You obviously don't pay attention to what I am actually saying. I've never said the path to college is through HS soccer. NEVER. I post about HS soccer because my son plays, and I post about Union because that's where my son plays HS soccer. And I post about the others in 6A because that's who they play and I know a lot of the boys playing on those teams because of....club soccer. But we all know club soccer in Tulsa is broken. No longer is it about player development to put the best 18 together on a roster to compete at the highest level. I mean we all know tryouts are a farce right? TSC or WSA or Blitz will ever jeopardize moving a kid down knowing they will take their monthly dues and leave in order to move a kid up. Instead they will promise the kid on the lower team guest playing opportunities on the higher team...which come in small doses in August/September in warm-up tournaments but once ECNL action starts, the coach has forgotten that kid's phone #. These clubs are all about the $$$ now...and TSC is the worst about it.
And for some reason you continue to hate on the large 6A schools that haven't split. Again, I will defend Union for not dividing its resources when it can provide every advantage and resource and opportunity more easily than if it split. I speak from knowledge here and know the opportunities my son has had in both academics and extra curriculars. The Edmond schools bitch because they can't compete in football...yet, Bixby is one of the smaller 6A-1 schools and still routinely hammer everyone. It's not about size as much as it is about culture and when that culture starts.
And I didn't say the dad was an idiot. I said it was insane to be pushing a D1 scholarship pursuit on an 8 year old.
As for me refereeing games...I've never said I wanted to do MLS next games. I'm over 50 w/ 2 surgically reconstructed ACLs and a bad case of osteoarthritis in my left knee. I've done some ECNL games and those are nuts enough. Again, parents view referees from a very one-sided standpoint...whether or not it benefited their kids team. Case in point, I called a very tight offside the other day on a player that was maybe 1/2 step to the wrong side of the next to last defender. Immediately involved, put the flag up...blown dead. Parents close to me, applauded the call. 2nd half, their team has a girl in an offside position, comes back from there to play the ball and I flag it...they're upset because "she wasn't offside at the time she touched it". I just chuckle. I can let most things roll off my back but when it starts getting to be personal, profane, and public...that's when they get to leave. FIFA agrees, this is why refs stop games when Mexican fans yell their homophobic slur at the goalkeeper.