BEHIND THE PLAY #4

When I played varsity soccer at UBC, that’s in Vancouver BC for the handful of subscribers outside the province, I started thinking about university soccer around the same time I graduated high school. Now parents feel a need to lay ground work for the ‘dream’ their kids have of playing post-secondary soccer many years before they graduate from high school

Let’s get this graphic that took me way too long to put together in PowerPoint into the conversation here. It covers the various levels of play here in BC and I’d suspect other provinces in Canada and parts of the USA have a similar looking structure. People may argue about what I consider reasonable outcomes for each of these levels but at the very least you should consider this as a sounding board when people selling “showcase tournaments” and “personal technical training” and blowing smoke up your ass about how good your kid is and how they’re sure they can help get them a university scholarship.

As has become common in many previously under-monetized aspects of life in recent years, dreams are heartily embraced by commerce and leveraging anxious parents to fund soccer dreams has become an increasingly easy and lucrative business.

The dream of post-secondary soccer though has become a multi-year marathon characterized by FOMO, an unclear pathway and serious-looking tracksuit wearers with convincing accents that camouflage their less-convincing background and motives.

Here’s three important metrics that at best are tracked by a handful of clubs in the country and to my knowledge none of the Provincial Sports Organizations responsible for soccer. These should all be carefully added to a database and made available to parents so they can make informed decisions with their kids.

1. How many players at each club playing in the highest level youth soccer league stop playing before completing U18.

2. How many kids playing at each club playing in the highest level youth soccer league finish their U18 year and end up playing post-secondary soccer?

3. How many of those players who do play university soccer do so for more than one season before quitting or getting cut (both at Canadian universities and those who play in the States for NCAA teams).

I’m going to use the UBC men’s varsity team to illustrate what parents need to consider when looking at university soccer as an option.

The first thing to note about the UBC men’s teams is that 15 players are from outside of British Columbia. Several are from neighbouring Alberta but others are from as far away as Sweden and Taiwan. Fifteen sounds like it’s most of the team, doesn’t it? Well, there are 31 players on the 2023-24 UBC team. Plus three red-shirts. There is no maximum roster size in U-Sport (Canada’s university sport body) and any promised scholarships are not a guarantee that you will make the team. Two of my daughter’s friends only realized this when they went to their university team’s pre-season camp assuming they were on the team and their scholarship as assured. One texted her and said ‘this isn’t a camp, it’s a tryout.’ She made the team but played little while there. The other one did not make the team (different university). She stayed at the university and got her degree there but chose that university on the basis of an assumption she was on the varsity soccer team.

Back to the UBC men’s team. I’ve known Mike Mosher, the coach of the team, since we both played at UBC in the mid-80’s. We asked him to do a presentation to our U17 and U18 players and parents recently to give them the straight goods on what were realistic expectations for their players; none of whom had played at the top two levels in the above pyramid and only one of whom played at the third level.

Mike pointed out what’s clear from his roster. As one of the top university programs in the country and the one that was won more national championships than any other, he recruits nationally and internationally. As covered above, just under half his roster are from outside the Province. Now factor in that most players stay for four to five years and how that impacts space on the roster. Then further factor in that even those who make the roster are competing for playing time with thirty other players. While it may not have been what they hoped to hear, it was what they, and all other parents whose kids hope to play at top university programs need to hear.

So when a guy, let’s call him Roy, contacts you and says he gets players onto university soccer programs despite the fact his Academy is tiny and his background is actually in another sport, maybe think how realistic this is. If you need something else to consider, look at that pyramid of play chart and realize that your child is actually at the fifth level of play (as was actually the case in a recent example. With Roy and one of our players). Unless the Cranbrook Veterinary School has a varsity soccer program it’s really not likely that this is going to pan out as Roy suggests it will as he hands you a pen to get your signature on a cheque…like anyone’s paid a soccer registration by cheque in at least a decade. :)

It’s probably also not going to work out for the player who joined us three or four years ago from another province after the parents sent us video of him dribbling through cones in the hopes of getting him in a particular division of play (note to parents: these videos do not have the effect you may think they have). He played at that same 5th tier and the parents recently demanded we release him so he could play at the 4th tier of play with another club that already had 18 players on their roster to ‘pursue his dream of post-secondary soccer.’

But surely those ‘showcase tournaments’ are an excellent way to get scouted and have college coaches calling you with offers, no? They are not. Between the number of these tournaments and the range of professionalism among university soccer coaches (the same range that exists across all professions I’m sure) your odds are not great. The same top kids stand out to the same coaches and they clamour to get the same 5-10% of the players at the larger showcases. One of our players, and he’s a very good player, got convinced to drop $5,000 to go to a showcase tournament in San Diego by someone that is so left-field that I hadn’t heard of him despite working in the field here for over two decades. Our Technical Director asked the dad, when they got back if it was worthwhile. The dad made it clear it wasn’t.

This really isn’t meant to diminish interest in university soccer; just to temper expectations.

Parents, ask yourself this. Looking at the pyramid of play above, and considering realistic outcomes for your child, are you able to critically assess the view of someone trying to convince you to join their program? It’s great when people say nice things about your kid. It feels good and their belief that they can either help your child ‘get to the next level’ or ‘get them into a university soccer program’ is compelling and gives you the chance to be a ‘good parent’ by providing this important opportunity for your player. But why do the same coaches from the same clubs always seem to be recruiting players to their teams? If they have the abilities they are trying to convince you of, why do they need to convince you and others to join them? Why aren’t the players they already work with sufficient for the success of their team? Why would such an excellent coach have to recruit at all?

Here’s the kicker. How many people actually know what a good coach looks like? And why do so many conflate “thinks my kid is a good player” with “must be a good coach then.”?

Here’s what I’ve seen. The most informed parents know the extent of their knowledge when it comes to soccer development and accept this. Rather than falling prey to confirmation bias they apply a more rigorous methodology and ask a range of people who have no horse in the race their thoughts about the options on the table. They apply filters. They know the loudest guy in the parent WhatsApp group chat is not the authority they should base their decision on. They recognize when someone is using a sales technique on them. They can see that the coach trying to lure them spends more time watching other teams’ players than their own.

You’re allowed to advocate for your kid and you should. You’re allowed to change clubs, subject to league rules, too. Advocacy though is not the same as appeasing. Recognize what a realistic outcome for your player is. Help them enjoy the level they are playing at. If university soccer is realistic, keep info about which university is likely and cross-reference that with considerations around quality of the actual school, if you want your child to go to a university near you or not and whether being one of the last players to make the squad is really in their best interests. Beyond laser focus on a post-secondary goal keep in mind the ancillary benefits of play and ensure that whatever environment they end up playing in will not lead to them quitting the game.

It’s not easy being a parent these days and the sports landscape doesn’t make it any easier. I’ll finish by affirming that I think we at the club end can provide more information that helps parents see what goals are realistic and what a high level pathway can mean in terms of retention at the youth level and enjoyment at the university level.

_{Thanks for reading. Next one out on Monday, April 15. Here’s your reward for getting through the over 1700 words above.  Always Together With You by Spiritualized. (Apple Music) (Spotify)(YouTube)}

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