swim and/or soccer

[Anonymous]

I have 8-year old twins. One is a girl; the other is a boy. Both play soccer and do club swimming and they love both. I know down the road, each kid will have to focus on one and it weighs heavily on their own preferences. But granted everything equal (currently both kids enjoy both sports and are pretty good), what's your recommendation for one sport to focus on? Would the recommendation be different for boys vs. girls? As a parent, I'm thinking the impact/possibility of college recruitment as well. Are the chances of college recruitment different for different sports with boys vs. girls?

[Anonymous]

My kid is a swimmer who may swim in college. She's pretty good, but even though she's only 12 I know she's not the next Katie Ledecky. If she does eventually swim in college it will be because she has a natural ability but more importantly she will continue to sacrifice her personal life to continue improving. I don't think you can predict if a kid will be willing to do that and for which sport.

My advice is to keep them in both sports until they decide for themselves.it should weigh completely on their own preferences, not just heavily if YOUR ultimate goal is college recruitment.

[Anonymous]

Advice on soccer: forget scholarships for boys. Less than 1% and (again for boys) mostly reserved for Europeans who have already been enrolled in advanced soccer academies while your junior is doing cone work once a week on grass. Wayne Rooney - the famous English star’s son - for example signed a professional contract at 11. So if you think Larlo is here to be the next Messi - he’s got to get on it for real and fast and odds are against him. For Larla slightly better odds at 2% soccer scholarships but remember demographics. I don’t know if you are of Hispanic origin but guessing most scholarships will go in the future as hooks for Hispanic young women who play the beautiful game. No nothing about swimming except being tall makes all the difference it seems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Advice on soccer: forget scholarships for boys. Less than 1% and (again for boys) mostly reserved for Europeans who have already been enrolled in advanced soccer academies while your junior is doing cone work once a week on grass. Wayne Rooney - the famous English star’s son - for example signed a professional contract at 11. So if you think Larlo is here to be the next Messi - he’s got to get on it for real and fast and odds are against him. For Larla slightly better odds at 2% soccer scholarships but remember demographics. I don’t know if you are of Hispanic origin but guessing most scholarships will go in the future as hooks for Hispanic young women who play the beautiful game. No nothing about swimming except being tall makes all the difference it seems.

College recruitment is different from scholarship money. OP might not be interested in/aiming for scholarships. That being said, scholarships are extremely difficult to come by in boys' swimming as well. It might be slightly easier for girls but still unlikely unless they are getting Olympic trials cuts. Also, being tall helps but it is not like basketball and average-tall will suffice just fine.

However, at the end of the day it is ridiculous to be thinking about college recruitment with 8 year olds. Let them play the sports they like and decide for themselves when the time comes. They may not have any interest in college athletics at 18, and it is their lives not yours.

[Anonymous]

Around age 12-14 your kid will have a stronger preference and you will have much less control over their activities than you do now. I wouldn't even begin to think about college yet. They're EIGHT.

[Anonymous]

Troll. No one in their right mind thinks about college recruitment for their EIGHT year olds. Statistically they will probably not be good enough in either sport. But you certainly can’t tell at 8, and you also can’t control your kids forever. They will make their own choices. OP, I really hope you are a troll and this is a fake post.

[Anonymous]

Why? Why can't they do both? My kids do soccer in the fall and spring and basketball in the winter. They only play in rec leagues because they play for fun and exercise. No one has high expectations.

*OP, the chances of your kids being so great at either of these sports that they will be recruited by colleges is very, very, very , very low. Just know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Around age 12-14 your kid will have a stronger preference and you will have much less control over their activities than you do now. I wouldn't even begin to think about college yet. They're EIGHT.

+1

I have one of each but not twins. They both played travel soccer and/or basketball along with club swimming through MS. Balancing swim and soccer calendars was actually pretty manageable. As HS approached, they decided to pursue swimming at the highest level, but I feel like it really could have gone either way entering 9th grade. The older of them is committed to swim in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Troll. No one in their right mind thinks about college recruitment for their EIGHT year olds. Statistically they will probably not be good enough in either sport. But you certainly can’t tell at 8, and you also can’t control your kids forever. They will make their own choices. OP, I really hope you are a troll and this is a fake post.

Sadly I know people like this in real life. So I doubt they are a troll.

My advice is to not even think about college at this age and just let the kids do what they want to do.

[Anonymous]

Or they won't. I have a kid who does club swim AND rec soccer. He won't get a scholarship for either, but loves both and makes time to do both. He does rec soccer 3x/week and swim 3-4x/week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Troll. No one in their right mind thinks about college recruitment for their EIGHT year olds. Statistically they will probably not be good enough in either sport. But you certainly can’t tell at 8, and you also can’t control your kids forever. They will make their own choices. OP, I really hope you are a troll and this is a fake post.

