<p>Shrinkrap, thanks so much for these links. The scholarship amount list is very enlightening. Also, I took a quick look at the 2011 recruits and there are a few Ivy commitments. This adds fuel to the fire that there is some kind of verbal going on, even without a complete read of the application. Still such a muddy process…</p>
<p>OP said: " . . .you just blew your chances for an easy entry into college (not to mention $$) . . . how does she get into college?"</p>
<p>wow . . . I know you’re frustrated , but . . . </p>
<p>It sounds like you have been counting on athletics as The Key to your kid’s college career. While objectively you may have been right - perhaps she really was good to obtain the easy admissions and the tons of athletic scholarship money you envisioned - in practice those kinds of calculations (if only I get my kid to do X then her college plans will all fall into line) are nowhere near sure things, since they are built on a long chain of suppositions. </p>
<p>IF a kid shows extraordinary talent and IF they have the drive and IF they are able to showcase their skills and IF they don’t get injured and IF the schools they want to attend are big on your sport and IF her other accomplishments, grades and SATs fit with the school and IF the school needs kids with her athletic skill set that year and IF that’s the kind of school she likes . . . </p>
Most people are very unrealistic about how good college athletes are … there are 30,000 high schools in the US and about 3000 colleges and depending on the sport about 50-300 giving college scholarships … about 1/100 HS athletes will receive a college scholarship (that is on average one senoir in whatever conference your kid’s HS plays in) … about 1/10 will play in college at all (DI, DII, or DIII) … punchline; there are a ton of talented athletes out there.</p>
<p>Personal story … in HS I was an all-state miler as a junior and senior and often was asked if I was going to try to run in the olympics some day … and I would reply “if about 5000 guys break their legs” and I’d get a confused look in return. Let’s go back to being an all-state runner … I made all-state in my school class size; 6 kids make all state … and there are 4 size groups in Maryland; so 24 milers a year are all-state runners in Maryland … and there are 50 states so about 1200 milers a year are all-state milers (and maybe 100 distance runners receive scholarships each year) … back to the olympics the 3 1500 meter runners come out of about 10 years of runners … 3 or the 10,000 milers over those 10 years … an amazing accomplishment (and why I had no chance at all).</p>
<p>Interesting all that advise came from a coaching forum…</p>
<p>Her club coach cannot communicate with 16 year old girls…and the morale on the team has been waning for the last year…lots of parents grumbling, injuries and hormonal *****iness…</p>
<p>…besides that, the kids really did have a bond but the coach is the one who was getting in the way…</p>
<p>He was trying to build a better team an in doing so hurt feelings and ignored the simple concept of “encouragement”…his style was pressure and negativity…but they were very, very successful, so he did his job in that he developed a winning team but at the expense of morale…OK…move on…and she has!</p>
<p>After talking it over with other parents I realize it was just a formula for disappointment…</p>
<p>i doubt she’s done with soccer. she just needs a better coach. can you move her to a better coach…better team? it’s all about the coach!!</p>
<p>3togo, love the stats, makes my d’s accomplishments that much more breath taking. hard not to live through my kids athletic career:) it’s too much fun!</p>
<p>sockhermom, I agree with pacheight- if she still loves soccer, but hates the coach and the recent team drama, don’t give up. Help her find a way to play this summer. Can she go to some camps on her own (not connected to a camp the rest of the team might be going to?) Can she play as a guest for some other team in your area, or further afield? </p>
<p>As I said in my earlier post, I think quiting isn’t the end of the world, but if this is about things other than the sport itself, maybe she should explore other ways to keep playing.</p>
<p>She will continue to play high school, at least that it what she tells me. Her high school coach is going to try to have some practices over the summer and scrimmage with other teams. I am going to keep my eye out for “guest player” situations…I know a lot of U-18/19 teams are always looking for players since a lot of kids are off doing their own thing by that age and have difficulty making a team, especially for college showcases and she expressed interest in that idea. </p>
<p>The other thing I’ve observed with sports (and some other activities, too) is that the time commitment just grows and grows, and some kids reach a point where they realize that they’re not willing to give everything else up. That can be a very rational decision. (Dropping back to a less intense club, or just doing the school team can be an answer.)</p>
<p>Sounds like she is a top player but even so, I would never count on soccer as the in to college. My sons HS GF was a recruited out of high school from a premium team. She played 1 year and quit. She said that it was no longer fun and was getting in the way of her academics. She is now a finishing med school and says she could never have done it if she had stuck w/ soccer.</p>
<p>Another friend tore up his knee senior year of HS and quit playing competetively as a result. Our own daughter quit her Jr. year and went back to AYSO because she said she had more fun there. She was an amazing player but did not have that competetive streak. She was there for fun and had just as good a time whether they lost or won.</p>
<p>Our 14 year old son plays on a gold team and played varsity his freshman year. He is an amazing player and plans to play in the EPL (either that or be the head athletic trainer for the Lakers- we are in the process of trying to ground him a bit-haha). I honestly hope it all happens for him, but we have told him that no matter what, his grades are the most important. There is just no guarantee with any athletic scholarships and even if there were, soccer yields typically small amounts of money. There is also always that chance of injury. And in the end, they have to possess not only the skills, but the desire. So many of the kids we know have burned out before college. It really has to be their choice. I know it does leave a void for a while, but in the end the kids have to do what is best for them.</p>
<p>OP, I sympathize with you. When your child has invested so much time and effort into an activity, be it a sport or another pursuit, it is very hard to watch him/her quit late in the game so to speak. Reaching the level your daughter did required so much from her all these years, and there was an opportunity cost to focusing so much on soccer. Maybe the necessary sacrifices seldom bothered her before when the team circumstances were better. But now that her team situation is not optimal, the commitment no longer feels worth it.</p>
<p>The good thing is that she still has a year and three months or so of high school before she has to fill out those applications. She has time to do other things that interest her, and staying on the school team is a good interim plan. Perhaps she can use her elite soccer experience in another way, such as becoming a great referee. Females with an understanding of the game are always in demand. She will be highly prized as a referee and could earn a lot of money at tournaments if she wants. </p>
<p>But even if she is completely done with it except for the high school team, all is not lost from an application perspective. She can still list her prior involvement and the level she achieved will demonstrate to colleges that she is hard-working and dedicated.</p>