Travel Soccer?
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Anonymous
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I'm not sure what they are writing, but if it were me, I'd write things like...
Player A - knocked over other boy and then laughed at boy on ground. Mother cheered son on. |
Anonymous
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I am as much a soccer fan as anyone could be in the US, played since 5th grade and am still playing in my 40's.
The concept of the weekday and weekend madness that the travel soccer team has created is simply absurd. No reason that rec league as a maximum isn't sufficient. Good sportsmanship and a love of the game are all that is necessary until about 6th or 7th grade. Friends I had who participated so heavily in sports at the younger years were generally burnt out from competition by the time high school rolled around. |
Anonymous
I may have actually also witnessed that! My DS also tried out for the Stodder Travel team (U9) this week. We love the Stoddert approach, program, and staff, so we really hope that we make at least one of the travel teams (there is an A, B, and C team). But the odds are against all of us (over 200 kids). Anyway, I'm posting because like PP, I was appalled at a few of the parents. Yes, most were well behaved and friendly and if they were stage mothers and fathers among the crowd, most did a good job of suppressing those tenedencies. But 2 fathers really stuck out for their inability to suppress their stage father tendencies. I was really hoping the Stoddert staff would have noticed and told them to stop coaching their sons and yelling from the sidelines. But I think with so many kids out there, they either didn't notice, or didn't have time to deal with it. I'm not going to name any of the kids' names, to protect the truly innocent, but if your husband is French speaking (or has a French sounding accent) and was wearing a backpack, or if your husband was wearing a bright blue shirt with a very pronounced pot belly and wrap around sunglasses, you should know that they both really stuck out for their obnoxiousness. I believe, but am not sure, that both of these fathers had kids at the Key Academy in DC. For most of the 2 hours, these fathers were joined at the hip, standing right on the edge of the field near one of the goals. Not only were they coaching from the sidelines, they were berating their children and clearly had no sense that their comments could at times be interpreted as open and loud criticism of the other children. I hope this aspect of their personalities only comes out rarely. And for the sake of those families and kids who do make the team, I sure hope yours don't. |
Anonymous
| Has anyone yet heard from Stoddert regarding U9 Travel Teams. I was told that they would email those who actually made the teams, before posting their numbers on the website. |
Anonymous
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15:32, I am told they will post the results as soon as 5/28. I would not count on them emailing you beforehand, even if your DC made the team. Good luck.
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Anonymous
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Stoddert posted the results today.
My DS did not make the team. I haven't yet told him. I'm still in shock. But I should have seen it coming as over 200 boys tried out. Does anyone know whether all of the kids who make it accept? Is there a "wait list" of some type? |
Anonymous
| There must be some type of "wait list." We were called last week to see whether we could join. DS is one very happy guy. |
Anonymous
| My two cents as a former member of a travel club and high school team . . . If your child goes this route, put a lot of effort into maintaining their self esteem. I had some difficult moments as I played on a team of Latinos and Europeans along with a Latino coach. I really had a difficult time understanding the languages and the different understanding of the game. My parents were not quite in tune with the pressures it was placing on me. After a few years, I lightened up and just tried to learn and enjoy. But, it was truly difficult to understand and respond to a coach who played professionally overseas. |
Anonymous
Thanks for sharing. So do you wish your parents did not make you go the travel route? |
Anonymous
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I really don't have any regrets. I was naturally a competitive athlete who wanted a challenge. So, I don't think they really forced me. I just didn't know quite what I was getting into in terms of the pressure.
But, I remember teammates who were forced and they were truly miserable. |
Anonymous
| Is there a heirarchy to DC area travel teams? It seems there is for everything Washington, related. Just curious. |
Anonymous
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You know,as the other PP's have said, travel soccer attracts a different kind of parent than rec soccer does. And frankly, after 2 years of travel soccer, I have to admit I'm scared of alot of them. We will not be signing up again although the coach has made it clear that he expects to see my son there as my son was key to their record last season.
We have two NFL (current Redskins) players in our elementary school, and both of them will not allow their sons to play on the travel teams. When I asked one of them about it at a rec soccer game where our daughters were playing he said that sports are suppposed to be fun and relaxing for the family, and that they'll get enough of that in high school. I already felt that way, but when he talked to my husband about it that day, you would have thought GOD spoke. Now my DH is totally behind me on withdrawing from the travel league. |
Anonymous
Interesting. I'm sure they're all the same, but can you tell us the name of the league? Also would be curious to hear more about what makes the parents "different"? I read this to mean more competitive? Or did you mean to convey something else? Thank you. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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This is all part of the micromanaging childhood ethos that reigns in this area among too many parents. Everything has to be orchestrated and "professionalized" for children and things are valued only for what they may get you later on, rather than for their own sake. And parents take everything so #$%^ seriously, as if the whole world will come crashing down if they let their kids just be kids and play for the enjoyment of the game.
It starts early with parents signing up their kids for everything under the sun. Even among our group of friends, whom I'd consider largely "normal", LOL, I see their kids' weekends often scheduled with activity after activity and class after class. As if, God forbid, it's somehow bad for kids to just be playing quietly by themselves or with their parent/s. It's not that we don't sign our son up for classes but, because we both work, and he only just turned 5, we limit classes to one per season/semester. Some of the kids we know have been doing sports since they were 3. It just seems crazy to me as a dad. |