Background: S22 HS sophomore goes to a smallish rural public school in Texas. He loves his school and excels in soccer (GK) and music, could probably compete at a very high level on both these things and that’s where all his energy and focus goes. As a result, his grades have suffered. Class sizes are too large, he’s distracted, uninterested, unmotivated. Right now he has C’s in all core classes (AP/honors). I’m appalled at his writing, the teachers often have to teach to the test and honestly are too busy to provide valuable feedback on what little writing they do. He is going to be woefully unprepared for college, which he says he is interested in pursuing at this time. He does NOT want to leave current high school for BS.
I’m wondering if he is a good candidate for PG? If so, when do we start looking? If he can get his average to a B, will he have any reasonable options? I’m not looking for elite because I know he’s going to have catch-up to do. We do not need FA if that makes any difference.
How good a goalkeeper is he? If really good – would be a high D1 level player in college – there are some residential academies that are focused on placing high level soccer players in college. Northwood School in Lake Placid NY is one; another (mostly if not all international) is Putnam Science in CT. I’m sure there are others. The educational level isn’t that high, but that isn’t the point of these places, their point is for the kids to get a high school education while focusing on soccer and ultimately getting into good colleges using soccer recruiting
Another program to investigate is South Kent boys school. Top soccer program, great coach. Again, not super academically focused but ok.
You’ve probably read the other PG thread; Berkshire School, which is much more academic is a very strong soccer program that loves to recruit. They’ve had 2 players turn pro within a couple of years of leaving Berkshire (one straight from Berkshire into the MLS last year). Their goalkeeper last year is rumored to be going pro with the NE Revolution too, but don’t know if he has.
Sorry to only focus on soccer, you might not want that focus. I will let others chime in on the academic side, I am less familiar with what’s best to do with a C student, whether a PG year will make a big difference in that case. It might, but I suspect the student has to be very motivated and as a result do much better in the PG year.
Thanks for your comments. I believe he could be a D1 player, we’ll really know after this season… First game is next week. He likes soccer a lot, but not enough to make it a full-time year-round focus. And he needs to work more on his grades at some point, the athletics are time consuming and tiring.
He is really balking at the idea of a PG year. Maybe we’d be better off with junior college if he can’t turn it around.
Well since he’s in his Sophomore year, have you thought about a private school for the last two years? Or a repeat?
Does he know that he’ll still need decent grades to be D1? There used to be understanding around kids developing later but there isn’t as much wriggle room anymore. Have you met with the guidance counselor and your son? They might be able to tell him the options are very limited where he is now. If not, maybe a coach and your son. There must be data to support what his GPA would bring. Naviance has data from his school. You could see where C students went from your school.
Sounds like he’s the perfect BS repeat candidate.
Your son is a perfect candidate for a boarding school. My son was a junior at a public high school and not doing well. When we reached out to one boarding school they suggested he repeat his junior year at a boarding school and this turned out to be the best decision we have made. If you can afford it think about boarding school. The boarding school my kid goes to transformed him into a different person altogether. He is now well-disciplined, his grades have gone up, has become more motivated and now looking to go to college at one of the top LACs. I would not wait for PG but to do it now as it might be too late after his Senior year. My other son did a PG year at a boarding school, but he had good academics and SAT. The PG year made him more mature. For his PG year, he took more challenging classes and explored more things he was not able to do at our public high school.
Thanks for your input. He absolutely does not want to leave public school. He is heavily involved in marching band (drumline) and that is his life. Aside from the athletics, of course. I don’t think we could replicate that experience at a boarding school.
@Zipsta did your son have any issues with admittance since he was not doing well? It’s interesting because my other two kids are doing fine in the same school system. D20 is going off to a SLAC on the west coast next year and youngest is thriving so far, but it’s still just middle school.
There’s a lot you need to think about regarding PG year:
First is that PGs almost immediately have to start thinking about college as soon as they step on campus. Getting letters of recommendation will be difficult, because the teachers will have known them only for a couple of months.
Second issue is that doing a PG year might affect the time he is NCAA eligible. If I remember correctly, spending 5 years in high school will reduce 1 year of college playing time. I remember reading about this a while ago. But double check to make sure.
Third is that most of the PGs that I’ve known are doing it for sports reasons – usually a college coach wants them to get more academic experience. Or to spend another year growing physically before starting college. If your son is a serious recruit, the college coaches will tell him about this option.
Finally is that the curriculum for PGs are similar to what the 12th grade students take – advanced level classes. Most are IB/AP level and beyond. If he is getting C’s now, this will be a notch higher. He will need some academic skills improvement before jumping into PG level coursework.