Should You Play High School or Academy Soccer?

It can be difficult deciding where to play in 2019 with over a half dozen youth leagues now available to players in America. I played 1 year of high school soccer before deciding to solely focus on Developmental Academy. There is no right or wrong way to pursue a college scholarship or professional contract. There are many roads that lead to the same destination. However, you need to have an understanding of the pros and cons of club and high school soccer in order to choose the team that will best suit your needs as a footballer.
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[@JacobMeza-pro-footballer]

I feel that DA Academy is by far the better choice over high school soccer-if you have the money. If you have the money, for sure choose Academy over high school, if you are truly serious about the sport, and want to take the best route. But if you’re not well off financially, and can’t afford to pay the cost for America’s ill, pay to play system, then don’t fret. If you’re good enough, and you want it enough, it’ll work out. Just continue to work your ass off and don’t worry about the other tings.

[@randomchild8292]

2 years later and the da was canceled i think

[@sportsmosticonic8546]

Can we come to the conclusion that some of the DA academy’s are over priced.

[@bethegreatest4976]

totally agreeed

[@Alex.Mihailovic]

you mean all

[@farhadnejjad9947]

Alex Mihailovic My Cousin plays for LAFC Academy he didn’t pay a penny.

[@adamamzil1723]

Викторин Резников cuz he got scouted

[@alexandersanchez9466]

I play DA and all DA teams except IMG is basically free

[@fesma2198]

Perfect timing. As always mate cheers!

[@vichernandez5019]

Fortunate enough to have a coach that played in college and small level of the pros. Very fortunate to be able to practice every day in high school

[@sebastianrundstromsveden]

HOW do you only have 20k subs? You deserve way more

[@bethegreatest4976]

Hell reach 30K vy the emd of the year!

[@benjaminwilliams8201]

Thanks spencer for the information 🤘🏽it will definitely be helpful

[@pithed2]

In the USA, outside of DA clubs, kids generally play club soccer year round from U10-U14. U15-U19 they play High School during 1 season (Fall or Spring, depending upon your state) and club the rest of the year. Developmental Academy is relatively new. DA kids now play year round (U15+) and bypass high school. Even within DA, the expectations are a bit different. DA clubs supported by MLS teams are looking to make professional players, first and foremost. DA clubs without MLS support would love to have pro players, but are much more likely to push you to college.

[@OfficialKowalski]

All good bro keep up the grind it’s your life

[@zenorouffa8429]

Awesome vid again spencer, keep it up bro!

[@omarbel2127]

This is a quality vid keep grinding man

[@TCUltimate]

Great Video! Thank you!

[@daddykenyon8470]

Your videos are gold! ❤️

[@wm1938]

I play national league in the us youth soccer set up and we don’t have a club season during the high school season, therefore we must play high school if we want to play competitively. We also play academy teams all the time and do well against them. But a lot of friends on my team and I were all on varsity as sophomores and I can say that the level was very high it just depends on your area and the feeder clubs around u. Many of soccer players at my school have also gone d1. We also practice the same amount as we do at the club level which is 6 days a week. I would rather chose club tho since the quality is higher and they give us more amenities.

[@SoccerLemon]

WM19 Hey bro⚽️ I thought you might appreciate this video! In this video you will see 3 types of soccer/football drills that work on an aspect of the game. We start off with a technical warm-up with includes standard juggling as well as some different variations. We progress into some passing drills to practice hitting a firm ball and to keep getting touches on the ball. Finally, we finish with shooting, where it is emphasized to focus on placement over power. Try to pick out a corner and practice firmly striking the ball in the side netting where the keeper can't get it. I hope it helps you out kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJfUpYaOpq-dhs0

[@nofurtherwest3474]

That's awesome that you can play both club and HS. Are there some clubs that don't allow it? That was my understanding. I'm confused. Does it just depend on the club?

[@ianflick4354]

WM19 same for me

[@imateapot51]

@@nofurtherwest3474 There was an article in my local news about a high school soccer girl academy star who was not allowed to play high school soccer so she kicked field goals for her school's football team.

[@nofurtherwest3474]

imateapot51 that’s a cool story thanks

[@ajvera7081]

I think high school is something to help with growing as a player by playing against older competition as spencer said. This past season I Played varsity as a freshman and we made it all the way to state and I can say that it helped me grow as a player playing guys up to 3-4 years older then me because the level is still high but it also depends on your area. Club is also great because of the quality offered but a lot of components come into play with where you play and how good your team is plus the costs.

