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Written by Will Watkins
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 |
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“If you don’t play club, you don’t play for Grant.” This is Grant womens’ soccer coach Tim Copland’s policy at Grant. While it may seem harsh, it is followed at most all the strong soccer schools in the Oregon 6A division. Last fall, there weren't any players on either of the Grant varsity soccer teams who did not play club soccer.
While the soccer program may be the strictest program at Grant when it comes to playing club sports, many of the other sports are in need of extra experience as well, though they are more lenient about it. The other big example of this is the AAU basketball league, a summer league in which many of the Grant varsity players play.
Club soccer is a program that allows kids to play soccer year-round, with winter and spring seasons as well as summer tournaments, so that soccer players can improve with the help of experienced coaches all year long. The Oregon club soccer program is run through OYSA, the Oregon Youth Soccer Association. Their motto is “To foster an environment that promotes the physical, mental and emotional development of Oregon’s youth through the sport of soccer.”
While that is a strong motto and honorable goal, the problem is that OYSA does not aim to develop all of Oregon’s youth, but the small percentage who are able to pay the funds of playing year-round soccer. The mere cost for league play throughout the winter can be up to $800, but this can be followed by additional fees; players need to pay for coaches, tournaments, travel, and uniforms. Playing one year of club soccer can cost as much as $1300.
However, the absence of club soccer in a player’s life does not completely eliminate their hopes for varsity soccer at Grant. “Kids who don’t play club still have a chance of playing varsity,” says Grant junior and varsity soccer player Eric Germundson. “They just need to put in a lot of work on their own and find good opportunities to get better. Classic gets a player the basic skills they need to play high-level soccer.”
AAU basketball is in the same boat. “It costs about $500 or $600 to play for the paid AAU teams,” says varsity starter DaVonte Jacobs. “There are free teams you can play on as well, but its not the same experience as playing for the paid teams. The paid teams are usually sponsored by Nike or Jordan, so there are more tournaments and more opportunities to play.”
Jacobs has been playing AAU ball for five years, since seventh grade. This is his first year at the varsity level and he is one of Grant’s starting forwards—thanks in part to his practice with AAU. “It would definitely be hard to play varsity without AAU," says Jacobs. "It’s a good experience.” AAU teams practice three or four times a week, and the season lasts from May until August during the summer, maybe longer, depending on the number of tournaments a team plays. While Grant doesn’t require their players to play AAU, it certainly gives those players who do choose to play, an edge.
Many athletes believe in the concept "if you work harder to become better, you can achieve anything". Nike has the famous slogan “Achieve the impossible.” The problem facing Grant now is that just trying hard sometimes isn’t enough. Players need to have the resources to pay and play higher-level ball, in addition to their high school sport. Grant has a sort of unsaid agreement with its players that they need to do this extra training to get playing time on a varsity squad. This causes problems for players both in terms of time and finance, because sometimes working hard just isn’t enough.
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