If you are thinking college or pro or aren’t sure yet, the information on this site is important to consider and incorporate into your plan… You do need a plan, and you want to keep options open. If you are clear from the get-go that you are not focused on college or pro, then your child can enjoy playing on almost any team you might land on randomly.
Be aware that the difference between casual and serious players starts to emerge pretty early, and looking for opportunities to land on teams with accredited coaches and competitive schedules is a ship that will depart sooner than might be ideal. And coaches/schedules aside, we noticed that players tend to rise to the level of competition in practice and games every day.
We took our son as a high school freshman to his first D1 College ID camp. On the first day, he was overwhelmed by the pace, athleticism, and physicality of the mostly juniors and seniors he was on the field with; by day two, he had already kicked it up a notch and was competitive with the older boys. And so it goes…