[@ColonialUnited]

I used to coach NCAA and every player we signed played club. I now coach NJCAA and I find the occasional diamond in the rough through high school recruiting but most of the top HS players play club as well. Typically the HS only players are a step behind the speed of play that club players are. Even in juco I'd say over 90% of my players played club before coming here, though nearly every one also played HS ball as well.

[@bethegreatest4976]

Is it possible to play in professional youth reserves and get the education in a different country but still get committed to college soccer.

[@nofurtherwest3474]

Thanks for the insights coach! It's good to know that kids can play both high school and club. I hear that some clubs do not allow it, or maybe that's just the DAs?

[@imateapot51]

@@nofurtherwest3474 The academies that do not allow it play and practice during the high school season, that is why they do not allow their players to play high school.

[@nofurtherwest3474]

@@imateapot51 Oh I see so all of the academies don't allow it. How about clubs? Is it on a club by club basis?

[@kasholadapo7914]

@no further west the DA season is 9 months of the year so all DA players aren’t supposed to play club or HS (but is possible you just have to be taken off the DA roster during the club or HS season) In most states club and HS aren’t happening at the same time so you can play both

[@CoachZ]

Just to comment on the coaches for high school, I am currently in my 4th year of coaching with a USSF D License. I have coached everything from U6 travel to Varsity High School. I am a teacher as well, so it is easier to get a job at a high school for soccer for somebody like me. However, in my area, in South Florida, majority of the coaches have to have licenses in order to be hired. I also know a lot of travel coaches that coach high school in the area as well, like myself. I believe the coaches for high school have changed for the better, and the majority of them have experience now. Also, we had practices 4-5 times a week, unless we had 2 games a week, then we only had practice 2-3 times a week.

[@pithed2]

Regardless of where you play, you need to put in all the work to get recruited. DA helps put you in front of college coaches, but it still helps a ton to contact coaches. Use all the email addresses Spencer has on his site.

[@harrysoper7104]

The youth teams for sporting KC and other MLSteams are free I believe. Those are definetly of a very high level and pretty good for your development.

[@lalomastercheifbetch5302]

I play at at hs team in Illinois and we do the same amount of training as clubs do and they are hard training sessions, a lot of good players from my team get scouted to colleges and really good universities. I think it just depends on the area you’re from if highschool is better then club soccer because where I’m from my hs is a really good team

[@thejourney7284]

You are one of the KZbinr that I look up to that’s why I started my own KZbin channel, thank you for motivating me

[@SpencerMoeller]

👊🏻👌🏼⚽️

[@osamaismail1122]

The Rochester Lancers dude played with the same team as Michael Cunningham.

[@ic3soda38]

Osama Ismail Rochester gang ayyyyy

[@Emma-xh3tb]

Soccer in USA it’s all about money I can’t tell you that those who waste their money for college to go pro it’s stupid you could go abroad playing true football here big talent got wasted because of the system end up give up

[@bethegreatest4976]

wow... ill consider your opinion a whole much since I have opportunities to play for pro-youth reserves in my homeland, and I'm a rising sophomore

[@LSofJC]

Be The Greatest where at?

[@Emma-xh3tb]

Be The Greatest go for it here you will really waste your time some clubs only care about money than development

[@bethegreatest4976]

@@LSofJC Honduras. My uncle played division 1 for 3 different teams over there, and I feel it would ve very beneficial for me to go since I have U.S. residence.

[@Theovoncentral_]

Manu Jibi you are absolutely right

[@Felipe-yg5fe]

I’ve never been on a soccer team but I’ve always been a good defense and I’m trying to get into the high school soccer team as a senior. You think it’s a good idea?

[@wiegande7296]

I have a question about my school my hs has practices on all weekdays and has Highered trainers so I play there to improve how do I get attention of college scouts

[@luissalas6921]

kinda late, but I’m a senior in high school, the best thing to do is to reach out to college coaches by email. It’d help you out a lot if you have some footage of your games. I landed a offer to a D3 school, I was fortunate enough that a coach gave me a opportunity, but keep working hard, you’ll have setbacks here and there but keep pushing. A few coaches will be willing to go see you play, if you’re not a senior at this point.

[@mogarba1463]

Academy gets you more exposure to D1 coaches, but you can go D2-D3 from high school if you play on a decent team.

