Are benefits of collegiate soccer worth the costs? Are parents concerned about this?

[Unregistered]

I am not sure what the shenanigans have to do with it. The reason I bring up the other sports is so that my children could be balanced across different seasons.

My logic is -- if college sports is not on the table because of ability or other aspirations when do you encourage other sports and get off the club soccer merri-go-round.

Is it at 13? 14? 15? Some where around there I think it makes sense to redirect

-- Pathfinder

Good points..We're having the exact conversation with our D right now. Made varsity as a freshman (weaker team, granted) and wants to try other sports/activities in addition to soccer. She's unsure whether or not she wants to play in college. The question we're posing is, "what do you want out of club soccer and is it worth giving up the other extracurriculars?"

[Unregistered]

This describes d1 only

Not quite...Many D2 schools offer priority scheduling, additional tutoring and free gear.

[Unregistered]

Good points..We're having the exact conversation with our D right now. Made varsity as a freshman (weaker team, granted) and wants to try other sports/activities in addition to soccer. She's unsure whether or not she wants to play in college. The question we're posing is, "what do you want out of club soccer and is it worth giving up the other extracurriculars?"

Lets say she does want to play in college which would no doubt be very cool, how will that impact her undergrad academics. i.e. study abroad, taking a second major, etc

And what if she wanted to go to grad school, how much of an impact will sports have on her GPA?

At some point, continuing club soccer under certain conditions has diminishing returns.

My big question for me is when is that point

-- Pathfinder

[Unregistered]

Didn't one of your teacher's ever tell you that there are never any stupid questions? This is a discussion forum and asking questions is how one generally starts a discussion. The sad thing about TS is there is a very vocal minority that apparently feels that nothing can be discussed that might ultimately generate a conclusion that runs counter to their personal opinions.

The reason they don't want this thread particular thread is because it is aimed at clubs who market themselves by pushing college commitments and we all know which club really does that the most around here. Instead of debating the issue they will deflect attention from the actual topic by mocking the thread and making all sorts of accusations about who started it and why. That is how trolls act.

Didn't any of your teachers ever tell you not to use an apostrophe to make a noun plural?
(teacher's)

[Unregistered]

Committing to college team is a significant investment of time and energy. Will it detract from other more important goals? Are parents concerned about this?

Ye$, Well worth it $$$$$ Your kid will get his/her name on Bolts prestigious$ Alumni website!

[Unregistered]

Lets say she does want to play in college which would no doubt be very cool, how will that impact her undergrad academics. i.e. study abroad, taking a second major, etc

And what if she wanted to go to grad school, how much of an impact will sports have on her GPA?

At some point, continuing club soccer under certain conditions has diminishing returns.

My big question for me is when is that point

-- Pathfinder

A priori I would not assume soccer adversely impacts GPA (it was actually beneficial for me). If it does then the child should quit (school comes first). If it only has a minimal/negligible impact, participating in a college sport is a good activity to have on the resume. It show's commitment and ability to manage time. Two attributes employers and grad schools are looking for.

In any case, unless $$ is an issue, maybe let the kid decide when to get off the club carousel...

[Unregistered]

A priori I would not assume soccer adversely impacts GPA (it was actually beneficial for me). If it does then the child should quit (school comes first). If it only has a minimal/negligible impact, participating in a college sport is a good activity to have on the resume. It show's commitment and ability to manage time. Two attributes employers and grad schools are looking for.

In any case, unless $$ is an issue, maybe let the kid decide when to get off the club carousel...

Thought we weren't supposed to factor $$ into the equation because all that does is turn club soccer into the dreaded ROI calculation.

[Unregistered]

Didn't any of your teachers ever tell you not to use an apostrophe to make a noun plural?
(teacher's)

So you can spell. Can your kid take another on 1v1? If not spend more teaching them to spell and less time correcting ours.

[Unregistered]

So you can spell. Can your kid take another on 1v1? If not spend more teaching them to spell and less time correcting ours.

My kid will be able to read & write long after your kid has stopped pulling bench splinters from her butt and started bagging groceries. And, she's pretty good 1v1.

[Unregistered]

Lets say she does want to play in college which would no doubt be very cool, how will that impact her undergrad academics. i.e. study abroad, taking a second major, etc

And what if she wanted to go to grad school, how much of an impact will sports have on her GPA?

