Bethesda Soccer On Way Down

[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.

[Anonymous]

This post and the one immediately before it are the most thoughtful posts of this entire thread.

[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.

🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I've not heard of a top MLS Club academy or International academy player over U13 who plays multiple sports

Several players from the US are playing professionally in Europe.
It's for the exceptional, not the masses.

It's difficult to make it for everyone, but yes Europe, Africa and South America developed has advantages over us

[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?

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.

The privileged Disney version lol

It's entertaining that some of you think the best players who put in the right quality work spend 23 hours on lockdown in a dungeon prison with a ball and only the mediocre players have a life 😄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This post and the one immediately before it are the most thoughtful posts of this entire thread.

I agree, there are some posters on this thread who just want to be contrarian on every point. It's much more helpful to be positive, we can disagree but the trolling and sarcasm doesn't add much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This post and the one immediately before it are the most thoughtful posts of this entire thread.

This will not meet the meaningful as too many people will take it personal but:

1) My kid came to Bethesda to find other kids like him who live and breathe futbol. There are plenty of places to play in this area if you don’t fit that mold. You can still play at BSC if you don’t fit that mold, depending on your skill level.

2) it is perfectly okay if your kid is playing multiple sports and have a wonderful life. I think Jalen Brunson’s dad told him him you can be great at 2/3 things but not all 3:

1) Your sport
2) Your education
3) Your social life

My kid is too young to sacrifice social life yet but if he stays on the path, I am not sacrificing education so he will have to give up the sport if he wants his social life.

When my kid goes to his friends house, they invariably play soccer or are exchanging soccer cards or in the pool. Our summer has been built with time at the beach, pool, amusement parks, movies, museums, sailing, travel, playground with friends, etc. My kid is having a great summer. He still is tallying 30+ hours a week in camps and pickups with other players from BSC, Achilles, Arlington, Armour, etc.

Now that you know that the top kids you see don’t have magic pixie dust sprinkled on them, you can help your child set appropriate goals based on what they want to achieve. The entire world plays futbol. US is the only sport focused on American football so if you are 6’2” and in decent shape, you can start late and potentially catch up with the best. You simply can’t make up the hours in soccer with the whole world as competition. The neuromuscular patterns that control ball mastery are ripest for formation between the ages of 7-14. It is awkward to see kids who still believe in Santa and enjoy toys with kids meals go so hard in a sport but this is the reality we are in. Like the Matrix, accept the truth pill or keep thinking your child can hit their long-term goals on 3 practices a week in the fall and spring.

[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?

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.

The privileged Disney version lol

It's entertaining that some of you think the best players who put in the right quality work spend 23 hours on lockdown in a dungeon prison with a ball and only the mediocre players have a life 😄

What's the "right quality of work"? I think the basic point is that definition is different for everyone. I've seen lots of kids at BSC who are busting their asses in practice, extra training sessions, working on their own, etc and it doesn't mean they're better players than some of the kids doing less.

[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?

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.

The privileged Disney version lol

It's entertaining that some of you think the best players who put in the right quality work spend 23 hours on lockdown in a dungeon prison with a ball and only the mediocre players have a life 😄

What's the "right quality of work"? I think the basic point is that definition is different for everyone. I've seen lots of kids at BSC who are busting their asses in practice, extra training sessions, working on their own, etc and it doesn't mean they're better players than some of the kids doing less.

You described quantity

The PP said right amounts of quality work. Which I'm sure compliments talent and potential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post and the one immediately before it are the most thoughtful posts of this entire thread.

This will not meet the meaningful as too many people will take it personal but:

1) My kid came to Bethesda to find other kids like him who live and breathe futbol. There are plenty of places to play in this area if you don’t fit that mold. You can still play at BSC if you don’t fit that mold, depending on your skill level.

2) it is perfectly okay if your kid is playing multiple sports and have a wonderful life. I think Jalen Brunson’s dad told him him you can be great at 2/3 things but not all 3:

1) Your sport
2) Your education
3) Your social life

My kid is too young to sacrifice social life yet but if he stays on the path, I am not sacrificing education so he will have to give up the sport if he wants his social life.

