HIgh School or Club Soccer?
Dear WPS,
I wrote an article about my decision of whether or not I should play high school soccer. I truly believe it is the right decision for me and I hope you
enjoy reading it!
Sincerely,
-A player of the game
Have you ever wanted to be the best? Have you ever had to sacrifice part of your life to obtain that?
This is an article about a very tough decision I made about whether or
not I should play high school soccer. Many of you out there may have to
make this kind of decision some time in your life and I hope this article
will help you make the right one for yourself.
I have been playing soccer since I was about 5 years old. Around the age of 8 I decided to play club soccer (select). I’m 15 years old now. I had been walking down this path until February of 2004 when the direction I was traveling drastically changed. I received a letter inviting me into the Initial Player Pool for the Washington State’s ODP (Olympic Development Program) soccer team. Not really knowing where this program would take me I decided to try it out and just see how far I could go.
Expecting not to go far at all I ended up making the State Team, Region IV Team, went to the U15 National Camp in Boston, and got invited to Boca Raton, Florida with the Region IV Team.
Looking back on the year I had, I realized I wasn’t an average teenager or let alone soccer player. God has “gifted” me with the ability to play soccer at very high levels. Stepping onto a new path I have had to give up a lot of my “social” life to train 5-6 days a week in order to become the best I can. Over the year I’ve sacrificed going to the movies and doing other things with my friends in order to train. Everybody always thinks it’s easy! Well, actually it isn’t always easy or fun. It takes a lot of hard work, you have to sacrifice many things in your life, and some times it can be a very lonely road to travel down if you’re not surrounded by the right people. Yet, I’d have to say it’s been worth everything I’ve sacrificed just to experience what I have!
This year I continued to do ODP and so far I’ve made the State Team and the Region IV Team. Going into my freshman year this year I get the opportunity to play high school soccer for my first year. Washington State is one of the states that let you play high school soccer and club at the same time. So I had to make a decision to play high school soccer, or not and continue my training program. You really can’t do both because it would be way too hard on your body. I thought and prayed about it for a very, very long time and debated both sides of my situation. I talked about it with my parents, friends, and my trainer. All of them gave their opinions on my situation and what they thought I should do. Yet, all of them left it up to me to decide, and either way they’d support me one hundred percent.
I figured if I played high school soccer it would be a ton of fun and something I have never experienced before. People could come watch me play and I could say I played for so and so high school. The social aspect of it would be huge for me considering I’m home schooled and really don’t experience that every day social life. And of course lettering and having a letterman jacket. How awesome are those?
Yet the flip side for me was that there is a very high risk of getting injured playing high school soccer this day and age. I wouldn’t want to blow my knee out and not have a shot at making the National Team this year or never get back to the level of play I am right now. I’d also have to completely stop training individually with my trainer for basically two and a half months. You can’t do both high school soccer and rigorous training because high school soccer goes five days a week with games and it would be way too hard on my body. Then I began to think if I stopped training and played high school soccer that most likely my game would plateau or begin to drop off. Some people began to tell me that I’d still be practicing with the high school team and get their coaching. Well, a few coaches told me that really at a high school practice the coach doesn’t try to improve your game. He takes the talent he already has and teaches them set plays in order to make a team. So in reality I wouldn’t be getting as high quality training as I am now.
If my game started to decline, my goals for making the National Team, playing in the Olympics, getting a scholarship, and playing college ball would all be tougher to achieve. I also looked at what I’ve done in my soccer career. With all the ODP I’ve done and how far I’ve gone in the past year, I really don’t need high school soccer to put on my resume.
So in reality, if I played high school soccer it would only be for the camaraderie and social aspect. I’m not saying this is a bad thing at all, but the path that I’m choosing to take and travel down doesn’t need high school soccer. I believe it could actually hinder me as a player.
After thinking and debating my situation I have decided that I will not be playing high school soccer this year and will continue to train and work hard toward my goals instead! I’m very happy with my decision and truly believe it is the right one for me!
WPS Soccer got this email over the weekend. I included what I received at the top of the article. I felt it would be a good article to share, considering High School Girls soccer has just started. Thanks for sharing your choice, and best of luck to you.
