Why does your child play soccer?

[Anonymous]

My teen (solid team, but the level below DA/ECNL) plays because she loves it and loves the sport and because she can work hard and see demonstrable improvement. She likes getting better. Not just winning, but improving her level of play and working towards the goals she sets. My spouse and I both did other sports in high school, so soccer is her thing and she led us to it, not the other way around. She also goes to a demanding high school, and getting to run around outside is a nice outlet after the academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My teen (solid team, but the level below DA/ECNL) plays because she loves it and loves the sport and because she can work hard and see demonstrable improvement. She likes getting better. Not just winning, but improving her level of play and working towards the goals she sets. My spouse and I both did other sports in high school, so soccer is her thing and she led us to it, not the other way around. She also goes to a demanding high school, and getting to run around outside is a nice outlet after the academics.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it’s the politically correct and socially acceptable sport to play here in my part of nova. Others? Maybe they are looking for some admission edge to some slac in New England.[/quote]

I really do not get this statement. You can not just force your kid to play soccer and except the kid to have an edge in college admissions. The kids who play in college are really good, are self driven and lucky(in terms of finding a good coach vs a bad one, avoiding injuries, etc). These kids are the top 5% of kids in their age group. They are a very select few.

You can‘t just say oh my 3rd or 4th grade kid will play soccer as a hook for college. He or she will in 7-8 years be one of the top players(like top 3 player) on a regional highly competitive ECNL/DA team because I want him or her to play soccer. It does not work that way.

People have gone on record in this thread to state that at the ECNL or DA level there is no way a kid is being forced to do it. At that level the commitment and expectation is to high for kids to treat it like a hobby.

Not only the ECNL/DA level. Any high level teams. Look at the Bethesda Tournament (I'd say U13 and older) for example, ... any player that plays for a team in any of the top 2 or 3 divisions works his butt off. I know my son trains as much or more than ECNL/DA kids.

[Anonymous]

Because I force them to. I played and I want them to get a scholarship, so I make them play. Just kidding, but felt this thread was too positive for DCU so had to interject some darkness. Bad joke, I know.

[Anonymous]

Are there many African Americans on the team that your children play with? I am a teacher with PGCPS, at a 99 percent African American school and no one ever talks about watching or playing soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there many African Americans on the team that your children play with? I am a teacher with PGCPS, at a 99 percent African American school and no one ever talks about watching or playing soccer.

Africans —maybe not African Americans- are very into soccer. We have a big community that play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there many African Americans on the team that your children play with? I am a teacher with PGCPS, at a 99 percent African American school and no one ever talks about watching or playing soccer.

There always have been many on my kids’ teams at Bethesda, but almost all from MoCo or Va. PG County doesn’t seem to have too much of a youth soccer culture. The guy who runs this site has been working to change that: https://www.pgyoungboys.com/

[Anonymous]

Wish more clubs would set up scholarship programs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wish more clubs would set up scholarship programs

+1

[Anonymous]

Because it’s good exercise and for all body types.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is an easy one for me:

- Better health via exercise & healthy eating
- Hard work and determination
- Academics + Sports (or other activities) = well-rounded for College
- But most of all, father/daughter bonding time.

+1
We start our kids early in sports for most of the reasons above, plus the bonding/camaraderie with her team. Not to mention, it's fun to watch your kids play and excel.

We were fine w/rec, she played there until 6th grade. She really wants to make her HS (competitive) soccer team, so we switched to travel then. She loves it, is the driver, we just support - there is no other motivation/kickback for us.

[Anonymous]

Originally it was to have fun, stay active and meet other classmates in an outside-of-school setting. After the first year or two, she started really enjoying it and chose to continue and try out for a second, higher-level team. Now she plays on two teams and I love it because she has physical activity almost every day.

[Anonymous]

8:53 - we only have one AA girl on our team, but we also have 3 Hispanic girls, 2 mixed girls, 2 Asian girls and a handful of white girls, which is a pretty good representation of our school's makeup. There aren't many AA girls in Arlington, so you're not getting many AA girls in Arlington soccer either.

[Anonymous]

My kids prefer playing Aristocrat at https://pokies24.com/aristocrat.html in their free time because for some weird reason, soccer is not for them. I've always tried to make them like sport but to no success. Their biggest passion these days is pokies, and for now, I am okay with it. As long as they bring money.

[Anonymous]

your kid like playing slot machines instead of sports? good luck with that one