At DME Academy, Sarasota we believe families should have clear information when making decisions about their student-athlete’s development.

With the high school soccer season approaching (Mid October), we want to clearly communicate our position regarding Academy players who choose to participate in high school soccer.

The short version is simple:

DME Academy, Sarasota supports player’s choice. We will do our part related to communication and collaboration. We will not penalize a player simply for choosing high school soccer. But DME Academy, Sarasota will not stop training, competing, or developing during the high school season.

We Support the Player’s Choice

DME Academy, Sarasota allows our players to participate in high school soccer.

We recognize that representing your school can be a meaningful experience. High school soccer can provide school pride, friendships, rivalry games, leadership opportunities, and memories that extend well beyond the field.

Like every soccer environment, however, high school soccer has both benefits and potential challenges. The experience can vary significantly depending on the program, coaching environment, level of competition, training demands, schedule, and the individual goals of the athlete.

Ultimately, the decision to participate belongs to the player and family.

DME will not prohibit an Academy player from making that choice.

DME Does Not Hit Pause

While we support that choice, families also need to understand our responsibility to the entire Academy.

DME programming will continue throughout the high school season.

Our training sessions, games, tournaments, showcases, technical development, strength and conditioning, and other Academy programming do not simply stop because high school soccer begins.

Many DME student-athletes choose not to participate in high school soccer. Those athletes deserve the same high-level training, competition, coaching, and development environment they committed to at the beginning of the year.

We owe it to those players and families to continue moving forward.

When conflicts arise, communication becomes extremely important. However, participation in high school soccer does not automatically mean that high school commitments take priority over DME commitments.

For our girls’ teams, we have already asked families to identify themselves within three categories:

DME Only | DME + High School, DME Priority | DME + High School, High School Priority

We are not asking this to judge a player’s decision.

We need the information so we can properly plan field space, combined training sessions, tournament rosters, coaching assignments, schedules, and overall programming.

We will conduct the same process with our boys’ teams over the next week.

Will Playing High School Soccer Affect a Player’s Standing at DME?

No.

A player will not be punished, removed from a roster, or viewed negatively simply because they choose to play high school soccer.

Roster decisions, playing time, tournament selection, and development opportunities will continue to be evaluated using the same factors we consider for every DME player:

Attendance. Performance. Training habits. Readiness. Team needs. Workload. Health. Commitment.

Those standards apply to everyone. At all times of year.

There may naturally be situations where a player misses significant Academy training or competition and another player is more prepared for a particular game or tournament. That isn’t punishment for playing high school soccer—it is part of managing a competitive development environment fairly.

Our Biggest Concern: Player Workload

The biggest issue for us isn’t whether a player wears a high school jersey.

It’s workload.

A student-athlete may train three days per week with a high school program and play another two matches. Adding multiple DME training sessions and Academy competition on top of that can quickly create an excessive workload.

For younger high school players, there is another consideration: they may suddenly be competing against athletes who are several years older, physically stronger, and more mature.

Then they leave a high school training session or match and rush directly into another demanding club environment.

Over time, that accumulation matters.

Our responsibility as coaches isn’t simply to ask, Can this player physically attend both?

We should be asking:

What is actually best for the athlete?

There will therefore be occasions when a player participating simultaneously in high school and Academy soccer needs a modified training schedule, recovery session, reduced workload, or another adjustment.

That is where communication between DME coaches and high school coaches can make a tremendous difference. We both give a little, the athlete wins.

And the communication needs to work both ways.

For example, we don’t believe an Academy player who has completed preseason fitness testing and spent months training and competing in a high-intensity environment necessarily needs to repeat excessive conditioning simply because a new season has started elsewhere.

Likewise, DME needs to understand when an athlete has experienced a particularly demanding high school week so we can make intelligent decisions about that player’s workload.

The goal shouldn’t be for one program to “win” the athlete.

The goal should be for the athlete to win.

Our Academy Division Commitment

DME Academy, Sarasota will continue operating within the rules and expectations established for our Academy Division participation.

We will respect the established Academy calendar and approach to high school participation while continuing to provide the development environment our players and families expect.

That may include consistent Academy training and select high-level competitive opportunities so our teams—and particularly the players who choose not to participate in high school soccer—continue progressing throughout the season.

Development doesn’t stop because the calendar changes.

What Happens Next?

Our first step will be a Spond poll asking families to identify their high school soccer plans and priorities.

Following high school tryouts, we will also ask participating families to provide their high school team and coaching contact information.

Our staff intends to introduce ourselves to those coaches and establish an open line of communication where appropriate.

This isn’t about DME Academy, Sarasota controlling a player’s high school experience.

It is about adults communicating so that the student-athlete’s health, workload, recovery, development, and overall experience remain at the center of the conversation.

Our position going forward is clear:

We support player choice.

We support communication between programs.

We will not penalize an athlete simply for choosing to represent their high school.

We will actively manage workload when necessary.

And at the same time:

DME Academy, Sarasota will continue to train, compete, travel, and develop throughout the entire year. Because we owe that commitment to every student-athlete and every family who chose DME.