These days too many kids hit puberty early (which is not healthy) and they excel at sports for a few years. Then, all the kids on the normal track of growth (who are smaller in comparison) focus on skill. Once those kids hit puberty they surpass the prior bigger/faster kids around 7-9th grade because the kids who hit puberty early (most) never really focused on skill. They excelled on size and speed which was matched later on by the smaller kids with 3-5 years of skill already trained. |
That's why my DS quit. Plus overuse injuries which impacted track & field. |
School has to come first. Plus DD has personally seen so many concussions and ACL tears. It’s disturbing, especially the concussions. Often in girls who are playing up or younger girls on varsity, maybe have skills but not enough strength. They get pushed around terribly. |
that is so true the u11 or u12 that is as tall as their parents made the top team because of power/speed. they get recruited by ecnl/mlsn teams but then are caught up later and their power difference does not work anymore. fast forward to u15-u17 they won't be demoted because customer first causing the most talented small kids to not get a chance. |
| Concussion |
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My kid played on an MLS Next team for two years before quitting - prior to starting high school.
He had lost his passion for soccer, and he started to resent that all his time outside of school was dedicated to practice and weekend games. He was a starter, had positive experiences with coaches, liked his teammates though wasn’t super bonded with them. Since quitting he has played three dif HS sports though not soccer. Hats off to the kids and families who keep up the travel soccer intensity into HS. |
| Yes, lots of props to the kids who keep going with the intense, year round travel and HS soccer. It’s a never-ending commitment, chance of injury is real and more common the higher you go, and a huge sacrifice. |
Your kid quit in Elementary school before serious soccer even began What intensity was there to keep up with at U12 and U13? |
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The top colleges including Ivy League has players who have good grades and made it through U18 and U19 in travel soccer at the intensity of highest levels.
So your kid quitting because ECNL was too demanding is weak ijs |
And there it is. The grilling plus guilt trips over quitting. |
| ECNL really isn’t that demanding unless you have long drive to/from practice. If you live close to a clubs practice field than it is less demanding than almost any other sport. |
MLSNext is U13 and U14 for the first years so middle school (7th and 8th). DS MLSNext U13 and there are 30+ games for the year, some weekends two games. It’s a lot. Unless you want to play high level D1 or pro, it’s a lot to ask from a kid |
| Soccer parents really are the best. |
Such 1st world struggles and adversities 😂🤣 |
Don't forget the additional stresses of getting in hours of screen time and video games |