What age group? I can ask about the coaches for Blitz in that age group. They’ve got some excellent coaches in the mix and I trust the person I will ask to give me an honest answer on where they expect to be (my source fully expects FC Tulsa (formerly Blitz) will have NL for next year…he’s pretty well connected). The MLS Next BS not allowing HS soccer is just crazy, especially here in Oklahoma where there is a tremendous amount of pride taken for playing for your school (in any sport). There’s a different vibe for HS and it might not be the highest quality but if he’s playing at one of the Tulsa area 6A schools, it’s going to be pretty quality soccer and there is something about the team atmosphere in HS you just don’t get with club soccer and that teamwork and camaraderie is a life experience that will be a core memory/experience that is hard to duplicate.
Not everyone attends a 6A high school. Guess what too? Lots of the big 6A schools have friggin awful coaches, too. You have an inordinate love affair with Mike Wilson, but that is not typical. I had a supposed great coach in high school. Guess what? He was below average. Everyone on our team would have said as much. But outside, people thought he was great because we won a bunch and were blessed with an incredible run of talent. We took down all the 6A schools sans BA. He wasn't a butthead, but he did zero to make a single player better. Zero. Nada. Nothing.
Lots go to terrible places for soccer, say a Riverfield or Victory Christian. The homey who played for FC Tulsa and is now playing for BU played at Riverfield. Do you think he got anything out of that? No. They had him play forward, too. He scored like a gazillion goals in 2A. He probably got worse.
But as you said, we had it SUPER fun and many of those dudes are my close friends to this day. Then again, so are some of my club soccer friends.
Well, it shouldn't. It adds waaaayyyyy too many games into the scene and training.
I know you don't live in a real environment like a Colorado Rapids, Dynamo or FC Dallas boys. These are legitimate academies that I would put on par with those in other countries in how they handle themselves. In places like Denver, kids will stomp on each other's throats to make those teams.
BTW, Dallas Texans u19 ECNL beat Fulham's academy team at the Dallas Cup a couple of years ago. You know who turned around and beat that Texans team? TSC boys. That Texans team had 9 D1 commitments. I think the game was 3-2 or something like that.
On a different thread, the constant threads that people poo-poo American soccer make me want to scream. I am so sick of it. It is from pure ignoramuses on Youtube. Italy is struggling a lot in Europe, but you still don't hear the whining as if it is a problem across the board. I am jus