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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My son (9 yo/3rd grade) decided to quit soccer after this fall. He didn't want the competitive pressure of a travel program (which I agree on, I think these programs are incredibly developmentally inappropriate at this age), but since the program has pulled off so much of the talent on his rec team, he's not having fun being the only kid out there working. I'm sad that he's giving up something he used to love, but I really can't blame him given what I've seen out on the field.

I tend to agree that lack of skilled coaching may be a part of it as well. My son's team has had a series of parent coaches who never coach more than a single season and who don't have much (if any) of a soccer background, so they basically just herd cats rather than actually teaching soccer skills (that's not a knock on them, I appreciate them stepping up so we could have a team at all). For those kids on the team who got outside coaching (either from a private coach or from a parent who knows the game), they were able to play at a higher level despite the lack of coach instruction at their practices, but for kids more in the middle who have potential but need to be taught the skills, they just haven't progressed much since the beginning.[/quote]

There are plenty of teams where you can get a professional coach at the rec level. The kids in these leagues tend to do multiple sports and take soccer seriously enough but aren't crazy like the travel kids. You just have a pay more.[/quote]

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