One thing that doesn't change, however, is the fact teams in the Naperville Region continue to stay in their little "country-club like" pack and play the same teams year after year. I actually compared a team's schedule today to one from six years ago, and guess what - one game had changed.

Someone is being lazy.

But as soon as I say that, I remind myself the best teams tend to reside in that region. So why shouldn't they play one another all the time? I guess some would like to see a New Trier play a Neuqua Valley more or a Lake Zurich play Naperville Central or maybe Warren play Wheaton North.

Wouldn't it be cool to a have a 16-team invite - top four teams from each region (city, south, north and west) play each year? Or imagine this, a 32-team invite.

For example, if it was 16 teams - maybe something like this:

West: Neuqua Valley, Nap. Central, Hinsdale Central, Wheaton South.
North: Geneva, Lake Zurich, Barrington, St. Charles North.
South: Downers South, Lyons, L-Way East, L-Way Central.
City: New Trier, Lane, Kelly, Maine South.

I keep looking around at tournamnets every year, and I keep saying soccer coaches don't get it. What do college coaches love about club - big tournaments, one site, main attraction.

Granted, the fall is tough with colleges in season. But tell me, how many coaches do you think show up at the Best of the West? Or even the Barrington Invite? How many? The tournaments are run great and feature great teams, but how many coaches are staying there all day to see eight teams?

Kudos to football programs for the big 7-on-7 tournaments in the summer or the basketball teams that run the major tournaments. College coaches love them. What does soccer do during the summer or the season? Who cares if club is going on during the summer. There are far more Division II, III and NAIA players in this area than Division I kids.

The high school game has a chance to regain some exposure these days. Academy players are playing high school, so high school is not competing against anything in the fall.

We live in the exposure era. Parents want it, players want it and yes - high school coaches and schools want it.

As one coach said this week: "It is important for high school programs - and their coaches - to realize how the landscape is changing. If coaches don't look to connect with their communities, they are going to find it difficult to compete down the road. You only get the soccer players that the bus drops off. I prefer to have a program for the kids that arrive here that is prepared, organized, and one they would absolutely look forward to competing in."

While he wasn't referring to exactly what I'm talking about, the general theme is there - the landscape has changed and will continue to.

The bus isn't going to wait for 1980s thinking when it comes to high school soccer and scheduling.

- Joe Trost