Are late practices typical in middle school?

[Anonymous]

It’s tough for kids when practices get pushed later. DS is older but he not only practices until 9:30, it’s an hour drive so he doesn’t get home until 10:30 and still has to eat and shower. The earliest he is in bed is midnight for a 6 am wake up. All the clubs we have played with prioritized younger players for earlier times but there’s a huge shortage of field space and at some point someone has to take the later times which is usually middle school. The problem only grows worse in HS when kids need to be up even earlier and have more demanding classes to study for, so if the late practices are a hardship in 7th or 8th, you really need to determine if this is the path you want to pursue. I wouldn’t do it unless my DS literally lived and breathed soccer. It also happens to be where he has made has deepest social connections and the thing that motivates him to keep his grades up. I wish there were more fields but I have come to realize that this is just how it is going to be.

[Anonymous]

Op here. My 11 year old wants to play soccer every minute she gets. (Her poster on her door is “eat, sleep, soccer, repeat.) My husband really enjoys bonding with her over playing soccer / watching her games / watching soccer matches etc so they don’t see the problem. I think the alternative is to see if she can practice with a different team (like the 2013s) one day a week. But I won’t push it. The other two practices are outdoors / lit fields. This practice is actually indoors. I don’t know how some families manage - we both work from home so can manage the other practices which are at 5 pm. (Last year she had 6:30-7 or 7:30-9). We’re in California and soccer goes to the end of Nov and starts back up the first week of January. It also stops for July (though with optional practices), so it’s basically all year.

[Anonymous]

I do field scheduling and try very hard to be sure elementary kids are done by 8:00. Any slot that starts at 8:00 is definitely going to high school kids. If I had to put a younger (middle school) team in a late slot it would only be because the coach's schedule forced it. Lights are a huge issue in the fall, and nobody has enough lit turf fields, so those slots definitely get used but as I said, we only put high school kids that late.

[Anonymous]

OP - you're making the huge mistake of thinking this has anything to do with what's good for children. Just because it's done this way, some adult says this is how it has to be -- doesn't mean it's a good idea.