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[quote=Anonymous]I knew when my child told me he was going to play in college. DC was 9 or 10 at the time, on a fourth-tier team, routinely overlooked by coaches, and candidly looked like a baby deer on ice on the field. The reason I knew is that I saw what the coaches did not: that DC was and is one of the hardest-working kids I’ve ever known, and is profoundly goal-oriented. I knew by age 9 that DC would accomplish what he wanted.

And he did. DC did drills on his own every day. He spent hours in the backyard. He asked for extra training outside of the club (we learned early on never to trust the clubs) and focused hard in those sessions. He never asked to skip practice once. He lifted weights even though he hated doing it. He ignored taunts from teammates, coaches that targeted him because he was a weaker player, and many, many games where he was suited up but played maybe ten minutes max, or not at all. He switched teams multiple times as a kid, at his own volition, just slowly moving up and up the system. He ended up at MLSNext/ECNL level but even there didn’t trust the coaches (wise decision) and put in many hours of his own time contacting colleges. Those college coaches evaluated him on his own merits (they don’t trust the clubs either, as it turns out), and he had several good college offers. Now he’s a starter.

DCUM is convinced that if your kid isn’t a superstar by 9 you might as well give up. It’s ridiculous. My kid had more and better offers than the first team players we knew at U10. But focus, hard work, grit and tenacity are absolutely required. [/quote]

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