Timbers Tid Bits: Highschool Edition... with a poll!
by Geoff Gibson on Sep 27, 2011 9:48 AM PDT
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PrintSo an article appeared in yesterday's TTB that I think warrants a bit more discussion with regards to the Timbers academies. Essentially what is happening is when the Timbers officially launch their academies this year they'll mandate that any player who signs up will not be allowed to play for their local high school anymore.
The arguments for such a move are pretty standard: there's an increased risk of injury, high schools don't train players properly, players will be playing teams below their level... etc.
Blah blah blah. What I want to know is if you agree or disagree with the mandate. Obviously taking away some of the best high school players is going to affect high school athletics and, if you're a particular fan of a high school team you could be facing a diminished team in the future.
So what do you think? Should the players be allowed to continue playing for their respective high schools or should they remain 100% focused on their development? Sound off in the comments and poll below!
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I think they should be allowed to but I don’t think it is good for their development. I was one of the lucky few who actually played on a good High School team. All of us were club players and were on teams that challenged for state titles (both in High School and in Club). We were also lucky that we had a former professional soccer player from Romania as our head coach.
However I know a lot of players who would play for the academy team who would be playing on a team full of players who don’t play soccer year round and are coached by the Math teacher. So while they would have fun playing with their and in front of their friends it either stagnates their development or they regress.
With all that said it is still up to the player to choose as it is their life. I would say to GW that he should strongly suggest players not play for their High School but they can if they want and explain why it would be better that they don’t. The hard line may drive some players away from the academy that want to play for their High Schools and drives a wedge between the community and the Timbers.
Contributing editor to Stumptown Footy the Portland Timbers SBN blog.
I was outspoken on this yesterday
But for those not addicted to their iThing like me and who weren’t around yesterday, I fully support the Timbers and the league on this.
It’s important to note that it’s not a unilateral Timbers mandate but is required by the league the academy team will play in (if I understand correctly).
That said, why are people presuming the academy team won’t play in front of friends and family… at least for home games?
It’s PDX, Timbers Army, etc., the academy team will play in front of decent crowds here by youth standards… or am I missing something?
Even if academy crowds are small the people they’ll play in front of are people who can help a player actually get somewhere. The additional exposure to well-connected soccer people is more than a fair trade off for less games in front of mom and dad.
Socially, what would give a kid more currency? Playing soccer for Westview HS (nothing against them) or the Timbers academy? It’s an easy answer people.
Keep the mandate regardless if some adults have a sentiment for high school soccer and protest too much. Even if there is some foolish “backlash” (the irrational fear of this overestimates the importance of HS soccer to the community) I’m sure there will still be plenty of good players who won’t mind leaving their HS teams if invited to Timbers academy.
Again, it’s a development league requirement anyway, yes? So if the Timbers want an academy – and they should – they have to play by those rules.
Some people just fear change even if everyone knows the old way has limitations. The acadamies won’t destroy high school soccer and in time will enhance the American game greatly. We’ll see Oregonians and Cascadians doing good stuff here or abroad. It’s time for American soccer to take a step up and move onward.
by yepyou'reright on Sep 27, 2011 1:02 PM PDT via iPhone app up reply actions
This pretty much is dictated by the development league they play in
It was announced they are moving to a 10 month schedule.
Jag kom, jag såg, erövrade jag.
Either way I still support the Timbers on this
by yepyou'reright on Sep 27, 2011 3:34 PM PDT via iPhone app up reply actions
10 month schedule for high school kids???
Obviously I’m not up on soccer academies world wide and what not, but that seems like an overly long season for that age. Seems like it would lead to burnout and overuse injuries. Personally, I favor high school athletes playing multiple sports to promote cross training and prevent overuse, but thats just my opinion, and like I said, I dont know how its done in the soccer world.
Portland, where playing Star Wars music is cool, and doing it in a Kilt makes you famous.
by Sean in Vancouver on Sep 27, 2011 9:24 PM PDT up reply actions
But we don't how many matches there will be
or at what frequency. Is it one match per week or every other week? Winter breaks? Will it be more like MLS Reserves where there are matches at random times throughout the season?
Whatever the case may be, people do need to see details and the Timbers might have to go on a goodwill tour to explain things.
by yepyou'reright on Sep 27, 2011 10:03 PM PDT via iPhone app up reply actions
edit fail
We don’t know how many matches there will be…
by yepyou'reright on Sep 27, 2011 10:05 PM PDT via iPhone app up reply actions
Very good points
more information would definitely help
Portland, where playing Star Wars music is cool, and doing it in a Kilt makes you famous.
by Sean in Vancouver on Sep 28, 2011 11:44 PM PDT up reply actions
The emphasis on these leagues is training over matches.
There is a long standing criticism that youth soccer plays to win and plays matches too often instead of focusing on skills and development.
So, yes, 10 months, but maybe only 2-6 games a month I’m guessing or depending on the year maybe more during the summer.
Jag kom, jag såg, erövrade jag.
So soccer people dislike youth soccer because it focuses on winning
and non-soccer people dislike youth soccer because “everyone gets a medal” lol
Just curious, about how often do these teams practice? Is it like high school practice where its 2 or 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. or closer to weekends or a couple days per week?
Portland, where playing Star Wars music is cool, and doing it in a Kilt makes you famous.
by Sean in Vancouver on Sep 28, 2011 11:43 PM PDT up reply actions
Club soccer is usually at most 3 practices in a week. Games on the weekend
But more often just two practices for two hours. NOT enough to develop a kid. I got better because I sought out other places to play. Indoor leagues [against adults when I was 14 :) ], pick-up games, juggling on my own.
Jag kom, jag såg, erövrade jag.
Not required by the League
The league has not come out on a stance either way, they just say that MLS teams can now have Academies.
Contributing editor to Stumptown Footy the Portland Timbers SBN blog.
Yes, with qualifiers
The minute you tell high school students they can’t do something, that’s exactly when they want nothing more in the world than to do that thing they’ve been told they can’t do.
That being said, I think the Timbers should go ahead and set up an academy that operates year round and makes playing for an HS team nearly impossible. If a kid can manage to fit in a HS basketball season on top of all the academy stuff, more power to him/her.
But in order for me to be totally in favor of the plan, two things need to happen:
1. They need a girls team too. Creating an exclusive league of boys teams would be a blow to HS boys programs, but the HS girls programs would be harshly affected as well. High schools and colleges are required to field teams for both genders — it’s the reason the USWNT is one of the best women’s teams in the world. If we deny these opportunities to women, we’ll lose our place at the top of the women’s game. (Not to mention the giant step backwards we’ll be taking as a society.)
The Timbers have an opportunity to start an amazing trend in soccer in this country, and that trend should absolutely start in Soccer City USA. Let’s make sure that trend doesn’t exclude our top female footballers.
2. There absolutely has to be a rigorous academic component, and the team will need to make sure they’re providing sufficient counseling and other services for these kids as well. The best development programs in Europe provide those aspects; the worst programs are little more than human trafficking operations. The Timbers need to make sure they’re doing what’s best for the kids.
When I write, I write for the Timbers. Contributing Editor of Stumptown Footy
by Andrew Wheeler on Sep 27, 2011 11:00 AM PDT reply actions
I say no.
while I am a fan of all sports (High school and college included), I am not really a fan of the idea of sports in schools. better done outside of school and let schools concentrate on non sports acedemic stuff.
With that said, I am not sure this is a good call. HS sports still have something for these kdis that will be useful. Playing out of normal position, leadership experience, playing in front of crowds/pressure, etc…
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