A soccer coach argues that kids need to join elite development programs like MLS Next Gen by age 5-8 to reach top Division I schools like UCLA or Stanford. He trained obsessively as a kid but missed early elite exposure, which limited his college options. He warns that without early commitment, international competition will lock out American players from the best programs.
If you are 8 years old, what do you need to do in order to play college soccer? I know that sounds insane, but hear me out. One day you're going to get asked, what club level are you playing for? And right now in your email, in your subject line, if it doesn't say MLS Next Gen, there's a very good chance you will not get to play Division 1. Now you as the athlete or mom and dad might be going, I don't know if my son or daughter is ready for that. What if they quit? What if they end up in a relationship? They don't like soccer anymore? Then get off my page. This is not for you. This is for the athletes who are psychos and addicted like I am and like I was, I had a roller backpack and I used a roller backpack because I pretended it was a Defender. So I tied it onto my belt and dribbled a ball at school everywhere. My parents knew nothing about college soccer and they didn't know what to do with me, but they knew I was addicted. And then we did a bunch of wrong things because we didn't know what to do. I ended up going to a small Division I school, which I'm very proud of, but I wanted to go to UCLA, I wanted to go to UCSB, I wanted to go to Stanford, but I wasn't playing on those teams at the ages of 8th, 9th grade. So if you want to play those top teams, especially considering we have to compete with international players now, you must take steps in the process as a 5th, 6th, 7th grader. If you want more help playing college soccer, DM me and call me, and I'll talk to you soon.