Sadly I know people like this in real life. So I doubt they are a troll.

My advice is to not even think about college at this age and just let the kids do what they want to do.

Bingo.

As the parent of two girls - one who is now a sophomore in college and another who is a senior in high school, sadly for a period of time, I was probably one of these parents.

My oldest was a very good soccer player and youngest was a top swimmer. Until the soccer player was about 7-8th grade she thought she wanted to play in college and we did everything to help her. Then because of many reasons, that passion waned. By the time she got to high school she started enjoying other things - mainly theater - but still enjoyed playing competitive soccer, just not to the level needed to prep her to even have a chance in college. And that was ok. Her happiness was far more important than my desire to say my kid was being recruited or would play in college. At the end of the day exactly two kids who started in my daughters U9 academy (of 48 kids) are playing in college. One is playing D-1 and one walked on at D-3.

My high school senior was a top swimmer. She was annually competed at Nationals in Florida and was being lightly recruited starting her freshman year of high school. Then COVID hit and she wasn't able to be in the pool as often. She picked up other interests and outlets for her passion. Of the two, we always thought she would have likely been the one who would receive a college scholarship or at least compete in college. She still captained her high school swim team and loves swimming (less than before but still does) but has a far better balance in her life, for which we are happy.

I gave up the aspirations of seeing my kids compete in college many years ago - and that is ok. I am happy with how they have both turned out so far and they are both in a great place mentally. As someone who was in the OPs place 10-12 years ago, it's ok to just let your kids chart their own course. Fully support their desires to play in college (if you can do so financially) but don't let it become a passion for you that becomes a burden for your kids. I almost did and am glad I let them be themselves and discover their passions.

[Anonymous]

Is your goal for them to
a) get a sports scholarship to college?
b) to have sports participation be a "hook" for their application to college, but no actual scholarship?
c) or to play in college regardless of how it impacts applications/scholarships?

If the goal is a) acknowledge that the chances of this working out are exceedingly slim. For soccer, there are about 200 division 1 schools with about 10 scholarships per school. So 2000 soccer scholarships, but split that by 4 years, and it is down to 500. Is your kid going to be the among the 500 best kids their age in the country and beyond in 10 years? There are fewer scholarships for swimming, but also fewer swimmers, but it is still extremely slim chances. Are both parents tall with wide shoulders? If not, the chances of swimming scholarship even smaller.

If the goal is c), then it is very possible to be a walk on at a division 3 school if you love the sport and have done it for years for both soccer and swimming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is your goal for them to
a) get a sports scholarship to college?
b) to have sports participation be a "hook" for their application to college, but no actual scholarship?
c) or to play in college regardless of how it impacts applications/scholarships?

If the goal is a) acknowledge that the chances of this working out are exceedingly slim. For soccer, there are about 200 division 1 schools with about 10 scholarships per school. So 2000 soccer scholarships, but split that by 4 years, and it is down to 500. Is your kid going to be the among the 500 best kids their age in the country and beyond in 10 years? There are fewer scholarships for swimming, but also fewer swimmers, but it is still extremely slim chances. Are both parents tall with wide shoulders? If not, the chances of swimming scholarship even smaller.

If the goal is c), then it is very possible to be a walk on at a division 3 school if you love the sport and have done it for years for both soccer and swimming.

On the men's side, the soccer scholarships are going to internationals not American players

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 8-year old twins. One is a girl; the other is a boy. Both play soccer and do club swimming and they love both. I know down the road, each kid will have to focus on one and it weighs heavily on their own preferences. But granted everything equal (currently both kids enjoy both sports and are pretty good), what's your recommendation for one sport to focus on? Would the recommendation be different for boys vs. girls? As a parent, I'm thinking the impact/possibility of college recruitment as well. Are the chances of college recruitment different for different sports with boys vs. girls?

They are 8, unless you or you spouse where great athletes, the odds that they will end up big enough, strong enough, and fast enough to ever play college are very low. Let them have fun

[Anonymous]

I have an 8 year old that is on a top soccer team and a top swimmer. I have zero dreams of her playing in college. So many of these "top" kids burn out by the time they are 12. My concern right now is making she is having fun. Because so many of these top programs suck the fun out of everything - so much pressure on little kids and no fun.

As for which sport to choose, she will need to make a decision in the next year or two. But I am hoping she can keep up with both of them. It probably isn't realistic. I find soccer to be incredibly political, whereas swimming is purely times.