Quote:
Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA
The top tier in a number of sports are increasingly not playing HS in order to play club/travel level instead
|
This part became abundantly clear to me this year as he was a Freshman. Around here for soccer at least, the remaining value in playing on the HS team, if you want to, say, play D1, is something like making All-State. Otherwise you're going to get a lot more exposure playing club and participating in all the various ID events (and camps).
We're navigating this with our 14-year-old right now. He probably has the natural talent and physical development to play D1 if he puts in the work, but it's not at all clear he really wants to do that. Right now it's clear he's trying to find the right balance between his academic workload, demands of soccer, and finding time to have fun with his buddies. Interestingly, the only thing he really liked about the Freshman soccer team, was more time spent with his buddies (many of whom are also on his club team).
We're not pressing him to go one way or another, just trying to help him navigate what it is that makes him the most happy. But that's a tough question for someone at any age, much less a 14-year-old.
Related, and back to the topic of the thread, it seems based on my experience, that the worst parents are the ones who didn't quite make it as HS athletes and are trying to push their kids to do what they couldn't do. The parents (like me, not to sound arrogant) who had a successful HS career, are generally more even-keeled about it, as a) they know the sacrifice it takes and b) don't feel a need to live vicariously through their children.