HS / Soccer in Huntsville / Madison (Decatur, Auburn: transplants, 2009, house)

[primo122]

Our family will be moving the to HSV area in the summer of '09 (God willing, we sell our house in NW IN). Kids are boy 15, boy 14, girl 11, boy 8 and we are considering Hampton Cove (Huntsville HS) and Madison (Bob Jones HS) areas, with the NE Mad County (Buckhorn HS) also under consideration. My boys are average -> above average soccer players and want to continue playing in HS. It appers that Huntsville and Bob Jones both have good academic and soccer programs, but it seems that BJones is a really big school. Please help me with the following questions:

Q1: Are these schools (students) equally friendly to new kids?
Q2: Are the soccer coaches well respected?
Q3: How many kids did each school CUT from the team at tryouts last year?
Q4: Recommendations on premier club teams for U16 & U15 boys.
Q5: Is HSV HS less crowded than BJones?

Five questions - I think that's the quota for one thread!

Thanks & see you in HSV in a few months!

[sedriskell]

I'll start off with another recommendation, then I'll try to answer your specific questions The Decatur City Schools also have great soccer programs with some amazing facilities. The Decatur High girls team won the 2008 State Championship, in fact. The girls' team is a very solid program, though I don't know much about the boys'.

For your questions:

1) Pretty much all of the schools in the Tennessee Valley have a student population that is very accepting of outsiders. Having new students at any school in the regions is nothing new to them.

2) Bob Jones has a very good program that is well respected, as well as the HSV HSs that you named.

3) I am unable to answer this question.

4) There are A LOT of leagues in the Tennessee Valley, so I doubt that you would have any problem finding one that is not affiliated with a school.

5) In my opinion, HSV High is much less crowded than BJ. Plus, HSV HS has a newer building which, IMO, is fantastic.

[mm42]

The schools are equally crowded. All 3 that you listed have 18:1 student:teacher ratio, which is high. Bob Jones has only grades 10-12 in the high school to keep the enrollment somewhat close to capacity.

I don't think I would worry about the welcome at any of the schools.

I can't help you on the sports questions.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by primo122

Q2: Are the soccer coaches well respected?
Q3: How many kids did each school CUT from the team at tryouts last year?

You might get lucky on City-Data Forum for responses to these question but it might be a lot more efficient to telephone the coaches and ask about Q3. For Q2, ask BJHS coaches about HHS coaches and vice versa. Check out the Huntsville Times sports section and find out what other competitive soccer high schools are and phone those coaches too. You might also telephone some sports reporters at the Huntsville Times sports department. Heck, why not call the soccer teams at UA and Auburn? I'm sure they'd give you some good info too - they probably recruit from around here.

I know there is some sort of elite soccer club in town, but I forgot the name. I think it is significantly more expensive than AYSO, Huntsville Eastern League, or Upward soccer.

[Southeastern]

I'll try to address some questions -- so the reply may get lengthy.

Most, if not all, high schools in the area have soccer programs. Spring is the school season in Alabama, with Fall being the club season.

For Huntsville City Schools, both Grissom and Huntsville High are excellent. Of the 2, Huntsville is having the better year this season.

In Madison City, Bob Jones is the only high school. Also an excellent program.

In Madison County School system, Sparkman High has the stronger program. Sparkman added a Freshmen Boys Team for the first time this year, joining the Boys JV and Varsity and Girls JV and Varsity. Adding the Freshmen Boys team gives approx 60 boys a team spot -- but there were still boys cut during tryouts and conditioning.

Sparkman and Bob Jones are the only 2 schools in the 3 area school systems that have Freshmen, JV, and Varsity Boys teams. Most others have JV and Varsity. And a few just Varsity.

As another poster noted above, Bob Jones High is 10-12th only. 9th is in the 2 middle schools.

Sparkman High is 10-12th also, with 9th being directly across the street at the Sparkman 9th Grade School. I believe the Sparkman High building is approx 10 years old (about the same as Bob Jones). Sparkman 9th Grade School opened either 2006 or 2007.

Monrovia Middle and Sparkman Middle feed into Sparkman High. The county schools offer sports to 7th and 8th grades. Monrovia Middle had around 60 boys tryout for the team this year with about 20 making the team. On March 30th, Monrovia Middle won the (Alabama High School Athletic Assoc) AHSAA Regional Middle School Tournament for the 2nd year in a row. Other schools making the tournament for boys included Discovery and Liberty from Madison City, Athens, Cullman, Oak Park (Decatur), and Westminster.

Huntsville City Schools do not offer a school sponsored soccer program in the middle schools, but you do have MSSL Middle School Soccer League as an option.
www.huntsville-mssl.org



On the question of coaches, you'll find that many of the school coaches also coach rec or club in the area. Extensive resumes as this area attracts many transplants. Most schools list their coaches on their websites and you'll find many of them listed on the Coaching Staff page for the Huntsville Soccer Club:
www.huntsvillesoccerclub.org/coaching

Grissom's new boys coach is also at United Soccer Club.



For clubs\rec, there are no boundaries for the soccer teams with regards to where you live. For example, a resident of Hampton Cove is not limited to HSC or AYSO Huntsville. A resident of Monrovia is not limited to AYSO Monrovia....etc... I say this, because there are sometimes boundary restrictions with other sports in the area like baseball.

Recreational -- AYSO, Upwards, and the Huntsville rec leagues are your options. I've listed several below.

Club -- Huntsville Soccer Club is the largest club. They offer multiple team opportunities at all ages for both boys and girls. HSC has a very good youth focused program for the U8 to U10 ages. Go to website and choose YOUTH TRAINING SYSTEM.

NOTE: Tryouts for the Fall 2009 season will be held in Alabama between June 1st and 15th. If you are not in Alabama at that time, contact a Club when you arrive to inquire about open spots on teams.

Below are the primary (but not all) soccer clubs/organizations in the area.

Soccer Club/Travel Teams

Huntsville Soccer Club
www.huntsvillesoccerclub.org

Valley Futbol Club
www.valleyfutbolclub.com
Does not have boys and girls teams for every age level, check website for specifics

United Soccer Club
www.unitedsoccerclub.org
Does not have boys and girls teams for every age level, check website for specifics

North Ala. United Lady Freedom 97
Lady Freedom 97
Girls only, U12

Madison Futbol Extreme
www.soccer-dog.com
Does not have boys and girls teams for every age level, check website for specifics


Soccer Rec Teams

AYSO Huntsville
http://www.ayso160.org

AYSO Madison
AYSO Region 498, Madison, AL

AYSO Monrovia
AYSO Region 894

Huntsville Civic League
Huntsville Civic League - Oak Park - Home

Huntsville Eastern League
Huntsville Eastern League

[primo122]

Thanks to all for taking the time to repond.

[Huntsvegas29]

I played for bob jones and they had a great program at the time. Was able to get a scholarship to a decent div 2 school. Along with alot of mentorship from the coaching staff... Also the club teams in HSV have great programs. Grissom and HHS have really good programs as well. If you're looking for private schools Randolph is top notch