board. The bigger MLS Next programs like the Union that have their own school yes won't allow a kid going to an outside school to play HS but MLS Next will still give exemptions for kids going to private schools. We played against a Christian school this year that requires all students to be in a sport, they had a kid that plays MLS Next on their team, he was given an exemption because it was school mandated that he participate in a sport.

Personally I don't like that the MLS Next kids are allowed to play HS for a private school yet if they went to a public school they would not be allowed to get a exemption. It should be all or none, the private schools already have an advantage in that they can recruit and they (at least around here) tend to be smaller schools so they are playing A or AA against smaller public schools that have a hard time competing with them. The school where my sons club team trains is a private Christian school with about 100 kids in a class. Yet they have a 5 or 6 million dollar soccer only stadium nicer then almost every D3 college and many D2 colleges, an indoor turf area, etc. They recruit heavily for soccer and wrestling and are state powers in both.

 

[SwampDawg]

My sons HS career came to a close last week. Very bitter sweet watching him play his final game with kids he has played with since age 5 and sitting with friends we've made because of our kids playing sports together for the last time. It was also senior night on top of being the last game which made it even that much more emotional. He had a good last game, anchored the defense as usual for the first half, then in the second half the coach let him start at striker, he got a break away and put it home a few minutes in. After that he and their usual striker played as the 8 and 10 and they tried to get two seniors who almost always play JV a goal, they were putting pass after pass right on them in the box. Eventually they did get one of them a goal. My son also took a great corner that was hooking in and deflected off a defenders shoulder and in. Was an obvious own goal but the scorer gave it to him so he got scored for a brace in his last game.

Overall they ended up 9 wins, 8 losses and one spot in the power rankings from qualifying for districts (they take the top 8, we were 9th). It really came down to the third to last game against a team we had beaten earlier in the season 2-0, defense held them scoreless for about 70 minutes, we dominated the ball, tons of corners and couldn't score. They got a break away counter attack with their striker against the other CB opposite when we were pushed up and he beat them and scored. We had 13 corners and I think got one shot on goal off of them and maybe three total all night, unfortunately they couldn't convert any. So in his HS career- Freshman year 13-7, won division, lost in first round of league playoffs, lost in the first round of districts, played every game, started all but 2. Sophomore year 15-4, won division, made league final for the first time since 1975, lost in first round of districts, started every game. Junior year 1-2/4-12 (due to covid, injury and other circumstances discussed earlier in this thread he only played three games, they were 1-1 in games he finished and tied 0-0 in the second half when he got injured and ended up losing that game 4-1 when the defense got over run. Then 9-8 this year, runner up in the division and just missed league and district playoffs but.

He did enjoy this year after going into it with a different attitude. After the defense collapsed in the first 20 minutes of the 4th game the coach asked him to move back from midfield to CB to provide stability, from that point on the defense was solid. The coach let him basically run it the way he wanted on the field and they ended up moving some players around and being pretty solid defensively as a team at the end of the year.

 

[Redwes25]

Sounds like a fun last year.

 

[SwampDawg]

Sounds like a fun last year.

Yep...but it was nice to get back and watch him last weekend with his club team at their club college play day scrimmage. Just such pretty soccer compared to HS. Hopefully a good fall showcase season presents some opportunities to watch him keep playing for four more years.

 

[SwampDawg]

So looks like they are going back to school year age groupings from the birth year for all youth soccer. My son got screwed out of a development year when he had to go from U9 to U11 but I did like that they combined U18 and U19 last year to give those trapped seniors the ability to stay at their club instead having to search out a place with enough trapped seniors to get together and form a team.

 

[Redwes25]

My son's HS soccer season ended last week with a 2-0 loss in the NY state independent schools quarterfinal. Team made one huge costly mistake when the goalie basically got his pocket picked and they never recovered. It was a good run and good experience for my son being on the team for the two playoff games even if he didn't play.

Of course the soccer never ends and his club team started his shortened fall season this weekend with a 6-2 win. My son scored a goal with a header of a corner (nice given he was the shortest kid on the field) and he also directly caused another goal where he made a steal in the mid field, started the break and sent a winger through on goal. The wingers shot was saved but the striker cleaned it up on the rebound. The club team played at a super high level and a lot of the kids looked to have improved a bunch. I am interested to see if it was just weak competition or if the team has made a big step up. Will know in a few weeks.