Charlie Sosnick
Website Manager
When senior Scott Levene walks on the field as a goalkeeper for his FC Westchester US Development Academy soccer team, he faces kids who will play professional soccer someday. Scott has pIayed at the state, regional, and national level. It’s an elite program for top-notch players, and a great deal more competitive than when Scott played as a Ram.
Scott played Rams soccer as a freshman, sophomore, and junior. However, his current club league prohibits athletes from playing for school teams in addition to their teams, so he will not be playing for the Rams this year. “All three of those years, from high school preseason to November, I’d do the school team,” he said. “The rest of the year, I played for a club team.”
Photo by Cameron Lancaster
It was on the club team that Scott saw the most growth as a soccer player. “In high school, I didn’t really improve from the practices, but I got to play a lot of games,” he said. “In the [club]league I play in, they focus a lot more on developing the players.”
Scott’s club team, FC Westchester, extolls the benefit of playing with gifted athletes. According to their website, “Playing with and against the best players is STILL the ONLY proven way to develop every player to their greatest potential.”
Senior swimmer Erin Dunstan has also seen the opportunity to improve that out-of-school club teams offer. “In school, we have dual meets, eight a season. You only swim a couple of events,” she said. “Outside of school, we have championship meets that are several days long and lead to nationals.”
Erin also noted the difference in ability between her club team and her school team. “My club coach was on the Chinese national team, so those swimmers on our team are great,” she said. “In school, it’s only a couple of months so there’s less conditioning and training.”
Despite the increased conditioning that club sports offer, playing the same sport year-round can have its drawbacks. Athletic Director Jay Egan has noticed the physical strains one-sport athletes can encounter. “The thing I’ve noticed with students who play the same sport year round is overuse injuries,” he said. “They don’t have multilateral muscular development.”
Mr. Egan finds value in playing several sports during the year, instead of pursuing only one. “You do gain additional experience,” he said. “We’ve noticed a fifty percent decline in three-sport athletes. I think playing several sports is part of the learning experience.”
Mr. Egan still has his doubts about the advisability of the specialized path. “What could these talented athletes do in other sports?” he asked. “They don’t know, and they’ll never have another chance to try it. What could a soccer player do as a middle distance runner? What can a football player bring to the lacrosse team?”
However, Mr. Egan understands the path of elite sports for certain students. “If a young person is really gifted in their sport, then they can seek out those elite teams,” he said.
Erin has seen the impact of club teams on the group dynamics of their school teams. “Right now, in high school swimming, some of my teammates are on opposing club teams so it can sometimes be difficult to root for them on the school team,” Erin said. “But, we’re all so supportive when we’re at a meet together because we all know what we’re going through.”
Scott also found that club teams were quite common on the soccer team. “Most of the high school was on another team, so it didn’t make that much of a difference,” he said. “This year, it felt like I made the right decision but at times I missed the high school.
Nonetheless, Erin’s two teams have different goals and priorities for the season. “High school swimming is a lot more about the team. Outside of that season, times are more important because there’s a lot more competition.”
Scott agreed about the competitive emphasis club teams offer. “The club team is more of a commitment. It’s a higher level of soccer and it’s more competitive. I didn’t really have to balance them because there’s two seasons: high school and club.”