When my kid goes to his friends house, they invariably play soccer or are exchanging soccer cards or in the pool. Our summer has been built with time at the beach, pool, amusement parks, movies, museums, sailing, travel, playground with friends, etc. My kid is having a great summer. He still is tallying 30+ hours a week in camps and pickups with other players from BSC, Achilles, Arlington, Armour, etc.

Now that you know that the top kids you see don’t have magic pixie dust sprinkled on them, you can help your child set appropriate goals based on what they want to achieve. The entire world plays futbol. US is the only sport focused on American football so if you are 6’2” and in decent shape, you can start late and potentially catch up with the best. You simply can’t make up the hours in soccer with the whole world as competition. The neuromuscular patterns that control ball mastery are ripest for formation between the ages of 7-14. It is awkward to see kids who still believe in Santa and enjoy toys with kids meals go so hard in a sport but this is the reality we are in. Like the Matrix, accept the truth pill or keep thinking your child can hit their long-term goals on 3 practices a week in the fall and spring.

Spot on - especially the neuromuscular patterns at 7-14.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post and the one immediately before it are the most thoughtful posts of this entire thread.

This will not meet the meaningful as too many people will take it personal but:

1) My kid came to Bethesda to find other kids like him who live and breathe futbol. There are plenty of places to play in this area if you don’t fit that mold. You can still play at BSC if you don’t fit that mold, depending on your skill level.

2) it is perfectly okay if your kid is playing multiple sports and have a wonderful life. I think Jalen Brunson’s dad told him him you can be great at 2/3 things but not all 3:

1) Your sport
2) Your education
3) Your social life

My kid is too young to sacrifice social life yet but if he stays on the path, I am not sacrificing education so he will have to give up the sport if he wants his social life.

When my kid goes to his friends house, they invariably play soccer or are exchanging soccer cards or in the pool. Our summer has been built with time at the beach, pool, amusement parks, movies, museums, sailing, travel, playground with friends, etc. My kid is having a great summer. He still is tallying 30+ hours a week in camps and pickups with other players from BSC, Achilles, Arlington, Armour, etc.

Now that you know that the top kids you see don’t have magic pixie dust sprinkled on them, you can help your child set appropriate goals based on what they want to achieve. The entire world plays futbol. US is the only sport focused on American football so if you are 6’2” and in decent shape, you can start late and potentially catch up with the best. You simply can’t make up the hours in soccer with the whole world as competition. The neuromuscular patterns that control ball mastery are ripest for formation between the ages of 7-14. It is awkward to see kids who still believe in Santa and enjoy toys with kids meals go so hard in a sport but this is the reality we are in. Like the Matrix, accept the truth pill or keep thinking your child can hit their long-term goals on 3 practices a week in the fall and spring.

Who has ever seen a documentary or interview of a top level professional soccer player's parents where they say,
DS hung out doing social activities most of his time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post and the one immediately before it are the most thoughtful posts of this entire thread.

This will not meet the meaningful as too many people will take it personal but:

1) My kid came to Bethesda to find other kids like him who live and breathe futbol. There are plenty of places to play in this area if you don’t fit that mold. You can still play at BSC if you don’t fit that mold, depending on your skill level.

2) it is perfectly okay if your kid is playing multiple sports and have a wonderful life. I think Jalen Brunson’s dad told him him you can be great at 2/3 things but not all 3:

1) Your sport
2) Your education
3) Your social life

My kid is too young to sacrifice social life yet but if he stays on the path, I am not sacrificing education so he will have to give up the sport if he wants his social life.

When my kid goes to his friends house, they invariably play soccer or are exchanging soccer cards or in the pool. Our summer has been built with time at the beach, pool, amusement parks, movies, museums, sailing, travel, playground with friends, etc. My kid is having a great summer. He still is tallying 30+ hours a week in camps and pickups with other players from BSC, Achilles, Arlington, Armour, etc.

Now that you know that the top kids you see don’t have magic pixie dust sprinkled on them, you can help your child set appropriate goals based on what they want to achieve. The entire world plays futbol. US is the only sport focused on American football so if you are 6’2” and in decent shape, you can start late and potentially catch up with the best. You simply can’t make up the hours in soccer with the whole world as competition. The neuromuscular patterns that control ball mastery are ripest for formation between the ages of 7-14. It is awkward to see kids who still believe in Santa and enjoy toys with kids meals go so hard in a sport but this is the reality we are in. Like the Matrix, accept the truth pill or keep thinking your child can hit their long-term goals on 3 practices a week in the fall and spring.

