At what point do you hang up the travel soccer cleats

[Anonymous]

Son is U9 on the team just below top team in club. He’s certainly not the best but enjoys playing and being on a team. But what’s frustrating is that he will never work alone in the back yard on improving his touches. How many years of not being on the top team do you continue to do in travel soccer? Still so young but do things turn around oh so much if they don’t practice outside practice. Am I expecting too much of an 8 year old?

[Anonymous]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Son is U9 on the team just below top team in club. He’s certainly not the best but enjoys playing and being on a team. But what’s frustrating is that he will never work alone in the back yard on improving his touches. How many years of not being on the top team do you continue to do in travel soccer? Still so young but do things turn around oh so much if they don’t practice outside practice. Am I expecting too much of an 8 year old?

He's enjoying it and having fun being part of a team. Keep it up as long as he wants to play! You're expecting way too much out of an 8yo. Practically none of them are going pro or even playing college ball and you definitely can't tell the .1% of them that are at age 8. Sports are fun, learning to be a part of a team, figuring out what you like, making friends, running around. Let him enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

He's 8, let him have fun and play. You sound crazy.

[Anonymous]

I think the trick for you here is to let him decide what he wants…you are only at the first rung of a very long journey if taken to the last stop.

Some ideas if his interest wanes and yours hasn’t:
1) have him play other sports
2) play with neighbors on rec team
3) change teams - my child has been on 4 teams since U9 (mostly because coaches were not a good fit)
4) change leagues played NCSL, EDP, ECNL, National League- did not realize the league’s importance at that age (but it matters)

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the trick for you here is to let him decide what he wants…you are only at the first rung of a very long journey if taken to the last stop.

Some ideas if his interest wanes and yours hasn’t:
1) have him play other sports
2) play with neighbors on rec team
3) change teams - my child has been on 4 teams since U9 (mostly because coaches were not a good fit)
4) change leagues played NCSL, EDP, ECNL, National League- did not realize the league’s importance at that age (but it matters)

How so? Are some more fun or more competitive?

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

He is 8. Back off

[Anonymous]

We only do rec soccer. I’m pretty sure my kid is good enough for travel but why? It’s more expensive, more of a time commitment and more competitive and less fun.
Travel soccer or any travel sport actually is marketed to parents the way gifted magnet programs are.
Let your kid be a kid and enjoy a relaxed childhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He's 8, let him have fun and play. You sound crazy.

+100

Top team means d@“k until a boy is around 16/17.

Development isn’t linear and boys physically mature at wildly different ages.

My kids were late developers their success really didn’t start coming until age 16-17 and beyond.

You cannot be on the top team for much of your youth soccer “career” and still end up a top player by the time you hit college.

But- let’s get back to your kid: my kids always wanted to go to practice. That loved playing. When your kid doesn’t like anymore, that’s when he stops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We only do rec soccer. I’m pretty sure my kid is good enough for travel but why? It’s more expensive, more of a time commitment and more competitive and less fun.
Travel soccer or any travel sport actually is marketed to parents the way gifted magnet programs are.
Let your kid be a kid and enjoy a relaxed childhood.

+1. You are driving around and paying lots of $$ for an 8 year old that doesn’t practice. Why not just do rec and reassess.

[Anonymous]

Does he play defense?
If not then yell at him.
If that doesn’t work then hang it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We only do rec soccer. I’m pretty sure my kid is good enough for travel but why? It’s more expensive, more of a time commitment and more competitive and less fun.
Travel soccer or any travel sport actually is marketed to parents the way gifted magnet programs are.
Let your kid be a kid and enjoy a relaxed childhood.

+1. You are driving around and paying lots of $$ for an 8 year old that doesn’t practice. Why not just do rec and reassess.

OP here- this is my point. He likes it and is learning but doesn’t like it enough to want to play beyond practice. I wish there was a non- travel league that had coaching like travel does but no travel. My beef with Rec is that they don’t learn any positions and it’s run by dads who may or may not know anything about the game. Maybe rec gets better the older they get?

[Anonymous]

To be fair, it’s kind of hard for a kid these days to “play” on his own outside if he doesn’t have friends to play soccer with.

Try getting him a rebounder and a small goal he can practice with on his own and make it fun time for the two of you to play/practice together. If he still isn’t into it, just let him be. I suspect he’ll enjoy the time with you and grow to like little backyard soccer time more.

And if not, let him decide if he wants to keep playing. If he does - great! Just let him enjoy it at his own pace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We only do rec soccer. I’m pretty sure my kid is good enough for travel but why? It’s more expensive, more of a time commitment and more competitive and less fun.
Travel soccer or any travel sport actually is marketed to parents the way gifted magnet programs are.
Let your kid be a kid and enjoy a relaxed childhood.

+1. You are driving around and paying lots of $$ for an 8 year old that doesn’t practice. Why not just do rec and reassess.

OP here- this is my point. He likes it and is learning but doesn’t like it enough to want to play beyond practice. I wish there was a non- travel league that had coaching like travel does but no travel. My beef with Rec is that they don’t learn any positions and it’s run by dads who may or may not know anything about the game. Maybe rec gets better the older they get?

Perhaps join a smaller club? They tend to be cheaper than the big clubs (bsc, Alexandria, Arlington, sac, etc). Up to 1000 less. We also have a kid who loves to play but doesn’t really put any work in outside of practices. But he doesn’t want to play rec or at school bc he knows the kids that play on those teams and they are terrible and it’s not fun for him. So we put him in small club where it’s a bit cheaper, still playing competitive matches and training.

On the other hand, we have no problem paying for MLSNext for our other kid bc he does so much on his own to stay competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We only do rec soccer. I’m pretty sure my kid is good enough for travel but why? It’s more expensive, more of a time commitment and more competitive and less fun.
Travel soccer or any travel sport actually is marketed to parents the way gifted magnet programs are.
Let your kid be a kid and enjoy a relaxed childhood.

+1. You are driving around and paying lots of $$ for an 8 year old that doesn’t practice. Why not just do rec and reassess.

OP here- this is my point. He likes it and is learning but doesn’t like it enough to want to play beyond practice. I wish there was a non- travel league that had coaching like travel does but no travel. My beef with Rec is that they don’t learn any positions and it’s run by dads who may or may not know anything about the game. Maybe rec gets better the older they get?

There is an non-travel option in Montgomery County. The level is called select and there are two options. SAM Select soccer and MSI Classic. They have their own leagues. Kids try out so the bar is a little higher than rec. They have an extra practice and many hire professional coaches.