[@marcosdominguez4788]

Mo Garba it all comes down to the player

[@cristofherjaredlopezmartin7348]

@@marcosdominguez4788 agreed

[@trefeezy3536]

Its Another Mexican all of it

[@JuanFlores-yq2gk]

I have a question Spencer about this club, does Chicago Fire Juniors City take part of this program because not that much information was given to them, or what is Chicago Fire Juniors City considered to be (An Youth Academy or just a Club team)

[@sportsmosticonic8546]

I play club but we weren’t a DA club i guess you could say it was a traveling team. What do you think?

[@SpencerMoeller]

Club soccer gives you more exposure than the majority of high school teams, but as I said in the video, DA gives youth footballers the best chance to get noticed by college scouts in 2019.

[@eduardocontrerascristerna2396]

Hi, I spect to someone could respond to me this question. If you play for a University in US, do you have to sign a contract for all the next four years? I mean, can´t you just play like 1 year and then try to make it in the USL or you have to keep it with the University?

[@SpencerMoeller]

You can sign 1-4 year scholarships but you're not bound or committed to the school/program. You can leave whenever you want 👍🏼

[@davidgoal6890]

My school charges each player a general sports fee of $100 and when you make the team you have to pay $240 for meals, uniforms, and transport. I go to a public Highschool btw

[@bigrickthegoat]

damn i go to public school and its free

[@roccogiannotti4087]

David Gooal i go to private school and it’s $500 lol

[@cristofherjaredlopezmartin7348]

@@bigrickthegoat same

[@luispop8941]

David Gooal dude that’s not even bad at all I pay around 5,000 a year and I play on a academy

[@moose7034]

Metro breckmann played with 7mlc

[@oreman011]

I played club (not da) and high school soccer since the seasons were at different times. Is it common for the club seasons to overlap with high school? This is the first time I heard of this

[@greysonward4859]

Yeah there’s time I’ve got 1-3 games a week

[@danialsalar]

Yeah, usually some clubs forbid you from playing high school at the same time. Therefore, you have to choose either form of soccer. If you play DA, stay with the club. If you don’t play DA, it’s better to play high school soccer.

[@zuhaipmaxamed5201]

I have a qustin what if you play both

[@ezramathew8192]

Im 13 and have never played in a club due to financial issues. Can high school soccer take me anywhere or am i too old

[@maplesizzurp2.055]

I actually played high school soccer as a junior high grade 8 and 9 I played with the high school team ..

[@The_Aligor]

Highschool

[@jordinzoao1573]

In high school is possible become a pro soccer in mls?

[@kaim809]

i play DA for IMG

[@pedrooo200]

Spencer, which academy would you recommend to go cheap and good in the United States?

[@SpencerMoeller]

Answered your question on Instagram👍🏼

[@ncmfcc-noncopyrightmusicfo7382]

All mls academies are free except for DC United

[@jamess1989]

Hi, I’m from the uk and can move to the us to do a soccer scholarship. It costs thousands of pounds before you even start then your looking at £10,000-£15,000 a year and was just looking for any advice if it’s worth it? Any help would be greatly appreciated

[@SpencerMoeller]

Always try to market yourself first before you sign with any overpriced scholarship agency. You have access to every single men's college soccer email in the country on my website so make good use of those emails lists begin marketing yourself as a player. Ideally you want to send them your highlight video and CV. There's over 1,200+ men's college programs in the country so don't assume you'll be stuck paying £10,000-£15,000 a year. There's a lot of scholarships out there👍🏻

[@Delly420]

I play high school soccer

[@MCF2516]

In SoCal you play club year around and you can play HS from Dec to Feb then it’s back to club. Flight 1 is flight 1. DA is $2800 fee and a ECNL or NPL or CRL club fee is $1200 - $1700. DA won’t let you play any other sport let alone HS. If you are playing flight 1 in SoCal in CRL or ECNL you have just as much exposure to college coaches as the DA players. Also there are a lot of DA players that aren’t that good. There is A LOT of politics in clubs like Surf. The best players I’ve seen are in CRL. So the point is that it is different in SoCal. If you play flight 1 here you can play college even if you don’t play over priced over hyped DA.

[@ncmfcc-noncopyrightmusicfo7382]

Bro, I’m a player in the SoCal area as well, payers are bieng signed pro contracts directly from their academy teams, like lafc academy they sighned 3 16 year olds this year to the pro team from academy, looking at your team highlight video your not even near la surf mls academy

[@ncmfcc-noncopyrightmusicfo7382]

La surf mls academy you’ll pay 0$ unlike your 3000$ club

[@cameron1120]

Our training is a mile and a half at 6:30 am and then practice at 3:30- 5:30. that’s in high school.

