High School vs Club

[Seldon]

It is generally acknowledged that the quality of play is greater in club soccer than in high school soccer, but I have a question directed at all high school players; Which is more important to you? In other words, would you rather win the State for your high school or for your club?

[chs23]

i lived in a small town in when i was in high school, so we had a limited number of players from which to choose. our club team was never that great (best we did was win d-II state championship), but our high school team made it to the aaa state semis last year. so high school.

[hhs1]

id rather win state for high school because there are more competitive teams than there are clubs. club soccer is a much better way to get recognized if you want to play after high school and the quality of play is better than high school.

[titansfan05]

I disagree that the competition is better in high school. Part of the reason that TN club soccer is seemingly not as competitive is because their is no "league" so that you can other teams of your skill, there are only tourneys and state cup. In high school there are less educated coaches, and much of the play is "kick it up to the striker and let him take it" whereas club features smarter players who can ping the ball around.

[mrh11]

I agree with titansfan. Club soccer is much more competitive. I would rather win the state tournament with my club team because it is made up of players who have played the game and know what they are doing. High school soccer often is a bunch of guys who like soccer and like to WAM it to the good player. Not to say that high school soccer means nothing, it is also very important and competitive, but usually with a lower degree of talent all-around on the team. Anyone who has been around Division-1, highly competitive soccer would see the clear difference.

[soccer21]

I think both of them are important to be a good soccer player with a chance to make it to college soccer. Anyone who has the money and the right friends can make it to some kind of club team but when it comes to High School soccer there are a lot of things that have to happen to make the team.

1. You have to have the grades, something that not everyone can do.

2. You have to make the team after workouts that could be pretty strenious all depends on the coach.

3. In HS you don't have 9 months to get better, you either know what you are doing all you don't get to play.

4. In club you get to pay the coach to teach you but in HS you don't get to pay the coach (most schools) so your money does not take you places.

 

No disrespect to club coaches because they have worked hard to earn the credentials they have, but they get to pick the cream of the crop for their team while a High School coach gets to deal with whatever he has available.

I have done both and I will tell you the money is better as a club coach, the players that are available to you are the top of the line until I got to Smyrna High School, and as a club coach I had to deal with so much politics that all the money in the world would not make me go back anytime soon.

It is a lot easier for me to "sell" a player to a college or university if they play High School and Club than if they only play one or the other.

 

They need both.

[hhs1]

don't get me wrong, i do like club better than high school, and there are much better players in club, but in tn, in my age group there are only about 3 teams that can actually compete in the state tournament, and everybody else is so-so. it really depends what club and high school you play for and how good each team is. a good club team can win the state championship pretty consistently in tn , where in high school, most teams are up and down every season.

[mrh11]

Good point hhs. Tennessee is a weak state for club soccer. My club team rarely plays a Tennessee team our age except in the state tournament. We have to go out of state, to strong states such as Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida to find real competition. And I see your problem, there is no competition because there aren't hardly any teams. So I guess high school soccer can have better competition because there are many more teams that can contend with each other at the same level. All clubs teams are split up, with each player joining their high school team and leading them. So there are usually more teams that can play with each other, with no team being stacked.

[GK05]

I didnt even have to think about this one. I would much rather win a state tournament with club than high school. Club is much more enjoyable not to mention more worth while. Ask any college coach what he deems more of an ackomplishment, a high school state championship, or winning state cup with club. I promise to you that it will be the state cup with club.

[DBaker18]

i think it is both more fun and more competitive to play in high school than in club. club teams are a better way to be exposed to college coaches, but for me high school is the much more enjoyable part of the season.

[AJ10Socr]

I came from a fairly small area and we had a core group of good soccer players during my highschool days. But club has always been looked at as Primary for me. We were an ok HS team. THe thing bout HS is you see many more individual awards. More publicity and so on. I personally enjoy the traveling and challenge club ball offers. My club team won two D-1 state championships in '99 and '00. After winning the state, thats where the fun kicks in. You go off to the Regionals and face all the other state champs. You see many many college coaches, meet people and compete with the best players around. The best we did at regionals was 3rd and we were ranked nationally 11th. The thing is, if this team was in HS ball everyone would know about it. Hardly anyone around here even knew all the success we had. So tryin to pick which one is best is crazy because you have to choose publicity vs. challenge, and I personally dont care about letting everyone know that i was mentioned honorably all-state two years and made all-region all 4 years of HS and had 60 career HS goals and have numerous school records. Ha!...

[Guest mflynt]

is a division 1 club player eligible to play for a high school team?