“Clubs are developing players for nine months and then high school soccer destroys everything during the remaining three,” he says. “It can take months for these players to get back to the level they were originally at.”
There is, he believes, a “huge disparity” in the quality of teams. And the coaches of these teams are, in the main, teachers with no real soccer experience.
“They concentrate more on conditioning than on technical development,” says Fazlagic. “And there are too many on rosters, meaning junior varsity and freshman players don’t get sufficient game time experience.”
The physiology is also “all wrong,” he believes, as players sometimes only have as little as 24 to 48 hours to recover between games.
In essence, he says it’s “parents’ fun time,” although he conceded the spirit in high school soccer is an undeniable positive.
So with the high school season kicking off in the next week across southern Indiana, we asked coaches, players and parents what they thought of it all.
A chance to have fans
Ronda Trimble, the mother of Floyd Central boys’ varsity senior Cray (above, No.7), says she agrees with most of what Fazlagic says, save for his view of the coaches and actually scrapping high school soccer.
“I think it is a well deserved break from their norm,” she says. “It is fun time for parents and players, and attaches kids to their school while promoting school spirit. It also gives them a chance to have fans -- only the parents cheer them on during the competitive season.
“I disagree about the coaches in this area. Most are not teachers and do have soccer experience. I think Cray has learned something from every coach he has had, from Dutch Vigar (with SIU, but also a New Albany boys’ coach) to Zach Watson (Floyd Central coach).”
However, a criticism is that they practice every day and can play several games per week.
“I attribute the three losses (in recent sectionals) to New Albany to fatigue,” she says. “We have one of the toughest schedules of any local team. We are still playing games the week before, and of, the sectional. Floyd Central is too worn out and beat up to perform to their ability and fall short.”
Trimble says she also understands Fazlagic’s point about kids going backwards due to the talent and skill level they compete against in high school.
“He is thinking of his team’s competitive advantage, but there is more to life than soccer -- like finding a place you belong in high school, bonding friendships and winning one for school pride.”
The coach and his keeper
This past spring, Charlestown goalkeeper Cody Brinck made it onto Southern Indiana United’s U16 team and really saw the difference in competition that his varsity coach Andrew Smith had been telling him about.
However, Brinck says he would not be playing with the club if it wasn’t for high school soccer, and his coach agrees.
“Cody was a sophomore the first season he played with the high school team,” says Smith. “He was under prepared, lacked confidence, didn't understand the game very well and had a limited skill set. I forced him to play the position as our starting varsity goalkeeper that season and by the end of that year he was doing very well.”
Brinck has been mowing lawns all summer so that he can rack up the cash required to cover the registration fees to play with SIU. But not everyone can cough up the loot for club, and that’s why high school is important, he believes.
“It may not be as rigorous as club soccer, but that is because it introduces the sport to kids who would never have the money to play club,” says the senior. “If we truly want the sport of soccer to be recognized in the US then we need to start treating it like a game anyone can play, not one where you must have the money or the dedication to play on a select club team. It needs to be accessible to America.”
His coach echoes the view.
“By focusing on club soccer only we aren't accessing the best athletes possible,” says Smith. “Instead, we are only accessing the best athletes who can afford to play club soccer, which as anyone in athletics can tell you, is a preposterous notion.
“The reason basketball and football draw the best athletes in this country is precisely because those two sports are accessible to the athletes through playgrounds and public schools. The same thing that makes soccer great in Brazil, is what makes basketball great here -- it's a playground game. The structure of club soccer has destroyed that accessibility.”
Brinck says he believes high school soccer is also very important because of the relationships that are created.
“When you play on a team with a bunch of kids, you develop friendships that easily carry into the classroom and life in general,” he says. “Even if that were the only reason to keep soccer in schools, I would think that it would be enough.”
The “sports junkie” and his daughter
New Albany senior Taylor Briscoe (far right in photo) says her best soccer memories, not to mention the most important lessons learned, have all come from her experiences playing high school soccer.
“I have played club soccer many seasons and have enjoyed it,” she says. “However, I believe high school soccer has offered me more. (It) keeps a player very active while strengthening the player's endurance, as sometimes there are multiple games in the same week, along with daily practices. The teams you play as a high school soccer player are very diverse and all have different skill levels.”
She thinks that high school soccer benefits a player equally, if not more, than competitive club.
“I know that my high school soccer coaches are all very experienced and knowledgeable on the sport,” she says. “And not only do you learn the skills of soccer and work your way to mastering them in the high school setting, but you also make connections with girls at your school and in your local area.”
Her father Doug is a self proclaimed high school sports junkie, attending basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball, baseball and “a little tennis and cross country”.
When he attends a club soccer game, of which he has attended many, he can feel the difference straight away.
“The energy is very low to the point I personally didn't like it,” he says. “You rarely see anyone at a club game other than families of the players. High school soccer and high school sports are much different. They play a very important part in the high school experience. It gets the parents, students and faculty involved and gives the players a sense of team work and school spirit.”
He added that since Julie Deuser and Jason Crane came on board as coaches at New Albany High School four years ago, the soccer program has gone to another level.
“The players, parents, students and faculty have really gotten behind the girls’ and boys’ teams, and without their support the program would be not survive.”
Briscoe says that he, along with other parents, give countless hours to promoting high school soccer and raise a lot of money to help support the teams.
“We also got the girls involved in giving back with our charity fundraiser, Passionately Pink,” he says. “Show me one club team that does as much for kids as high school sports does.”
