RIP, High School Soccer?

The conflict between club and high school soccer — at least for the boys — is officially over. Club soccer wins.

On Feb. 10, the five-year-old U.S. Soccer Development Academy, which consists of 78 elite clubs nationwide blessed by U.S. Soccer as integral to its elite player development, announced that all teams will be on a 10-month schedule beginning with the 2012-13 season. (Some regions had already moved to 10 months, but everyone else had played seven.) So that means about 3,000 players of high school age will effectively be barred from playing for their high school teams. Simply, there won’t be time, and, frankly, the time on high school soccer was wasted, anyway. The folks at U.S. Soccer don’t say that exactly, but they might as well have. From the FAQ on the scheduling change:

Is U.S. Soccer saying that kids can no longer play high school soccer?

Every player has a choice to play high school soccer or in the Development Academy. We believe that for those elite soccer players who are committed to pursuing the goal of reaching the highest levels they can in the sport, making this decision will provide them a big advantage in their development and increase their exposure to top coaches in the United States and from around the world.

We are talking about a group of players that want to continue at the next level, whether that is professional or college, which is still the destination for a majority of our graduates.

Sure, you can player high school soccer — if you’re a spazz!

U.S. National Coach Jurgen Klinsmann, in the news release announcing the extended schedule, said elite players eschewing high school soccer is the price we as a nation must pay to reach World Cup-winning status, like Klinsmann’s native country, Germany.

“If we want our players to someday compete against the best in the world, it is critical for their development that they train and play as much as possible and in the right environment. The Development Academy 10-month season is the right formula and provides a good balance between training time and playing competitive matches. This is the model that the best countries around the world use for their programs, and I think it makes perfect sense that we do as well.”

Of course, in other soccer-playing nations, school sports were not the core of soccer, or just about any other sport. But this is America, darn it, and kids like to play for the glory of their school, too, right?

It will come as no surprise that high school soccer coaches aren’t totally on board with U.S. Soccer taking the best players out of high school programs. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

While area high school coaches Terry Michler of CBC and Chaminade’s Mike Gauvain can understand U.S. Soccer’s plan in theory, they do not agree with this approach.

“If they were going to target the top 60 or 80 or even 100 top kids in an age group and work to develop them, maybe that’s something I could understand,” Gauvain said. “But the scope of this is just too big. The Academy system has something like 72 teams nationwide; there’s just no way there are that many elite-level players out there for a system like this.”

Added Michler: “They’re going to try to sell this to players and their parents as the path to college or professional soccer, and that’s just not true. If you’re a top player, a truly elite player, you’re going to be found, no matter where you play.”

Michler, the winningest high school soccer coach in America, added: “There’s something special about being able to represent your school in a rivalry game in front of your friends and family and classmates. And you just don’t get that in club soccer, even at the top level.

“What we’re doing is asking these players and their families to make extremely difficult decisions in a system that didn’t need to be changed.”

Now, it might be overstating things to say that high school soccer will die when elite players go elsewhere. After all, sports such as tennis and gymnastics survive at the high school level, even though it’s been known for decades that those aren’t the paths to stardom. And the bigger risk, as Michler points out, is for the kids and families who decide to spend the money and time on the Academy path. There’s no way 3,000 players will make it to the highest levels. Are these children going to be sacrificed on the altar of a potential World Cup?

However, for those coaching and participating in high school soccer, their being squeezed out by elite programs is a short-term threat to their existence. If the elite system devalues high school soccer, will high school soccer then be devalued in the eyes of others? High school soccer is likely going to have to forget about any aspirations to training future college and pro players. Instead, it will thrive only if it sells kids on the experience of representing your school. Having seen how excited my kids have been to represent their school in sports and activities, that’s not a hard sell.