Then There Were Eight

[Catfish03]

I haven't seen a Pele' or Beckham come out of TN yet.  Very few DI players actually.  Be realistic and as parents know that going in.  You're going to spend some money on coaches and travel, but the odds of your kid getting a D1 scholarship are next to nil.  

 

Your kids will take invaluable lessons about winning and losing though.  If it all about getting little Johnny and Suzie into college…take the money you're spending on select sports and invest it in a college fund and hire an ACT trainer.  A 35 or 36 on the ACT is worth way more than than the MVP in a HS tournament.

I couldn't have said it any better.  I have seen so many parents pay big money to for little Johnnie to play at the highest level of club soccer only to have him get burned out and want to go to some college that doesn't even have a soccer program.

[Catfish03]

Yes. Absolutely. It seems as if they are trying to pull and NCAA and put teams in districts and regions to spread out the talent. I believe this is wrong. Region should be based upon location and size of school only. Merrol Hyde and Goodpasture do not belong in District 8 based upon their location. Likewise, Jackson County doesn't belong in District 7 with the Chattanooga schools. It is gerrymandering in order to allow certain teams a better chance at attaining a region birth.

The districts are a mess but they also need to do something about A-AA.  It needs to be 3 divisions.

[BarcaFan]

I haven't seen a Pele' or Beckham come out of TN yet.  Very few DI players actually.  Be realistic and as parents know that going in.  You're going to spend some money on coaches and travel, but the odds of your kid getting a D1 scholarship are next to nil.  

 

Your kids will take invaluable lessons about winning and losing though.  If it all about getting little Johnny and Suzie into college…take the money you're spending on select sports and invest it in a college fund and hire an ACT trainer.  A 35 or 36 on the ACT is worth way more than than the MVP in a HS tournament.

Honestly I would hope no parent is doing the travel thing because they think there will be some big scholarship at the end of it. If your child is that good they have already been identified and are playing in the elite level of the game and probably won't even be playing high school soccer. That being said there are all kinds of places to continue to play and enjoy soccer post high school graduation. D2, D3, NAIA, and college club teams are all available to solid players, some small number of which will be able to break the glass ceiling and move on to play at a semi-professional level and even fewer might rise to professional. It does not matter what state your player plays in when it comes to true talent it is recognized very early on typically before a kid ever makes it to high school. There are always a few late bloomers but I say enjoy high school soccer for what it represents to you and your school. Where else do your peers come to cheer you on and not just your parents.

[DIIA]

The districts are a mess but they also need to do something about A-AA.  It needs to be 3 divisions.

Catfish is making an excellent observation.

 

From 2009-present (the past 5 seasons, including this year) here is what you've had in A/AA soccer for both boys and girls:

 

There have been 40 state tournament slots for each gender.

A v AA

Boys:  A = 4     AA = 36

Girls:  A = 4     AA = 36

 

Counties

Metro (Davidson, Williamson, Shelby, Hamilton, Knox) v 1 or 2 school counties v everything else

Boys:  30-2-8

Girls:  25-5-10

 

Private-Public

Boys:  16-24

Girls:  22-18

 

The purpose of this post is to present some other disparities beyond the usual private-public debate, rather than to go down that road again.  While privates proportionally do very well in soccer, a much wider gap exists between the success levels of A and AA schools in a combined class (or 4 football classes) where enrollment numbers range between the smallest school up to 1025.

 

 

Just a side note on class AAA, which combines 5A and 6A football schools:

Boys:  5A = 3     6A = 37

Girls:  5A = 3     6A = 37