What about Soccer Leagues

Soccer Leagues (also called clubs) are where colleges find their players.  If your child shows any promise at 9 or 10 years of age, this is where you want to go to develop their skills.

Soccer is not like football in that college soccer coaches don't usually go to high schools to find the talent that they are looking for.  They go to the soccer clubs to look for their recruits.  Most of that is done at several "Showcase Tournaments" that are held in various places around the country.

Now here's the deal about soccer clubs

Select Soccer/Club Soccer offers a competitive soccer program designed to develop and prepare the player to compete at all levels of competition.

Club soccer (also called "Select" soccer) is generally better in the larger cities.  That is because these clubs have a larger pool of players to choose from and can put together better teams because of that.  It's much like a football team from a little country town would generally not stand a chance against a team from a large big city school. 

Having these numbers also allows the club the resources to hire above average trainers.  These are not you typical high school typing teacher made coach type trainers.  Most of the trainers with the larger clubs speak with an accent.

Cost of Club Soccer

The larger the club the higher the fees... or so it seems.  Many of the large Austin, Dallas and Houston clubs for instance range in cost from $1,200 to $2,400 per year.  And that does not include travel cost for parents and their soccer player.  Many games and especially tournaments are out of town.