[@user-wz7lq3fu5n]

I train 5 days a week at American heritage

[@francisgkmamuzu5048]

Ghana has talented players but their management is very poor.

[@nofurtherwest3474]

So many good players in Africa, they play often. they are way faster than American players (I play with some here in US)

[@adamamzil1723]

yes same thing with morocco a lot of moroccan players they were born and europe and very young and play there like my age 17,18 they play in like holland belgium spain france italy germany and denmark

[@francisgkmamuzu5048]

@@adamamzil1723 I certainly agree

[@adamamzil1723]

Francis GKM Amuzu even here in the us there’s a lot of african players that aren’t noticed and goes with their other country such as france spain holland africa lost so many golden boys to those countries imagine if africa had those players atleast in one big team there’s a african based on one player if we had those players atleast one world cup to africa

[@francisgkmamuzu5048]

@@adamamzil1723 that is why our management has been very poor long since. Everyone is thinking about money, money, money. The Ghanaian Premier League has been banned for a year now and there's nothing to be done about it. Players are giving up now

[@manuelanelli4766]

Why you don't have the translate sottotitles

[@SpencerMoeller]

You would need to transcribe the entire video in order to do that.

[@thomasmilem7466]

My middle school team trains every day

[@toufiqahmed1678]

I want to join a academy or a team in New York but it’s over $2000 or they ask u for ur previous team, but I never played for a team. Someone help me .

[@SpencerMoeller]

Playing for your high school team should be your first option then. if you're not in HS yet I would look to play for a smaller local club as most will cost between $500-$1,000.

[@toufiqahmed1678]

@@SpencerMoeller ty

[@imateapot51]

When I watch my local high school teams play it is kick and run soccer. I feel in the last 40 years we have gone downhill, at least with the men. To make a basketball analogy, imagine players dribbling while completely exposing the ball, passing so inaccurately that one out of every three passes gets intercepted, and one out of three accurate passes is not caught and thus intercepted. The other team gets the ball and since they have the same lack of passing and catching skills they just throw the ball down to their half and run after it. MY town's recreation soccer is a joke. The town's travelling team charges 700 and is glorified recreation. Some parent that may have played high school soccer and once a week a paid certified coach who must feel overwhelmed with the lack of skill and does not have enough time or desire to teach what the kids need. The academy system is not working. Not enough highly skilled future parents who can teach their kids and their friends all the skills they need before they hit age 10. Like in Europe.

[@kuroitenshi9882]

but dont think that it's easier in europe i've played for a regional league team in Italy and a youth academy also in Italy and i've been recruited by the same youth academy.There were 70 that they recruited and only 40 were choose and with these 40, 20 didn't even make it to play for team A and the were thrown in some affiliate teams. by luck i was choose to play in team A and i stopped last year because of a feet injury but i would not have last much cause the competition if far more greedy than the american ones

[@kevenhurley648]

Do anyone know about Episoketren System? Does it work? I hear most people improve their soccer skills with it with this popular training course.

[@fifasnipez5955]

High School soccer for me was every day idk I guess other schools don’t🤷‍♂️

[@zorrosingh5956]

I’m just gonna say that it may be hard for people to play DA. I did play DA for 2 seasons and high school for 2 seasons and I will say that you can get offers while only playing high school. Most of my offers even from D1 and D2 schools like Ohio Valley and LUC offered when I was at the time only playing high school. Just to throw that out there...

[@ncmfcc-noncopyrightmusicfo7382]

Yea but if you get into a academy like lafc you can get sighned to the pro team they sighned 3 16 year olds from the academy team this year

[@zorrosingh5956]

@@ncmfcc-noncopyrightmusicfo7382 lafc was part of the development academy before it got shut down and converted to MLS NXT

[@ncmfcc-noncopyrightmusicfo7382]

@@zorrosingh5956 yea but all mls academies still offer a pro contract is ur that good

[@emanuele2443]

Hey gita remember this name Congi

[@pmaycon]

🇧🇷

[@abdladigun6436]

What about young players play upsl.

[@SpencerMoeller]

I personally don't know a lot about the league unfortunately, but I have heard from other players that UPSL provides inconsistent competition. You can be recruited from any youth league in America to play at the collegiate level though so that's not the question... The question is: Does UPSL gives you the best possible opportunity to reach your fullest potential as a footballer? I highly doubt it.

