youth soccer participation down 23.5% in key 6-12 year age group...

[Anonymous]

+1 Great Post.

[Anonymous]

What kind of class/rec league is ideal for a 5 year-old who's been to several DCU matches but never really kicked a ball or otherwise shown interest in soccer? I don't want to force the sport on him but at least want to introduce it in a way that increases the chances that he'll enjoy the experience.

[Anonymous]

Any rec league. Just sign him up at your nearest club and see how he likes it. If he does, thats great. You can then plan on moving him if necessary where you see fit in the future. But at this point he is only in the exploratory phase.

[Anonymous]

They changed the age range and now kids can't play with their grade which is not as much fun. On top of this, the fees are high compared to something like little league and there are too many divisions so kids and parents are driving all over the place to play games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They changed the age range and now kids can't play with their grade which is not as much fun. On top of this, the fees are high compared to something like little league and there are too many divisions so kids and parents are driving all over the place to play games.

What you are describing is travel soccer. The pp’s son is years away from that. The age requirement is not enforced in house soccer. Kids in same grade get to play with each other on the same team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They changed the age range and now kids can't play with their grade which is not as much fun. On top of this, the fees are high compared to something like little league and there are too many divisions so kids and parents are driving all over the place to play games.

What you are describing is travel soccer. The pp’s son is years away from that. The age requirement is not enforced in house soccer. Kids in same grade get to play with each other on the same team.

I was just responding to the original post. In our town a lot of people want the option to play travel and eventually make a high school or college team. I think it's discouraging from the outset that travel has a new age requirement. Also, the DC area now has too many leagues at the younger ages which require more travel. It doesn't make sense to have four different travel leagues for U9-U12 for the same area. Parents don't want to travel that much during elementary school.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s like 75% of kids stop play all sport(not just Soccer) by 13.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They changed the age range and now kids can't play with their grade which is not as much fun. On top of this, the fees are high compared to something like little league and there are too many divisions so kids and parents are driving all over the place to play games.

What you are describing is travel soccer. The pp’s son is years away from that. The age requirement is not enforced in house soccer. Kids in same grade get to play with each other on the same team.

age requirement was enforced at our local clubs in rec

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is possible for a kid that LOVES, LOVES, LOVES soccer to have that beat down by too much tedium and not enough fun in the early years.

I don't know why people are adamant that if a child does not like structured, boring 3Xweek 90-minute practices from the time of age 7 that it means they just don't love the sport.

Bullshit. I saw with both of my soccer-obsessed kids that would play any chance that could get and loved going to the park for spontaneous pick-up games every night in the summer and when there wasn't a practice---that around 9/10 they started to hate "the grind". I pulled back. I stopped having them do the winter practices. I let them miss practices on occassion. I made sure to keep it organic and fun and found trainers that were challenging but in a way that made them want to work and laugh.

I think this is why they didn't drop the sport like the vast majority of their friends that were also fanatical about it---but all hated that the 90minute 3X a week year-round practices and travel all weekend left them with no down time or time to play anything else.

So--yes---you can love soccer and that love can be taken away when the wrong people enforce too much structure and not age-appropriate training that keeps young kids engaged and having fun. I've seen Academies in Europe train only 60 minutes a session at ages 7/8/9--much less than your typical travel soccer Club. More structure young is not better.

i like this and i can relate. we plan to stop the extras too. so after the intense age 6-10 year period where they are sponges and soak up whatever is thrown at them, you pull back at 10 to make sure to avoid the burnout by 12-13 . . . . . . but when do you (DC willing) support turning up the volume again after age 10? 12? 13? 8th grade before HS starts? or as you are entering HAS as 9th grader? if the DC is good and can go do the next level, when do you get back on that train? i agree and see a lot of burnout from older girls start happening right after age 10-11.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is possible for a kid that LOVES, LOVES, LOVES soccer to have that beat down by too much tedium and not enough fun in the early years.

I don't know why people are adamant that if a child does not like structured, boring 3Xweek 90-minute practices from the time of age 7 that it means they just don't love the sport.

Bullshit. I saw with both of my soccer-obsessed kids that would play any chance that could get and loved going to the park for spontaneous pick-up games every night in the summer and when there wasn't a practice---that around 9/10 they started to hate "the grind". I pulled back. I stopped having them do the winter practices. I let them miss practices on occassion. I made sure to keep it organic and fun and found trainers that were challenging but in a way that made them want to work and laugh.

I think this is why they didn't drop the sport like the vast majority of their friends that were also fanatical about it---but all hated that the 90minute 3X a week year-round practices and travel all weekend left them with no down time or time to play anything else.

So--yes---you can love soccer and that love can be taken away when the wrong people enforce too much structure and not age-appropriate training that keeps young kids engaged and having fun. I've seen Academies in Europe train only 60 minutes a session at ages 7/8/9--much less than your typical travel soccer Club. More structure young is not better.

i like this and i can relate. we plan to stop the extras too. so after the intense age 6-10 year period where they are sponges and soak up whatever is thrown at them, you pull back at 10 to make sure to avoid the burnout by 12-13 . . . . . . but when do you (DC willing) support turning up the volume again after age 10? 12? 13? 8th grade before HS starts? or as you are entering HAS as 9th grader? if the DC is good and can go do the next level, when do you get back on that train? i agree and see a lot of burnout from older girls start happening right after age 10-11.

Burnout is a myth. Kids change their minds about what they like and will occasionally try something else. With two kids I can count on one hand the kids that quit soccer and they simply preferred another sport and after 12-13 the ability to do multiple sports at a high level is nearly impossible so kids have to choose if they are staying in any travel sport environment. They simply chose one travel sport grind over another. This is not "burnout" as much as it is a preference.

Kids dropping out of sports all together is a different conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They changed the age range and now kids can't play with their grade which is not as much fun. On top of this, the fees are high compared to something like little league and there are too many divisions so kids and parents are driving all over the place to play games.

What you are describing is travel soccer. The pp’s son is years away from that. The age requirement is not enforced in house soccer. Kids in same grade get to play with each other on the same team.

I was just responding to the original post. In our town a lot of people want the option to play travel and eventually make a high school or college team. I think it's discouraging from the outset that travel has a new age requirement. Also, the DC area now has too many leagues at the younger ages which require more travel. It doesn't make sense to have four different travel leagues for U9-U12 for the same area. Parents don't want to travel that much during elementary school.

Sounds like pp does not have a kid in travel Soccer. DC area has so many options its insane. You have rec, select teams, travel lite, etc all the way to DA. Guess what the kids have fun. The people who do not have fun are the parents- worrying about starting time, what position the kid plays, what team my kid is on, why my kid is screwed because he/she has a late birth date, oh no that new kid looked good, etc, etc. Most kids will not play any sports past 13. Stop worrying and let them play. It’s only for a few years.

[Anonymous]

Must be the covid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They changed the age range and now kids can't play with their grade which is not as much fun. On top of this, the fees are high compared to something like little league and there are too many divisions so kids and parents are driving all over the place to play games.

Actually most kids play with their grade, and no one cares about this issue besides one poster here. My son did not play with his grade under the old age breakdown, and it was not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Not great news

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They changed the age range and now kids can't play with their grade which is not as much fun. On top of this, the fees are high compared to something like little league and there are too many divisions so kids and parents are driving all over the place to play games.

Actually most kids play with their grade, and no one cares about this issue besides one poster here. My son did not play with his grade under the old age breakdown, and it was not a big deal.

I agree. This is madness. Kids should play rec if they want to play with their friends in their grade. My son doesn’t go to school with any of his teammates and hasn’t since he was a U9. Even then, that was one person on an 11 kid roster.