When you said "leveled up," for a moment I assumed you were playing a video game. Who actually says that in the context that you clearly mean it?

Anonymous wrote:


This is a very bad recommendation. Basketball is incredibly difficult and frustrating to play until you get the skills. My HS player started in 2nd grade as did most teammates. And the rules are not straightforward (notwithstanding what 99.99% of people shouting incorrect nonsense at refs believe).


Agree, basketball is very difficult to join late.

Cross country, maybe tennis, swim, or what about dance team or cheer?

I don't want to be discouraging, but I would drop tennis from this list. My son made his high school team as a freshman, but the team cut most of the kids who had not previously played (he has taken weekly private lessons since he was 9). It is not an easy sport to learn, and takes time.

Thanks, that info is helpful.

My 15 year old wants to become a ref in VA for the 2023-24 season. I'm confused by the info on the metro DC-VA state referee website. If he doesn't want to ref until 2023-24, does that mean he should wait until July to begin the online course? Or can he do the online part now and the field training later?

My son will be a U15 next year, and doesn't want to do travel soccer any more. He says he thinks he wants to do a school sport (not soccer) in the spring, and suburban friendship league in the fall. Can anyone whose child formerly played travel speak to whether SFL is fun and worthwhile? Obviously we are not going to force him to do travel soccer if he doesn't want to, just trying to help determine if SFL is a good option or he should put his time towards earning some money as a linesman or referee instead.

My 14 year old is interested becoming a ref through the Metro DC/Virginia program to earn some money. However, the process looks fairly tedious, from what I can see on the website. If anyone has experience with it, how was it? My son loves and plays soccer, but it looks like a lot of it is an online course.

My kids really enjoy it. It is a fun chance to play on a mixed-abilities team, and get to know and play with different teammates. If you are looking for a team entirely made up of the very most competitive players, it is probably not for you. However, my kids' teams have generally nevertheless done pretty well overall.

Just curious what you mean by a "weaker offer". Does that mean, for example, he's currently on a club's B team but is being offered a spot on the new club's C team?


This is actually a very good point. If the club is larger and has more teams or play at a higher level, the weaker team ( possibly lower level) may be right for his level. A team 2 player for one club will often equate to a team 3 or 4 player at a larger more skilled club. I would see which league and division the team plays in to decide if its actually weaker.

Thanks, it is actually weaker.

We've since learned from some of his buddies at the club where he wanted to be that there was fair downward movement from the team above, so this may have been the outcome no matter what - he seemed like a good fit for the team based on the current composition, but the outcome makes sense in light of the new information. We will still take the suggestions here up and give it another shot next year. Its always worth giving it his best attempt.

My 14 year old son wanted to change clubs - he likes his coach where he currently is, but the location doesn't work well for him any more. He's only on a mid level team, and that is fine and where he belongs. However, his tryout at the club where he wanted to be (and where more friends from his current school play) resulted in a weaker offer than where he's currently at. He doesn't want to move backwards, so he's going to stick with his current club for next year. However, I was wondering if folks had suggestions on better ways to try out in the future. At the tryout for the club where he wanted to be, they had all the kids try out on a non-full sided field, and it was too crowded and not much playing time for anyone. Do people contact the clubs beforehand to ask to attend a practice, even if they are not on a top team or trying to get on one? Anything else a player who is just decent can try to do to promote himself going forward to get at least an equivalent spot to where he is at?

Sorry to hear that. I am curious - how long has he been playing soccer, and what kind of team is he playing for (high school? travel club? rec?).

Thanks, I appreciate it. He plays travel for a club and has been playing since U9.

My 14 year old son has had what seems to me an insane amount of injuries during soccer over the past year. He has broken a bone, got a concussion, fractured a growth plate, and had some horrible bruises. Is this just what soccer is? Or is something wrong? My sport growing up was baseball, so I don't really know.

Super Y is definitely used for marketing and recruiting just like winter futsal. It’s also a time for some fun off-season training. I wish there were summer futsal instead of Super Y because outdoor games in July are miserable


There IS summer futsal. Lots of kids do it.

Where? A while back, one of my girls did an outdoor futsal skills thing in Alexandria over the summer, but it wasn't games, just skills practice. It wasn't bad, but she said it wasn't as much fun as playing against opponents. Is there an organization that offers the opportunity for summer games, as well as skills training?

Eh, I know a lot of people aren't into Super Y, but both my son and daughters (only one of whom still plays soccer) have done it in the past and enjoyed it. To each their own.

If there is an issue with bullying by teammates or similar, I would let my child quit. Otherwise, I would tell them to finish out the season and find something new for next year. It doesn't have to be a serious travel sport. FWIW, my son is not sure he wants to do travel soccer next year. Some days he wants to, some days he doesn't. If he doesn't, he said it will try indoor rock climbing with a friend from school.

I see that they are going to have at least one girls' Super Y team. Anyone know if they are planning on fielding teams beyond that? My son plays elsewhere, but the location could be a good option for him for the summer.