What to expect ...

My oldest just graduated, she played for the top Texan team U8-U16. I found the following sort of interesting about that team:

The U11 95 Texans took 16 players.

Of the 16, 13 continued to play High School and Select Soccer through their senior year.

Of the 16, 10 will be playing college soccer ... 3 at SMU, 1 at OU, 1 at South Carolina, 1 at Texas, 1 at Arkansas, 1 at SFA, 1 at Illinois, and 1 at U of Richmond.

One player will be playing Volleyball at the University of Ohio.

Of the 16, 7 players played with that Texan team from U8-U19 ... most from the time they were 6 years old.

I thought this info might be interesting ... maybe not.

Kenshi Dave wrote:My oldest just graduated, she played for the top Texan team U8-U16. I found the following sort of interesting about that team:

The U11 95 Texans took 16 players.

Of the 16, 13 continued to play High School and Select Soccer through their senior year.

Of the 16, 10 will be playing college soccer ... 3 at SMU, 1 at OU, 1 at South Carolina, 1 at Texas, 1 at Arkansas, 1 at SFA, 1 at Illinois, and 1 at U of Richmond.

One player will be playing Volleyball at the University of Ohio.

Of the 16, 7 players played with that Texan team from U8-U19 ... most from the time they were 6 years old.

I thought this info might be interesting ... maybe not.

Did they ever win the National Championship?

No National Championships ... not as a select team ... they did finish #3 at u15 and #4 at U16.


5 of them played for Plano West (including my DD) and were "awarded" 2 national championships ... "awarded" because after state championships, they don't play state vs. state ... so it's more of a "deemed" situation ... totally meaningless except for that little patch saying "#1 in the Nation" on their letter jackets.

Impressive. Thanks for sharing.

Kenshi Dave wrote:No National Championships ... not as a select team ... they did finish #3 at u15 and #4 at U16.


5 of them played for Plano West (including my DD) and were "awarded" 2 national championships ... "awarded" because after state championships, they don't play state vs. state ... so it's more of a "deemed" situation ... totally meaningless except for that little patch saying "#1 in the Nation" on their letter jackets.

Good times for everyone....countless hours of soccer. Do you think they would do it again?

Good stuff kenshi..

Kenshi Dave wrote:My oldest just graduated, she played for the top Texan team U8-U16. I found the following sort of interesting about that team:

The U11 95 Texans took 16 players.

Of the 16, 13 continued to play High School and Select Soccer through their senior year.

Of the 16, 10 will be playing college soccer ... 3 at SMU, 1 at OU, 1 at South Carolina, 1 at Texas, 1 at Arkansas, 1 at SFA, 1 at Illinois, and 1 at U of Richmond.

One player will be playing Volleyball at the University of Ohio.

Of the 16, 7 players played with that Texan team from U8-U19 ... most from the time they were 6 years old.

I thought this info might be interesting ... maybe not.

So KD, based on all of your interaction with others in the select community over the years, do you think the story of this team is more the norm, or more the exception to the rule?

i.e. Majority of "core" of top select team at U11 stays together, has sustained success, with most going on to play D1 soccer in college?

Kenshi Dave wrote:My oldest just graduated, she played for the top Texan team U8-U16. I found the following sort of interesting about that team:

The U11 95 Texans took 16 players.

Of the 16, 13 continued to play High School and Select Soccer through their senior year.

Of the 16, 10 will be playing college soccer ... 3 at SMU, 1 at OU, 1 at South Carolina, 1 at Texas, 1 at Arkansas, 1 at SFA, 1 at Illinois, and 1 at U of Richmond.

One player will be playing Volleyball at the University of Ohio.

Of the 16, 7 players played with that Texan team from U8-U19 ... most from the time they were 6 years old.

I thought this info might be interesting ... maybe not.

I love stats and these are good ones. Let's dive in...

What has team leadership been like during this team's tenure? During this time period, how many different coaches have had ownership of this team? And how many different team managers have there been? (Has there been 5 different coaches but only 1 truly exceptional manager?)

Kenshi Dave wrote:My oldest just graduated, she played for the top Texan team U8-U16. I found the following sort of interesting about that team:

The U11 95 Texans took 16 players.

Of the 16, 13 continued to play High School and Select Soccer through their senior year.

Of the 16, 10 will be playing college soccer ... 3 at SMU, 1 at OU, 1 at South Carolina, 1 at Texas, 1 at Arkansas, 1 at SFA, 1 at Illinois, and 1 at U of Richmond.

One player will be playing Volleyball at the University of Ohio.

