A former pro who played at Valparaiso discusses whether a high schooler should choose Division 1 or Division 3 soccer. He warns that D1 offers better pro odds but no guarantee of financial security, and that his own ten-year pro career didn't provide lifelong stability. He tells the student not to sacrifice academics.
D1 or D3?
If you had a gun to my head, I would tell you to aim for Division 3 if you want to focus on your academics. If on the other hand, really good though, and you want to play pro, pro, then statistically speaking, you do have to aim for Division 1 and not to sacrifice your academics. But for example, I went to Valparaiso University. Did they have the best academics? No. Was I able to go pro? Yes.
They don't even exist anymore.
That really stings. They don't have a men's program any longer. This is why you have to be very careful of where you pick because while we were just leaving or my other teammates just arriving, they cut the men's program out of nowhere. They do have a women's program. They're very good.
I just have one question. How can you help me convince my parents that academics are not important and I'm gonna play pro no matter what?
I'm actually gonna have to side with your parents. Academics are important. Let me give you an example. I played pro soccer for 10 years. Did I make enough money to never work again for the rest of my life? I wish somebody had told me when I was in high school, which was my goal was to play pro and only pro. I was thinking just like you, who cares about school? I'm gonna use ChatGPT anyways 'cause it's gonna exist in the future. But if somebody had just said, look, you can play pro, but are you gonna have enough money to never work again? It's the only career where you have money and then you have $0. For fun, go look up MLS Next Play. For fun, go look at MLS players or even Premier League players. Look up Jarvis's podcast, for example. That guy played in the Premier League for 10 years. He has a podcast now with 46 views. The guy makes no money in real estate and he played in the Premier League. Get an education.
Should I call you if I wanna play college soccer?
Not only should you frickin' call me, you should call me with your parents. So tell mom and dad to call me as soon as possible so I can convince you that if you really wanna go pro, you gotta go to college first.
