Life comes at you fast - even at age 9

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG he is 9 stop just stop.

Take him off of travel now. Why is he doing daily training? Injury and growth come on you are absud.

He is depressed because you put too much pressure on him

I guarantee this kid will never be scholarship you will be lucky if he makes HS.

Change clubs. That is the only answer if you think he is so hot try him out. I doubt he will make the other elite team.

Signed mother of more than one Divsion 1 player in college.

Amazing someone took time out of their day to write this nonsensical reply. But here we are...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG he is 9 stop just stop.

Take him off of travel now. Why is he doing daily training? Injury and growth come on you are absud.

He is depressed because you put too much pressure on him

I guarantee this kid will never be scholarship you will be lucky if he makes HS.

Change clubs. That is the only answer if you think he is so hot try him out. I doubt he will make the other elite team.

Signed mother of more than one Divsion 1 player in college.

I hope you're a fake person making a fake reply just for attention.
Please don't really be someone's mother.

[Anonymous]

Ha. Having this exact same experience. Club is poorly run and the team my son is on just doesn’t have the intensity of the top team. He can’t move, so we are opting out. He’s unhappy - so just NOT worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG he is 9 stop just stop.

Take him off of travel now. Why is he doing daily training? Injury and growth come on you are absud.

He is depressed because you put too much pressure on him

I guarantee this kid will never be scholarship you will be lucky if he makes HS.

Change clubs. That is the only answer if you think he is so hot try him out. I doubt he will make the other elite team.

Signed mother of more than one Divsion 1 player in college.

I hope you're a fake person making a fake reply just for attention.
Please don't really be someone's mother.

If it's fake, they post the same poor syntax and ridiculous signature regularly. Pretty sure they have a pre-engraved tombstone listing this accomplishment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG he is 9 stop just stop.

Take him off of travel now. Why is he doing daily training? Injury and growth come on you are absud.

He is depressed because you put too much pressure on him

I guarantee this kid will never be scholarship you will be lucky if he makes HS.

Change clubs. That is the only answer if you think he is so hot try him out. I doubt he will make the other elite team.

Signed mother of more than one Divsion 1 player in college.

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG he is 9 stop just stop.

Take him off of travel now. Why is he doing daily training? Injury and growth come on you are absud.

He is depressed because you put too much pressure on him

I guarantee this kid will never be scholarship you will be lucky if he makes HS.

Change clubs. That is the only answer if you think he is so hot try him out. I doubt he will make the other elite team.

Signed mother of more than one Divsion 1 player in college.

I hope you're a fake person making a fake reply just for attention.
Please don't really be someone's mother.

If it's fake, they post the same poor syntax and ridiculous signature regularly. Pretty sure they have a pre-engraved tombstone listing this accomplishment.

If it's real, it is terrible. And, to all former Div. 1 players and especially mothers of Div. 1 players, Division 1 soccer is not everyone's target. It doesn't make you an expert on everything related to soccer. We're talking about a 9 yr old who clearly just loves the game. If you have anything to offer re: how to maximize that, I'm sure it would be welcome. Lastly, if you have a player in college right now, your experience with U10 is at least a decade old. Many of the posters on here who played in college probably did so much more than a decade ago. The soccer landscape has changed immeasurably in that time;
in the structure of the leagues, the amount of time spent by kids, the specialization, and at the top levels anyway, the very way the game is played.

[Anonymous]

The issue here isn’t parenting. It’s having to sign a year long contract with a team and not being able to get out of it. It happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG he is 9 stop just stop.

Take him off of travel now. Why is he doing daily training? Injury and growth come on you are absud.

He is depressed because you put too much pressure on him

I guarantee this kid will never be scholarship you will be lucky if he makes HS.

Change clubs. That is the only answer if you think he is so hot try him out. I doubt he will make the other elite team.

Signed mother of more than one Divsion 1 player in college.

I hope you're a fake person making a fake reply just for attention.
Please don't really be someone's mother.

If it's fake, they post the same poor syntax and ridiculous signature regularly. Pretty sure they have a pre-engraved tombstone listing this accomplishment.

If it's real, it is terrible. And, to all former Div. 1 players and especially mothers of Div. 1 players, Division 1 soccer is not everyone's target. It doesn't make you an expert on everything related to soccer. We're talking about a 9 yr old who clearly just loves the game. If you have anything to offer re: how to maximize that, I'm sure it would be welcome. Lastly, if you have a player in college right now, your experience with U10 is at least a decade old. Many of the posters on here who played in college probably did so much more than a decade ago. The soccer landscape has changed immeasurably in that time;
in the structure of the leagues, the amount of time spent by kids, the specialization, and at the top levels anyway, the very way the game is played.

