Bethesda Soccer On Way Down

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes agree this is exactly how my kids club is. Highly highly driven and competitive kids; they train all summer and practice 4xweek 4 hour practices all year plus extra in weekends. It’s insane. Most of the kids play for 3-4 teams at the club; for their age and also play up. We don’t like it. But it’s real!!

What age group? Maybe a bit older than the 7-11 range? My philosophy has been “less is more” so far because I just want my kid to have fun.

[Anonymous]

11-12.
It’s a little much.

[Anonymous]

I heard that ML and NM have already started reaching out to the 2010s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes agree this is exactly how my kids club is. Highly highly driven and competitive kids; they train all summer and practice 4xweek 4 hour practices all year plus extra in weekends. It’s insane. Most of the kids play for 3-4 teams at the club; for their age and also play up. We don’t like it. But it’s real!!

What age group? Maybe a bit older than the 7-11 range? My philosophy has been “less is more” so far because I just want my kid to have fun.

Explain how less is more = fun

Less of a sport they love or a sport they hate but you are forcing them to do it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard that ML and NM have already started reaching out to the 2010s.

About what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes agree this is exactly how my kids club is. Highly highly driven and competitive kids; they train all summer and practice 4xweek 4 hour practices all year plus extra in weekends. It’s insane. Most of the kids play for 3-4 teams at the club; for their age and also play up. We don’t like it. But it’s real!!

What age group? Maybe a bit older than the 7-11 range? My philosophy has been “less is more” so far because I just want my kid to have fun.

Explain how less is more = fun

Less of a sport they love or a sport they hate but you are forcing them to do it?

Only 10, loves soccer, not soccer obsessed. Wants to play baseball, basketball, flag football, wrestling plus things like camping and fishing. I think having other interests and not being completely focused on soccer 24/7/365 at this age will actually help in the long run both as a person and player/athlete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes agree this is exactly how my kids club is. Highly highly driven and competitive kids; they train all summer and practice 4xweek 4 hour practices all year plus extra in weekends. It’s insane. Most of the kids play for 3-4 teams at the club; for their age and also play up. We don’t like it. But it’s real!!

What age group? Maybe a bit older than the 7-11 range? My philosophy has been “less is more” so far because I just want my kid to have fun.

Explain how less is more = fun

Less of a sport they love or a sport they hate but you are forcing them to do it?

Only 10, loves soccer, not soccer obsessed. Wants to play baseball, basketball, flag football, wrestling plus things like camping and fishing. I think having other interests and not being completely focused on soccer 24/7/365 at this age will actually help in the long run both as a person and player/athlete.

Why do people try to mix kids into recreational soccer with kids serious about excelling at top tier soccer levels in the same conversation thread?

It's fine to want to be Jack of all trades and dabble in everything being master of none.
No one expects dedication in any of the disciplines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes agree this is exactly how my kids club is. Highly highly driven and competitive kids; they train all summer and practice 4xweek 4 hour practices all year plus extra in weekends. It’s insane. Most of the kids play for 3-4 teams at the club; for their age and also play up. We don’t like it. But it’s real!!

What age group? Maybe a bit older than the 7-11 range? My philosophy has been “less is more” so far because I just want my kid to have fun.

Explain how less is more = fun

Less of a sport they love or a sport they hate but you are forcing them to do it?

Only 10, loves soccer, not soccer obsessed. Wants to play baseball, basketball, flag football, wrestling plus things like camping and fishing. I think having other interests and not being completely focused on soccer 24/7/365 at this age will actually help in the long run both as a person and player/athlete.

Why do people try to mix kids into recreational soccer with kids serious about excelling at top tier soccer levels in the same conversation thread?

It's fine to want to be Jack of all trades and dabble in everything being master of none.
No one expects dedication in any of the disciplines.

Nope, same kid is one of the best players on the top team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have been at BSC a long time and have had zero engagement or issue with JC or BC. Most parents I know in a similar boat. This seems to be an issue unique to the 2016 boys. Parents in that age group sound crazy.

Thanks for saying it! We are newer to BSC and had none of these issues described here.

It really feels like a specific group of parents has some specific demands. I imagine they are trying to follow the IG crowd and simply need to STFU and hope their kid does not quit by the time they play 11v11 and really feel what a full-sided game feels like.

I thought this all started last summer when a group of 2016 players wanted to play on a non-BSC team for a summer league and excluded JC's son from the team? We have a 2016 on a different team, and that was the story we heard. Is that incorrect?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes agree this is exactly how my kids club is. Highly highly driven and competitive kids; they train all summer and practice 4xweek 4 hour practices all year plus extra in weekends. It’s insane. Most of the kids play for 3-4 teams at the club; for their age and also play up. We don’t like it. But it’s real!!

What age group? Maybe a bit older than the 7-11 range? My philosophy has been “less is more” so far because I just want my kid to have fun.

Explain how less is more = fun

Less of a sport they love or a sport they hate but you are forcing them to do it?

Only 10, loves soccer, not soccer obsessed. Wants to play baseball, basketball, flag football, wrestling plus things like camping and fishing. I think having other interests and not being completely focused on soccer 24/7/365 at this age will actually help in the long run both as a person and player/athlete.

Why do people try to mix kids into recreational soccer with kids serious about excelling at top tier soccer levels in the same conversation thread?

It's fine to want to be Jack of all trades and dabble in everything being master of none.
No one expects dedication in any of the disciplines.

Nope, same kid is one of the best players on the top team.

i think there are different paths for different players. Some may thrive playing multiple sports because they have the drive and natural ability to excel at all of them. At younger ages this is a good thing. Some may be better off specializing at a younger age because they are only really interested in that sport, may not be naturally talented and need to put in the time, or maybe they are trying to keep up with everyone else in their peer group who is doing the same thing. Alot of variables. What is consistent is what works for one kid may not work for the other. Find what works for you and stick with that. Keep a laser focus on your end game. What do you want to do with the sport or sports in general? This will determine your path. Youth soccer in this country is geared toward college for boys and girls anyway. The system is built to produce those level players. If you're thinking of pro soccer, I'm sorry to tell you, you're in the wrong country for that. Not enough experience or knowledge in this country in the sport. Not impossible here but compared to Europe or South America, really difficult. Just on the lack of quality coaches alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes agree this is exactly how my kids club is. Highly highly driven and competitive kids; they train all summer and practice 4xweek 4 hour practices all year plus extra in weekends. It’s insane. Most of the kids play for 3-4 teams at the club; for their age and also play up. We don’t like it. But it’s real!!

What age group? Maybe a bit older than the 7-11 range? My philosophy has been “less is more” so far because I just want my kid to have fun.

Explain how less is more = fun

Less of a sport they love or a sport they hate but you are forcing them to do it?

More play sessions with friends - big groups of boys who come over, have lunch, maybe play FIFA, and play soccer outside for a couple of hours. More fun training in one V ones in the basement and in the backyard. More hiking, more swimming, more escape rooms, day trips, restaurants and museums. Less five hour training sessions for my older son, who has begun to notice how many of the kids are getting consistently injured from what I view as over training – five hour long training session several times a week in this extreme heat.

At some point as the parent, I have to protect my kids: they love the sport and that’s all they wanna do, and my goal is that they can retain that love and the ability to do it for as long as they want.