Of the 16, 7 players played with that Texan team from U8-U19 ... most from the time they were 6 years old.

I thought this info might be interesting ... maybe not.

As a reality check on how common this situation is, of the nine D1 U13 ('01) teams, how many will have 7 or more players from their U8 team? Could we get a count from each team representative?

7 of the 16 stayed from u11 all the way. Which is probably highly unusual. But add up how many different girls came and went around that 7. I'd guess 20 or more in the revolving door.

Reality Check ... further detail

Probably not the norm for most top teams ... pretty unusual for more than 5 original U11s to make it to the final year of selec. I would say it is even more unusual for teams ranked 5-25 in N Texas to keep ANY of there original U11s if they are able to finish at U19.

I think the college recruiting results are pretty common for the top Sting, Solar and Texans (ECNL level) team ... certainly not an add for those clubs, but they have been the big dogs in the past and continue to thrive.

I know this is not common for anything below the top 5 teams at any age. The overall quality of the club and in particular the top teams create positive recruiting results.

After the top 5 teams (typically ECNL), I think college recruiting and certainly scholorships fall off considerably.

My daughter played out her final 2 years on a top 4 LH D1 team (non-ecnl) and 4 of the girls have signed on to play college ... and not at the top level programs noted above.

The team has had only 1 manager since U11 and basically had Ian Farley U11-13, Ryan U 14-16, Bubb/Hassan U17-19. 95 Sting had 3 coaches (David May, Tatu, & then the DOC). 95 Solar had 1 coach (DD on team so maybe a bit unusual).


AND YES ... I bet 12 of 16 at U11 would do it all again ... I know mine would and she's not even playing in college.

Can I also ask what # played ODP, ECNL or any WNT programming?

And what # played other sports in Middle School/HS? The VB player obviously has me intrigued?

Thanks for the insight -

Probably closer to 30 revolved in and out.

for the top 5 95s (ECNL):

Sting 95: 5 or 6 originals
Texans 95: 7 originals
Solar 95: 4 or 5 originals
Feet 95: 2 or 3 originals
FCD 95: I doubt any originals

I think I posted about this in the 95 group 32 or 3 years ago and there was another team D2/D3 maybe that had 10 originals at the time.

Can I also ask what # played ODP, ECNL or any WNT programming?

And what # played other sports in Middle School/HS? The VB player obviously has me intrigued?


The top Texan team became ECNL ... 10 played ECNL for Texans or other clubs. Remember ECNL is only 4 years old though.

I want to say 5 played ODP ... really wasn't a huge factor for them in college recruiting.

Almost all of them played 7th grade volleyball, basketball & track (typically all 3). Half of them played 8th grade volleyball, basketball & track. I don't think more than a couple played middle school soccer and none of them had anything good to say about it.

All but 3 played HS soccer ... 1 had moved to Vball and the other 2 phased out of sports.

Volleyball player hung up cleats at U12 and focused on VBall.

Great stuff - thanks - sounds like a well rounded group with a focus on each player's end goals. Congrats

i liked Select, adored middle school sports and LOVED high school ...

Select coaches might try to monopolize time and disuade from middle school sports ...

I would not let my kids miss out on the middle school sports experience ... it's too much fun.

If you have little ones that will end up on ECNL or other high-end teams, I would NEVER allow Select coach to talk them out of High School soocer ... there is nothing like playing for your school and I just think it is a differently rewarding activity from select.

Just my 2 Cents ...

Great thread KD. Thanks for posting it.

Kenshi Dave wrote:i liked Select, adored middle school sports and LOVED high school ...

Select coaches might try to monopolize time and disuade from middle school sports ...

I would not let my kids miss out on the middle school sports experience ... it's too much fun.

If you have little ones that will end up on ECNL or other high-end teams, I would NEVER allow Select coach to talk them out of High School soocer ... there is nothing like playing for your school and I just think it is a differently rewarding activity from select.

Just my 2 Cents ...

Agree with KD... High School soccer was by far the greatest soccer experience, even with a kangaroo as a mascot

jogabonito wrote:

Kenshi Dave wrote:i liked Select, adored middle school sports and LOVED high school ...

Select coaches might try to monopolize time and disuade from middle school sports ...

I would not let my kids miss out on the middle school sports experience ... it's too much fun.

If you have little ones that will end up on ECNL or other high-end teams, I would NEVER allow Select coach to talk them out of High School soocer ... there is nothing like playing for your school and I just think it is a differently rewarding activity from select.

Just my 2 Cents ...

Agree with KD... High School soccer was by far the greatest soccer experience, even with a kangaroo as a mascot

This is a great thread! thanks KD........