[@dansugardude2655]

Soccer is better with club and high school as separate entities. High school soccer is not part of the player development pathway at all, whereas club soccer is the route to go in order to reach college or professional soccer.

[@SpencerMoeller]

I don't entirely agree with you as there are some very good high school soccer teams that give players a great opportunity to play at the next level. If you're a player that just plays in HS you can still achieve a NCAA D1 scholarship if you're putting in the work outside of team training to master your weaknesses.

[@bethegreatest4976]

@@SpencerMoeller totally agreed!

[@Shiestyyyyy]

I play High School in the Fall and Club in the Spring I do not play DA, I play for a small club as it's more affordable, I play on the top team, The "top players play for DA" Yes while that's true those players, Atleast last from where I am from, Just have money, The club I am at isn't bad at all , we play in the NPL do a lot of tournaments competition is good but it's not as good as a DA team. I have had opportunities to play for A DA team But it's to much money for me...... Ohhhh and For High School we train 5-6 Times a week with 2 games usually and every other Sunday we training in the morning.

[@ncmfcc-noncopyrightmusicfo7382]

Bro mls academies are free what r u talking abt get educated abt the system if your good it’s not pay to play, you can also get scholarships to regular clubs

[@Shiestyyyyy]

@@ncmfcc-noncopyrightmusicfo7382 nah bro it's pay to play, couldn't get enough money to afford it even when I made the team and was scoute. they never gave me any financial help so I continued playing for my small club, I Play Juventus Academy now because they didn't care about the money they helped me with money when the MLS Academy's wouldn't help me, idk if it's because Juventus Academy is an Italian club or what but I guess that's just my experience 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@ncmfcc-noncopyrightmusicfo7382]

@@Shiestyyyyy why mls academies you try out and they cost money 😂?

[@erikstiblarik1114]

How many Americans are there?

[@SpencerMoeller]

We have over 10 Americans on the team👍🏼

[@lucgh2007]

With that many Brazilians you should learn Portuguese in no time haha

[@fabioeditz8430]

I play club and high school. not academy tho

[@jwspeakman2961]

My high school team costs 600 dollars

[@hotdog8214]

Play anywhere you have good coaching and training..great players will always stand out wherever they play...don't fall for the you have to belong to the MLS or da to make it..that's just not true ..

[@unitedzone6445]

I’m gonna be a pro soon I know I will. I am the third best on my jv high school team

[@chantryfultz8599]

Yeah bro you're gonna be the best

[@TimMuaEntertainment]

3rd best? ...on JV? Pro? You better work hard lol.

[@quinn2002]

ZXC Matthew I don’t want to be a jerk, just realistic. Your dream is possible but very improbable if you are only on the JV team in high school and not even the best on that team.

[@antoniog.montero9578]

I’m the best jv player and I’m in 8th grade

[@manuelanelli4766]

?

[@mahadhayat7440]

why not both lol

[@ncmfcc-noncopyrightmusicfo7382]

Academy don’t let you play with high school

[@lulus3436]

Hey do you have to pass a drug test to play college soccer?

[@ckm2526]

Lulus yes

[@BlankieRBLX]

LOL

[@SpencerMoeller]

I never took a drug test during my 4 years of playing college soccer. The coach will usually randomly choose 2-3 players to take the test every season.

[@lulus3436]

@@SpencerMoeller So there is nothing like an "official" test

[@SpencerMoeller]

It would just depend on what school you attend👍🏼

[@jesusherrera3058]

I can't play clubs because of money

[@thesoccerguy3387]

1st

[@eduardomarin7045]

the soccer guy Na it was the comment above u

[@cullenodowd7765]

There are a lot more americans than i originally thought

[@anthonyhess9637]

Hello there, have you considered Episoketren System yet? Just do a search engine search. On there you will discover that a great tips about how you can improve your soccer game. Why don't you give it a shot? maybe it'll work for you too.

[@liamhartman7624]

What is Episoketren System and how does it work? I hear lots of people improve their soccer skills using it with this popular training program.

[@hotdog8214]

Oh and this is why da is gone ..🤷 and yes my son played da two years and as a starter...what a joke and buisness scam....

[@ncmfcc-noncopyrightmusicfo7382]

? Why do you think this and what are your thoughts on the new mls academies, also if you get into a pro mls teams academy it’s free therefore you can’t get scammed, they have world class coaches that coached Barca academy and you can get sighned to the pro team, lafc sighned 3 16 year olds to the pro team from academy this year