Yes it has changed, in ways that are harmful to kids bodies and their mental health. The old way was better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is on a U10 travel team and he's been training almost daily along with having a personal coach since summer. He was suppose to move up to the higher level U10 team this spring, but a day ago we heard from the high tier coach his current coach was very unhappy to hear he wanted to leave and made a fuss about it. So, they are going to leave him on the current team which is well below is skill level.

I've never seen my son so unhappy. It's borderline depression. I'm all for facing real life and realizing life isn't fair. In fact, I'm the parent who makes sure he realizes it. But, this really hit him hard. He trains so much with the hopes of getting moved up because his current team has horrible chemistry and they don't even practice outside of team practice (they don't care). A portion of the players don't even show up to practice or games and the coach doesn't do anything. It's a mess.

Talent and skill wise he 100% is able to perform well if moved up. But, he's the best player on his current team so his coach doesn't want to lose him. I think that's selfish (and I used to coach high school sports along with 3 youth sports). Should I speak with the coach or leave it alone?

Hang in there! This will pass, that kid of disappointment is real and we have been through something similar. My kid was moved up 1 year group during tryouts but no promises of 1st or 2nd team. She practiced really hard and wanted to make the 1st team, but when the new season started, new coaches came in and did not add any new players to the 1st team and put all new players on the 2nd team. There were no changes at all. My daughter was crushed. It took about 6 months for her to snap out of her funk. Here we are mid-year, she is shinning really bright, but no roster changes have occurred, nor do we expect them too. I think we will be sure of which team she will be placed on before we accept the offer for next year however. It's kind of a crap shoot at times. The club seems content to not rock the boat and not demote any players, thus not making room for any new players. Anyway, keep your chin up, keep finding love for the game and encourage him to keep practicing for spring tryouts are just around the corner!

[Anonymous]

Your DC is amazing especially if he’s practicing hard to better himself for his love of soccer.

As others have suggested, definitely meet with the coach and tech director but at the same time. This way, there’s a consistent story (no lies). If they are against it, then as a compromise, ask to at least train with a top team and play a few games for them while continuing to play games with the current team.

In addition, ask to practice with other clubs and possibly guest play for them if allowed (depending on leagues).

Good luck. This is a life lesson that a 9 year old shouldn’t have learn yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why did your son expect to be moved up mid year? Most clubs don't make roster changes between the fall and spring seasons. It does make sense to ask whether your son can practice with the higher team one day per week, but understandable that they don't want to move him up mid year.

+1

We are with a very well known club , and my son has been through this. No one owes your son to move up mid year, some clubs do that, some don't. His contract is for the year. He's not the first or the last kid that will be the best player on his team.

Keep practicing, do tryouts and have a backup club available. If they don't move him up for fall, leave to go a better first team.

If you don't make the first team elsewhere, possibly your son is playing at an acceptable level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:by the way, rosters increase from 12 to 16 at U11. so they need more players for the top team next year and won't want to lose you

16 players at u11?

Clubs are milking parents. No reason to have over 14 kids at u11.

[Anonymous]

This whole thread is a bit crazy to me as the parent of a U10 travel player. Daily practice? A personal coach for months? There are probably kids on the top team playing multiple sports, with no private coach, and still performing at a higher level than OP's kid. And they aren't maxing out their potential at age 9 by pursuing every possible training opportunity. Plenty of time to do that later.

As for the situation with the current club -- as others have said ask to have a meeting with current coach, top team coach, and the TD. Don't let them tell you conflicting stories. And take whatever they say about being moved up with a grain of salt. I've seen multiple kids get promised this kind of thing at our club and it has only actually happened a couple of times. If you aren't happy all you can truly do is vote with your feet. Try out elsewhere and see where the kid lands. The grass may be greener, maybe not.

[Anonymous]

Did someone promise you a mid-season move? That seems odd but wouldn't be the strangest thing I've heard on here...

As others have mentioned, you need to speak up. Nothing will change if you just stay quiet.

[Anonymous]

If you snowplow-parent him through this, he's missing a big opportunity to build resilience. Rather than swoop in and make everything okay, why not talk to him about his feelings, help him figure out what will make him feel better, see if he can find a way forward himself.

If you don't let him learn this now, when is he supposed to learn it? What kind of adulthood is he going to have if he never figures out how to deal with "life coming at you"?