My kids played club and travel soccer all the way through high school. They stopped wearing them somewhere around middle school. I figured once they got kicked, they'd put them on, but it never happened. I thought it was bizarre but none of the kids wore them. And my youngest did take a really hard kick to the shin during a game once, his shin guard slid to the side and was not in the correct position. It was so bad he had to be carried off the field and we went straight to urgent care. He still stopped wearing them for practice. |
Bigger story here is you took your kid to urgent care because he got kicked in this shins during a soccer game, this is funny. Moral of story, despite this he's fine and chooses to still not wear shin guards, is there anything else to say here about this topic? |
All I know is that every morning she leaves for her camp WITH her shin guards on because they are enforced (as they should be). And they enforce them in HS practices. So we are good. Thanks for the discussion. I accept your nomination for greatest helicopter parent with honor. |
He was smart. Lots of leg breaks happen from this. You don't know it until it happens to your kid. |
I remind my son to wear his, he’s a goalie and has gotten kicked and it just makes sense. He also has learned that for himself from a couple rough plays.
You can only parent your kid, don’t worry about everyone else. |
No they don't. Very occasional leg breaks happen from this and the people that make shin guards paid a lot of money to a lot of people to get them mandated in as many places as possible because that's the sad way our society rolls these days. |
You're not wrong in your general description of the corruption in our society. But every European club I've ever seen also mandates shinguards for training. I can't say whether it's due to an abundance of caution or, as I mentioned earlier in the thread, you might as well train with them because you'll need them for matches. But I don't understand why you're so strongly opposed to them--it's maybe $20 you spend once every 4 or 5 years...Maybe because the socks are a bit of a pain? Edit: I should mention that at the senior level, training without shinguards is pretty common. But at the youth levels, I've never seen it allowed. |
No it was not funny. My kid had an early growth spurt and was always bigger and more athletic than everyone else. He was a tough kid who was always double-teamed by the defenders (he was a striker) and they would take him down hard! He always sucked it up and shook it off. He's taken a cleat to the face and still has the scar, broke his wrist after an ugly fall, and had two concussions. I never saw him shed a tear. But this time he couldn't even stand up; we couldn't put ice on it because it was too painful to touch; it was swollen, red, and bruising. When I saw the tears streaming down his face I knew it was bad. I don't regret taking him to urgent care. |
The corruption is the same in Europe. I grew up in Europe. I never saw a shinguard myself except on TV. Nobody broke any legs back then either. |
My DS has played on three of the top youth teams in this area. No-one wears shinguards to practice at any of them. |
One girl in our club wear's shin guards above u14 at practice and it's weird, She has every right to and maybe it helps her with her first touch during games, but still |
I'm not the OP. I'm not opposed to shin guards - I'm just opposed to people claiming they are essential. |
Sorry, should have clarified--when I said youth levels, I was referring to European academies, not the dumpster fires that pass for youth clubs in NOVA. After all, you're paying thousands of dollars--why would the coaches enforce rules? |
No they don't wear them in training at top European academies either. Nor do they wear them at Loudon or DCU first team training. You don't know what you're talking about. |
I’ve never played soccer, so in theory, shin guards seem beneficial to me, but my U17 kid says they’re uncool, no one does it and they’re not really necessary. Enforcement in non-game situations is spotty and situational, but i just today watched a bunch of very skilled players scrimmaging at a D1 ID camp - no shinguards… |