At some point, continuing club soccer under certain conditions has diminishing returns.

My big question for me is when is that point

-- Pathfinder

There are so many things wrong with this overall orientation that it's hard to know where to start.

The easiest reply someone else wrote, which is that some kids do just as well or even better playing a sport.

As the poster also noted, there are benefits to playing in terms of building character, learning how to perform and be committed as part of a team, which is far different than the very individualistic model that is advertised so much by some notables on this site, resume-building, etc.

But here's the bigger thing. It is a gross error to look at playing entirely in terms of ROI or "returns," diminishing or otherwise.

One of great disservices currently in approach to academics and sports is the glorification of the straight line. That's great for developing robotic automatons...not so great for developing thoughtful, creative, and courageous human beings. That's partly why the idea of 9th graders declaring the occupational choice is so ludicrous (and dangerous).

Just as one example, GPA isn't everything. There might be a kid who plays soccer and gets a 3.2 instead of a 3.65 but who is enriched, and who maybe takes a year or two or three post-grad to get towards more of a final destination. There is always a way, and sometimes going off track, or having some ups and downs, is critical to getting to ultimate success. There are English and Philosophy majors who decide later to go to med school, so they end up having to take a year of classes in a post-baccalaureate program, but as end products I'll put my money on them than the kid who never took a breath, never explored a blind alley, never got confused and had to actually think about who he or she is, etc, etc.

There's something that hardly gets talked about here with all the focus on who is truly elite, who can truly draw the real interest from college coaches, who can make certain all-star and regional teams, who sucks, etc, etc, and that is what can be gained from being part of and playing for your team, loving your teammates, learning and growing and improving over 4 years with some of your best friends for life, playing above your potential because you are playing for your teammates and not for whether you get recognized at a showcase for scholarship money.

I will guarantee you that you won't find a college soccer player who was at least a contributing player off the bench all the way up to the stars of the team who will say they wasted their time.

[Unregistered]

:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
So you can spell. Can your kid take another on 1v1? If not spend more teaching them to spell and less time correcting ours.

My kid will be able to read & write long after your kid has stopped pulling bench splinters from her butt and started bagging groceries. And, she's pretty good 1v1.

wow, that wasn't me, but thanks! Yes, my son would kick your kid's ass 1v1 too!

[Unregistered]

There are so many things wrong with this overall orientation that it's hard to know where to start.

The easiest reply someone else wrote, which is that some kids do just as well or even better playing a sport.

As the poster also noted, there are benefits to playing in terms of building character, learning how to perform and be committed as part of a team, which is far different than the very individualistic model that is advertised so much by some notables on this site, resume-building, etc.

But here's the bigger thing. It is a gross error to look at playing entirely in terms of ROI or "returns," diminishing or otherwise.

One of great disservices currently in approach to academics and sports is the glorification of the straight line. That's great for developing robotic automatons...not so great for developing thoughtful, creative, and courageous human beings. That's partly why the idea of 9th graders declaring the occupational choice is so ludicrous (and dangerous).

Just as one example, GPA isn't everything. There might be a kid who plays soccer and gets a 3.2 instead of a 3.65 but who is enriched, and who maybe takes a year or two or three post-grad to get towards more of a final destination. There is always a way, and sometimes going off track, or having some ups and downs, is critical to getting to ultimate success. There are English and Philosophy majors who decide later to go to med school, so they end up having to take a year of classes in a post-baccalaureate program, but as end products I'll put my money on them than the kid who never took a breath, never explored a blind alley, never got confused and had to actually think about who he or she is, etc, etc.

There's something that hardly gets talked about here with all the focus on who is truly elite, who can truly draw the real interest from college coaches, who can make certain all-star and regional teams, who sucks, etc, etc, and that is what can be gained from being part of and playing for your team, loving your teammates, learning and growing and improving over 4 years with some of your best friends for life, playing above your potential because you are playing for your teammates and not for whether you get recognized at a showcase for scholarship money.

I will guarantee you that you won't find a college soccer player who was at least a contributing player off the bench all the way up to the stars of the team who will say they wasted their time.

