You should first talk to your son about how he feels about the whole thing. Opinions can change quickly at a young age.

Next depending on how that goes, you should talk to the coach about what your son needs to do to earn more playtime. Try not to get defensive when you hear the answers, and make it clear you're approaching not out of anger, but in an earnest effort to understand, and don't do it after a game, setup a time to have a quick chat.

Not being offered a slot in his own age group screams red flag. This is more than likely just a numbers game for them at this point.

You can ask about dual rostering, but as you said travel soccer is expensive and if this with a different club, you'd unfortunately be stirring more trouble than it's worth most the time and this doesn't sound like a good fit development wise.

If you are *really* looking for additional training, talk to your coach or DOC, there may be options you might not know about.

Do you know why he is uninterested? Is this a sudden thing?

New team? New coach?

What age group are we talking about?

Any chance of a dual roster instead of moving up? Is your kid one of the best players on his current team?

Arch wrote:It boggles my mind that if a parent's child is happy where they are at when this young that they feel the need to shop around.

Not sure if this was a dig at me or not, but OP didn't state why they were looking elsewhere. Plenty of reasons to know what your options are, even if you're happy where you're at.

soccer_dc wrote:Consider tryouts a two way street. The club is trying out for you as much as your child is trying out for them. It's very hard to get a good feel for a club from just the public tryouts especially at the younger ages. As many here have already said, it's much better to contact the club now and try to attend some of their practice sessions. I would also go and observe some of their games in the spring to see how the coaches and players and the other parents behave in a game situation to see if it's a good fit.

Can't emphasize how important this is. Boggles my mind how little research parents put into who their next coach/team is going to be. Attend some practice sessions, watch them play! All it costs you is some time or you could be regretting is for a whole year of time AND money.

Nova2Euro wrote:When we played there, the floors were just dirty/dusty, which led to the slippery surface. Having a parent or two push around a dust mop before matches/at halftime helps, as does having something damp to wipe of shoes with.

This guy is spot on. Also not all futsal shoes are created equal, some have soles that are a bit too hard for the right amount of grip on poor surfaces (but work fine on pristine ones, or *gasp* an actual futsal surface.) but aside from that do what Nova said.

Hey there. While dual rostering is often fine, just as in this case it is, you may also want to consider the impact this will have on your daughter and how she is perceived by each team.

Hopefully this is being done for the right reasons, and not just a numbers game - but I've often see this ostracize a player from both teams as they were viewed as disloyal. Stupid, but I've seen much stranger things.

Hi,

First as a coach AND a parent, I'm glad you are asking these questions - they are important.

As far as him telling you what all the other kids do, I think this is combined with his feeling of not wanting to fall behind. This can be a good attitude to have for a competitive player with the right mentality but can also be done for the wrong reasons.

At his age I wouldn't worry too much about over use injuries. They CAN occur and can be recovered from fairly quickly if you listen to the feedback from the doctor. What I find often is players that get these injuries have parents don't slow them down afterword and are the ones that develop serious injuries as they get older. So pay attention to signs of chronic pain or discomfort, but I'd be surprised if he develops anything at his age - much more likely to have a contact injury, or stepping/landing wrong.

I wouldn't worry to much about college right now. A lot can change between U12 and U16. IF you and him are serious about college I would just try to position him to be on the right teams and training environment, more so then HOW MUCH training. You can always get more training if needed...

I will note that it is harder to break in to better teams as you get older, so I would NOT encourage you to have him play on a lesser team if he's able to play at a high level (and you can afford it!) quality in this case is much more important than quantity.

If he loves sports and physical activities so much, keep him going. A side note on college - how you do in school greatly matters and there is WAY more money in scholarships scholastically then sports wise for soccer. Don't let him fall behind in school.

Good luck to you and your son - keep us posted on how things go!

You made a year long commitment to the team. I don't know what her roster is like, but you may likely effect a lot of other girls with this decision. I would encourage her to stick it out, if she doesn't want to come back out for next year then fine - but I would also work with her to find another activity to keep her physically active as part of the deal.

If you really wish to allow her to quit, you can always ask the club for a refund. I would check their policy first, but regardless you can always ask. If you have another kid at the club, you may also be able to transfer the monies to that or future seasons for them.

I wish you both good luck!

As others have mentioned already, if you're really unhappy there isn't much reason to wait to look at options. Yes, soccer is a small world and someone may find that you are window shopping for clubs, but honestly if you're keeping up your end of the deal in the meantime your child shouldn't be penalized. If she is then that might be another reason to look elsewhere.