So if you had a 22 who should they play for? Is anyone "doing it right?"
No brainer...If good enough...Crabs! If not...any of the rest
Poor business practices. Nice practice facilities. Mainly nice parents. Average coaching. Formulaic. Subject to replacement at any moment due to brand centric nature of business plan. Agree that before club expansions, they WERE the Mercedes Benz of clubs. Now a very good "import" but made in Japan.
Lots of good competitive clubs at all levels. I would suggest that you not subject your son to mindless driving great distances for a club, but try to stay local and support his educational requirements, while at the same time giving him the opportunity to compete at an appropriate level. If you son is able to play for an MIAA-A team in high school, that will be his most direct path to success in terms of numbers of opportunity to play in college. Club is no "guarantee" of placement, but can help if the program director is "respected" by college coaches approached which is a big "if" these days. College coaches generally dislike clubs and their growth and are staging a sort of rebellion against them by running their own camps, evaluations and events outside of the club circuits. No club organized recruiting events are a good means of assistant coaches to earn a fee without doing much. A VERY complicated world has emerged. MIAA-A schools have superior guidance departments and awareness of enrollment requirements and can exert influence in process. Need grades and test scores -- of course -- but can be a great resource to place your son both academically and athletically. Clubs used to be the way, but that is now changing somewhat. Will be interesting to see how all of this shakes out in the next few years. (Same analysis is applicable to WCAC and other "power" conferences).
I agree that playing for a MIAA-A school is the best bet for college placement. Same for some other Private school leagues. But what is the best way for a Public high school kid with good grades on a avg high school team? Top Club team, Prospect days, or showcases or all of them.
Coaches will find great players even if they aren't in the MIAA. They need to be on a top tier club that exposes and promotes their kids. They need to be on a team where they can showcase their talent, not ride the bench. Showcase and prospect days, but not for another year or two for this group.
