Kyla Ferry led Phoenix Xavier Prep to a 6A soccer championship the last two years. Last season, she was named the azcentral Sports Awards Girls Soccer Player of the Year. She was also the state Player of the Year by Gatorade. She committed to the University of Colorado.

"It was always fun to go down the hallway, and people would say, 'Good game, I heard you on the announcements, scoring,' '' Ferry said.

But now, when she walks down the school's hallways, she sees former teammates chatting up their last game. When she helps Xavier coach Barb Chura as her teacher's assistant, she can only hear what happened in their games.

"Those are the things she looks back on," said J-Michael Ferry, Kyla's father and still an avid Xavier soccer supporter. "It validates why you play, being recognized. She spent a good part of her life playing this sport."

Choosing academy over high school team

Tuesday night, when Xavier has Senior Night, Ferry won't be able to take part in it.

"It’s tough," J-Michael said. "You want your kids to do it all. But the DA rules are set. It's this way. I think she's happy with her choices."

In the second year of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy for girls, the national federation made a rule that girls who choose to play on their high school teams can't play for the development academy team.

Ferry chose to ramp her game up another notch and get the year-round training to get herself ready to make an instant impact in her first college season next fall at Colorado.

She practices most nights at Rose Mofford Sports Complex in Phoenix, wearing the orange-jersey girls meet up for training under Les Armstrong, who leads the SC del Sol U-18/19 team that is 13-1-1 and ranked No. 1 in the Southwest Division.

Ferry has had a big impact on the team. At the biggest showcase of the year in Florida in December, she scored four goals, including three game winners in front of more than 100 college coaches, including her future Colorado coach.

"Playing here at del Sol, the competition is at a much higher level than high school," Ferry said. "Everybody is going to top D. I schools around the country. We play against almost all California schools, which a higher-intensity level for us, which is the best competition to get us ready for our colleges. Which is the most important thing for thing for now, getting prepared, especially for me. I want to be prepared when I get to the University of Colorado."

'This is a HUGE issue'

This is great for Ferry and other girls who have chosen the development academy route.

But what has it done this season in Arizona high school girls soccer?

"This is a HUGE issue," Chura wrote in an email. "The Development Academy has kill HS Soccer. Especially at my school. So many good soccer players no longer playing. Really sad."

Chura didn't just lose the state's best player, but five potential starters on this year's team that is hoping to capture a third consecutive state title. Injuries have taken a toll on Xavier's depth. But the Gators are hanging in. They are 7-3-2 and have outscored their opponents 39-8.

Chandler Hamilton lost at least five players, all of whom have committed to Division I college programs, to club, according to Athletic Director Brett Palmer.

Academy has 197 total clubs, comprised of teams across six age groups in the boys program and U-18/19 and four age groups in the girls program.

In the fall of 2017 the academy expanded to include a girls development academy. Last year, girls could take a break from the academy to spend the three or four months with their high school teams. But in 2018, the national federation made a rule that girls who leave the academy to play high school can't return to the academy once their high school season is over.

The academy program advertises on its Web site that the club "environments assist in maximizing youth player development across the country."

"The Academy values individual development of elite players over winning trophies and titles," it says. "The Academy sets the standard for elite environments for youth soccer clubs nationwide and is a part of U.S. Soccer's global leadership position in youth soccer that will impact thousands of players."

So every grade in high school is impacted by the academy, which is pulling some of the most elite players from the high school game.

"If we could have done both, we would have loved to do both," Ferry said. "But we couldn't and it's best for us to play for the DA. People were saying, 'Please play, you're really big for the team.' I was like, 'I just can't. It's not what's best for me.'

"It's really hard for me, because I'm a TA for Barb. Having to see her every day and her just being, 'I know I'm going to see you on the sideline and we're going to be accepting.' But she understands that's what's best."

In an October story by SoccerNation, Mirelle van Rijbroek, director of talent indentification for US Soccer, was asked why the federation does not allow DA players to play for their high school teams.

“Imagine you get into Harvard," van Rijbroek told SoccerNation. "You go to Harvard, and you’re in a very high-level environment. There are big group projects to work on that are crucial to your education. Those projects are going to help you learn how to handle huge stressful situations later in life. But then you want to take a few months off to go to a different school for a while. Think Harvard will be OK with that? You think that’s going to be beneficial to your Harvard education? Furthermore, you’ll be leaving the members of your group without an important member of the team, while you take a few months to go do something else. It’s not fair to the group left behind. Additionally, it’s not going to be good for your own education. You can’t just leave for a few months.”

Ferry was stuck in tough spot.

The high school soccer season ends in mid-February. Had she committed to high school soccer her senior year, she'd be out, as far as playing in weekend tournaments in California with the top development academy team in the Southwest.

"She wants to be here," Chura said. "She just knows if she does, where does she go? She's with one of the top-ranked teams in the country. She's a premier player, an elite player.

"That's where we have no leverage as high schools, because these colleges are going to showcase tournaments and mobbing the sidelines to watch these kids play. They don't go to high schools."

More high school blowouts

High school scores have been predictably lopsided this season.

Gilbert Perry, which arguably has the best team in the state at 17-0-2, outscoring opponents 86-1, won back-to-back games in January by scores of 10-0 and 21-0.

"I am sure that a lot of schools have several kids that have opted to play with their club teams," Perry coach John Roberts said. "As coaches, we need to focus on the kids that we do have. Club soccer is a grind.

"High school soccer is fun for the kids and keeps their passion for the sport with the few months off of club that they do get while still competing in the sport. It is our job to make their experiences fun, while still learning and progressing in the sport. Kids get to represent their schools and play with their friends and create lifelong memories. That is what we are about at Perry."

Armstrong said his team is just following U.S. Soccer guidelines, and he gives the girls the option.

"You can play the first half of the season, but you can't come back after that (if they choose to join their high school teams)," Armstrong said. "If you play high school, you're ineligible.

"Generally, the most competitive players continue to play in the academy. My personal thought is, you get better by good competition and good coaching. That's not to say you don't have good high school coaching. But the level of play is inferior compared to the level of club. Kids make the choice. I feel bad for it.

"The other disheartening thing for high school kids, they play during the time when major tournaments are going on with the academy. In December, we had one game with 145 college coaches around the field. That doesn't happen at a high school soccer match."

Still cheering for Xavier

Ferry was going to commit to being one of Chura's team managers at Xavier Prep this year. But it's been tough to get out to the high school matches, because they conflict with her academy practices and games.

J-Michael said he left the decision to his daughter this year.

"At the time, Kyla said, 'I'm not sure,' '' he said. "In the end, she felt what's important is Colorado and being ready to play. She had to look at the next level for this."

So why does J-Michael still attend most Xavier soccer matches, while still making it to his daughter's del Sol matches?

"I went to Brophy," he said. "I graduated from Brophy. I support both. I love going to Brophy games, too. They have a lot of girls still there at Xavier. I think it's about supporting the school. It's a cool environment. It's fun."

Kyla still is Xavier's No. 1 fan.

But she knows her game is that much farther advanced since committing to the development academy.

"(My dad) loved watching me play high school but he also loves watching me play club," she said. "He just wants me to be playing when I go to Colorado, because he's going to be go up every single weekend, even when we're traveling."

READ MORE:

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.