<p>An interesting article on HS vs. club sport:</p>
<p>[High</a> School Sports | Club athletes are high-school hidden talents](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/highschoolsports/2008700579_lawrence03.html]High”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/highschoolsports/2008700579_lawrence03.html)</p>
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<p>Yes, most of the best gymnasts don’t compete at the HS level here in MN. We have a neighbor girl who was a level 10 gymnast. She wanted to go to Madison and was unable to get a scholarship there so she was done after all those years of practice and competitions!</p>
<p>There are some who believe this could happen soon in soccer.</p>
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<p>In many/most places, it happened long ago. Most college soccer stars we know, played club soccer.</p>
<p>Seconding alwaysamom. It happened ages ago in soccer, around here.</p>
<p>Soccer?
When is your club teams season?
My D was/is able to play both because club is only in spring once they hit HS.</p>
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<p>May through September. Top level kids are playing year round, though, with indoor from October through April.</p>
<p>So can they play HS too?</p>
<p>They can. Some manage fine. Some can’t manage club + h.s., AND keep their academics at the top. My D chose to drop club when she picked up science research, in h.s.</p>
<p>Some do, as long as it doesn’t interfere with their club commitments. Our h/s season here is in the spring. A lot of coaches don’t like them to do it, though, because the level of competition is not the same as they’re used to, and they also worry about injuries.</p>
<p>Also Volleyball</p>
<p>Yes - and lax, too.</p>
<p>Ok, I am confused here 
What can soon happen to soccer?</p>
<p>The way I am reading NorthMinnesota post is that the top soccer starts might not be able to secure good scholarships.
Most seem to be reading this as hs soccer vs club soccer…</p>
<p>Mom, Your HS is better then club?
Its very different here in New England.</p>
<p>kelowna, you may be right. I suppose she could also be referring to soccer players who want to go to Madison? I interpreted northminnesota’s comment to refer to the “best not competing at the h/s level”. I have not heard any rumblings about top soccer players being in danger of no scholarship offers. Sorry if I’m the one who started the confusion. :)</p>
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<p>hockeymom, no, that’s not what I’m saying at all, in fact, the exact opposite. Club soccer, for the top players, is at a much higher level.</p>
<p>NorthMinnesota - we need you to come back :)</p>
<p>That would make sense.</p>
<p>Right - in areas where elite and premier (and ODP) club systems are well established, the very top players often do not compete for their high schools, but for their clubs. </p>
<p>Sometimes they can do both, if the seasons all fit the right way, and if none of the coaches involved object or penalize too strongly. </p>
<p>None of this affects whether or not the top players are offered scholarships and/or are recruited, it just means that often, the best local players are not playing for their high schools.</p>
<p>So sorry for the poorly worded post!!! H always says I don’t make my transitions very clear! At the beginning I was just mentioning that even level 10 club gymnasts have a hard time being recruited at big schools. I was agreeing with the article that many top athletes choose not to participate in HS sports.</p>
<p>Anyway what I meant about soccer was that some predict that HS soccer will fall to the wayside and only club soccer will exist. MN is one of the few states that has fall HS soccer. Minnesota High School League rules forbid you to play/practice for any club soccer team during the HS season. I know Chicago is seeing many of the best players forgoing HS play. There is a big competitive difference from club teams and HS teams. I don’t think I know of any soccer players around here who have been recruited for scholarships from their HS team because HS and college seasons are the same time of year. Kind of difficult for college coaches to miss their practices or games!</p>
<p>Sorry again for not being clear!!</p>
<p>Thank you for clarifying!</p>
<p>North Minnesota, by the way, how far are you from the Canadian border?
We are thinking about canoeing the boundary waters and are looking for some insider info :)</p>
<p>This is a situation that a lot of athletes in a lot of sports face. Tennis, swimming are among such sports. Even at the middle and elementary level, I am seeing some of this. Our school has a good basketball team but the coach does not rotate the players much. The starters and maybe two other kids tend to get the play time. So if if you are not one of those kids, you will get more play time if you join a recreational league. </p>
<p>It is virtually impossible to make the top echelons of some of the individual sports just on the high school schedules. I remember my brother having those issues with tennis. The high school coaches often have minimum practice rules for team players who cannot make those times if they are going to continue their club practice, lessons, matches. </p>
<p>I have seen this with music too. Some of the most accomplished musicians at my kids’ schools were not with the music groups at school because of the time committed to private lessons and groups.</p>