If your son loves this schedule than that is awesome. For everyone on this thread, 99.9% of our kids aren't going pro, try to enjoy the process and the games. It will likely be over before any of us expect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post and the one immediately before it are the most thoughtful posts of this entire thread.

This will not meet the meaningful as too many people will take it personal but:

1) My kid came to Bethesda to find other kids like him who live and breathe futbol. There are plenty of places to play in this area if you don’t fit that mold. You can still play at BSC if you don’t fit that mold, depending on your skill level.

2) it is perfectly okay if your kid is playing multiple sports and have a wonderful life. I think Jalen Brunson’s dad told him him you can be great at 2/3 things but not all 3:

1) Your sport
2) Your education
3) Your social life

My kid is too young to sacrifice social life yet but if he stays on the path, I am not sacrificing education so he will have to give up the sport if he wants his social life.

When my kid goes to his friends house, they invariably play soccer or are exchanging soccer cards or in the pool. Our summer has been built with time at the beach, pool, amusement parks, movies, museums, sailing, travel, playground with friends, etc. My kid is having a great summer. He still is tallying 30+ hours a week in camps and pickups with other players from BSC, Achilles, Arlington, Armour, etc.

Now that you know that the top kids you see don’t have magic pixie dust sprinkled on them, you can help your child set appropriate goals based on what they want to achieve. The entire world plays futbol. US is the only sport focused on American football so if you are 6’2” and in decent shape, you can start late and potentially catch up with the best. You simply can’t make up the hours in soccer with the whole world as competition. The neuromuscular patterns that control ball mastery are ripest for formation between the ages of 7-14. It is awkward to see kids who still believe in Santa and enjoy toys with kids meals go so hard in a sport but this is the reality we are in. Like the Matrix, accept the truth pill or keep thinking your child can hit their long-term goals on 3 practices a week in the fall and spring.

Who has ever seen a documentary or interview of a top level professional soccer player's parents where they say,
DS hung out doing social activities most of his time?

I assume most people on here know that their kid is not the next Messi.

[Anonymous]

Enjoy the process. They grow up quick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post and the one immediately before it are the most thoughtful posts of this entire thread.

This will not meet the meaningful as too many people will take it personal but:

1) My kid came to Bethesda to find other kids like him who live and breathe futbol. There are plenty of places to play in this area if you don’t fit that mold. You can still play at BSC if you don’t fit that mold, depending on your skill level.

2) it is perfectly okay if your kid is playing multiple sports and have a wonderful life. I think Jalen Brunson’s dad told him him you can be great at 2/3 things but not all 3:

1) Your sport
2) Your education
3) Your social life

My kid is too young to sacrifice social life yet but if he stays on the path, I am not sacrificing education so he will have to give up the sport if he wants his social life.

When my kid goes to his friends house, they invariably play soccer or are exchanging soccer cards or in the pool. Our summer has been built with time at the beach, pool, amusement parks, movies, museums, sailing, travel, playground with friends, etc. My kid is having a great summer. He still is tallying 30+ hours a week in camps and pickups with other players from BSC, Achilles, Arlington, Armour, etc.

Now that you know that the top kids you see don’t have magic pixie dust sprinkled on them, you can help your child set appropriate goals based on what they want to achieve. The entire world plays futbol. US is the only sport focused on American football so if you are 6’2” and in decent shape, you can start late and potentially catch up with the best. You simply can’t make up the hours in soccer with the whole world as competition. The neuromuscular patterns that control ball mastery are ripest for formation between the ages of 7-14. It is awkward to see kids who still believe in Santa and enjoy toys with kids meals go so hard in a sport but this is the reality we are in. Like the Matrix, accept the truth pill or keep thinking your child can hit their long-term goals on 3 practices a week in the fall and spring.

If your son loves this schedule than that is awesome. For everyone on this thread, 99.9% of our kids aren't going pro, try to enjoy the process and the games. It will likely be over before any of us expect.

So what if all aren't going Pro?
People should only but strong efforts into low fruit paths?

Let's end all musical instruments lessons and singing lessons and acting classes and math tutors and science extra programs etc since majority won't become top tier performers or NASA scientists