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The BEST Soccer Environment

This is it. The grand finale of my ranking of my soccer experiences. The best experience I have had is collegiate soccer. First off, the atmosphere is incredibly competitive. Everyone is there to be the best player possible and fight to make it to the top of the ladder. It can be hierarchical at times, as the better players don’t tend to associate all that much with some of the worse ones. Of course, It is expensive going to college, however, scholarship money helps out with that a lot. The schedule is good. There are trainings every day. Most of which were early in the morning, which I enjoy more because it sets the standard for the day and promotes productivity. The coaches are great. They are very competitive and want to win at all costs. They know the game and are very passionate about teaching that to their players. They do well to create drills that are conducive to development and improvement. The teammates are a negative aspect for me, though I know that is not the case f...

The RUNNER-UP for Soccer Environments

For the third edition of my rankings of soccer environments that I have played in, I will be discussing a small private high school. This is the second-best experience with soccer I have ever had. As always, it will be ranked on atmosphere, schedule, coaches, teammates, training sessions, facilities, and the level of competition.                Right off the bat, or foot I guess, is the atmosphere of a small Christian private school. To put it simply, it was great. There was a competitive air about it, but there were many players that were there for recreation and casual play. Similar to the public school, there was a mix of guys who were looking to play college soccer, and some who are looking for time outside the house. But unlike the public school, every player had a competitive drive that took over in high pressure situations. One of the most important and valuable things of the team, however, was the fact that ...

The PENULTIMATE Soccer Environment

  For those that do not know what Penultimate is, allow me to enlighten you. It is the word for the second to last in a series. While this is not the second to last post, a public-school soccer program is the second worst environment, according to my experience. There are a few reasons for this, as my rankings are based off the atmosphere, schedule, coaches, teammates, training, sessions, facilities, and the level of competition. Let’s hop into it. I’ll start with an evaluation of the atmosphere of public high-school soccer. There is an interesting mix between casual and competitive players. Some guys are there to have fun and fill their time, while others are there fighting for a chance to play college soccer. It created an interesting dynamic at practice, as some guys would take training more seriously than others. This led to certain groups being formed between the players. There was typically a divide between casual players and the competitive players, as many players looking...

The WORST Environment for Soccer

       Millions of soccer organizations take to the field every year, providing all ages with the opportunity to compete in the World’s Game. With this surplus of opportunity in the United States, it can be difficult to determine the environments that claim the top and bottom spots for overall experience. Throughout my twelve years of soccer participation, I have competed with multiple teams, each possessing an individuality that can be ranked from worst to best. They are scaled based on their atmospheres, schedules, coaches, teammates, training sessions, facilities, and levels of competition . The teams in question are a small private school, a club team, a small public school, and a college team.                The first to be ranked is club soccer. This was the worst experience I had throughout my career. With that said, it was not a bad experience at all. The level of competition was high. Ea...