When I first heard about the CIF starting the SoCal Regional soccer tournament (it couldn't be a State tournament because NoCal plays the sport in the fall, not winter like down here), I thought it was a good idea. The CIF has State events in several other sports, so why not soccer.
But a couple of years in and I think the CIF has to rethink the whole idea. And here's why:
Too many players, elite-level players, bailed out on their high school teams to rejoin their club teams this last week, leaving their school, coach and teammates hanging.
It's a rule that a player can't play club, academy, etc. and high school at the same time, so several players have to make a decision on what to do. And if it were me or my child in the situation, it'd be a tough choice.
A tough choice because college coaches are not combing the HS fields looking for talent. They pay predominant attention to club soccer, the premier-league teams and players. If you want a chance to grab a college coach's attention and hopefully a scholarship, you need to be with your club team and play in showcase tournaments, which is where several of those players who left their HS teams are this weekend.
That said, if you are a college-level player, you will be noticed, no doubt about that. Missing one showcase wouldn't be the end of the world.
If I were a college coach, one trait I would want in my recruit is commitment. Any of those players who left their teams this week in what should have been one of the biggest weeks of their prep careers, playing for a regional title, certainly didn't show commitment. In fact, it was a very selfish move.
No "I" in team, right? But there is a "me."
Bottom line in this opinion is that if you start something, you need to see it all the way through.
If players continue to exit their school teams for their club teams, the regionals are a waste of time, because the team that got to that point isn't the one that was left playing in too many instances.
The CIF has to rethink the idea, maybe shorten the preseason by a week to get the whole season in before the exodus back to club soccer.
It is an awful choice that these kids have to make. I know of one player who played half a game Thursday and left to fly to a college showcase. I also know of a coach, who had committed to his club team for the college showcase, planning to fly back and forth if he won Thursday and had to play CIF Saturday.
It is true they have a commitment to their high school team, but what about their commitment to their club team?
It would not be any great stretch for CIF to shorten preseason by one week.