Every year, kids from different clubs join their school team to represent the school and have a good time. Even so, there are players that say school soccer and club soccer are in two completely different worlds. Many say that high school soccer and club soccer are very different from each other.
“For me, it was the speed,” Galilea Fuerte (‘24) said. “Something about [the speed] was really challenging.”
The speed of high school soccer really makes a difference on club soccer players. To them, it feels like high school soccer moves at a slower speed. A club soccer game has a faster speed to it. There’s more movements and better technical skill.
Going to a school soccer game and later going to a club soccer game, you’ll be able to see the difference. The technical skill and movement of the ball are different from school soccer.
Another difference between both games is the players. Once school soccer starts, kids from different club teams join together to represent the school.
With this comes some difficulties with the players. Since every club team has different ways of playing, when the players mix together, they have to get used to working together and making the team run smoothly. This takes a lot of time and effort from both the players and the coach, causing some students to be frustrated because they’ve never played with half of the team’s players.
“Playing with other people can be fun, but it takes time to get used to playing,” Charlie Garcia (’24) said.
Frustration can become a big part of playing in the school team, because the students aren’t in their usual environment with their every-day team. They’re playing with people from different clubs and people from their own clubs. It takes time to adjust to playing with others.
The players have to find out what works best for them, what to do to stay in club soccer, and what happens in school soccer. Players struggle with leaving how they play in club soccer out of school soccer.
There are benefits that come out of playing soccer with the school rather than the club. Students that play soccer feel that with school soccer they are able to express themselves more than in club soccer. Club soccer focuses on representation of whatever brand endorsement you might have. School soccer lets you be more free and do what you please.
“Definitely appreciate being more free and being able to do what I want,” Fuerte said.
With all of this, students feel both club soccer and school soccer have their differences, but in the end, both are enjoyed and looked forward to all year round.