Didn't get on the field until senior year, and I would do it all over, if I could! I competed at full speed, and played almost every day. The only 20-25 days I didn't, was when I was on the bench cheering my team on, and supporting my team mates/friends during a game. Didn't Matt Cassel play in only 1 game in HS and at USC, before not playing for 4 years in the NFL?

[Unregistered]

There are so many things wrong with this overall orientation that it's hard to know where to start.

The easiest reply someone else wrote, which is that some kids do just as well or even better playing a sport.

As the poster also noted, there are benefits to playing in terms of building character, learning how to perform and be committed as part of a team, which is far different than the very individualistic model that is advertised so much by some notables on this site, resume-building, etc.

But here's the bigger thing. It is a gross error to look at playing entirely in terms of ROI or "returns," diminishing or otherwise.

One of great disservices currently in approach to academics and sports is the glorification of the straight line. That's great for developing robotic automatons...not so great for developing thoughtful, creative, and courageous human beings. That's partly why the idea of 9th graders declaring the occupational choice is so ludicrous (and dangerous).

Just as one example, GPA isn't everything. There might be a kid who plays soccer and gets a 3.2 instead of a 3.65 but who is enriched, and who maybe takes a year or two or three post-grad to get towards more of a final destination. There is always a way, and sometimes going off track, or having some ups and downs, is critical to getting to ultimate success. There are English and Philosophy majors who decide later to go to med school, so they end up having to take a year of classes in a post-baccalaureate program, but as end products I'll put my money on them than the kid who never took a breath, never explored a blind alley, never got confused and had to actually think about who he or she is, etc, etc.

There's something that hardly gets talked about here with all the focus on who is truly elite, who can truly draw the real interest from college coaches, who can make certain all-star and regional teams, who sucks, etc, etc, and that is what can be gained from being part of and playing for your team, loving your teammates, learning and growing and improving over 4 years with some of your best friends for life, playing above your potential because you are playing for your teammates and not for whether you get recognized at a showcase for scholarship money.

I will guarantee you that you won't find a college soccer player who was at least a contributing player off the bench all the way up to the stars of the team who will say they wasted their time.

Best, most thoughtful post on TS in a very, very long time.

[Unregistered]

There are so many things wrong with this overall orientation that it's hard to know where to start.

The easiest reply someone else wrote, which is that some kids do just as well or even better playing a sport.

As the poster also noted, there are benefits to playing in terms of building character, learning how to perform and be committed as part of a team, which is far different than the very individualistic model that is advertised so much by some notables on this site, resume-building, etc.

But here's the bigger thing. It is a gross error to look at playing entirely in terms of ROI or "returns," diminishing or otherwise.

One of great disservices currently in approach to academics and sports is the glorification of the straight line. That's great for developing robotic automatons...not so great for developing thoughtful, creative, and courageous human beings. That's partly why the idea of 9th graders declaring the occupational choice is so ludicrous (and dangerous).

Just as one example, GPA isn't everything. There might be a kid who plays soccer and gets a 3.2 instead of a 3.65 but who is enriched, and who maybe takes a year or two or three post-grad to get towards more of a final destination. There is always a way, and sometimes going off track, or having some ups and downs, is critical to getting to ultimate success. There are English and Philosophy majors who decide later to go to med school, so they end up having to take a year of classes in a post-baccalaureate program, but as end products I'll put my money on them than the kid who never took a breath, never explored a blind alley, never got confused and had to actually think about who he or she is, etc, etc.

There's something that hardly gets talked about here with all the focus on who is truly elite, who can truly draw the real interest from college coaches, who can make certain all-star and regional teams, who sucks, etc, etc, and that is what can be gained from being part of and playing for your team, loving your teammates, learning and growing and improving over 4 years with some of your best friends for life, playing above your potential because you are playing for your teammates and not for whether you get recognized at a showcase for scholarship money.

I will guarantee you that you won't find a college soccer player who was at least a contributing player off the bench all the way up to the stars of the team who will say they wasted their time.

Probably the same guy who spent years trying to push the "free ranging" parenting concepts and the benefits of free play. Those ideas like this one above are for another generation of kids.

[Unregistered]

Probably the same guy who spent years trying to push the "free ranging" parenting concepts and the benefits of free play. Those ideas like this one above are for another generation of kids.

Yes…and in a few generations people like you will be walking upright...