Ranking Soccer Environments

  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...

       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...