Reply to Advice on whether young small player should accept invitation for 9u Travel

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP-- playing up at 7 for U9 was common in our big Club as parents sought it out (especially ones with older siblings) as a means to try to get their kid an A team spot when they are of age.

I'd say 95% of these kids burned out by mid-late elementary school.  90 min practices, tournaments and missing bday parties and sleepovers starting at such a young age starts to take the love out of it.[/quote]

I know 2 that had over-use back injuries and such by 3rd grade.

Pretty much all of them quit by middle school (the 4 or 5 I know that did this).

They also were stars in the early years but couldn't handle when the kids that started later eventually caught up and surpassed them.  It was a huge ego hit for them when they were used to always be lauded for their greatness.

I see the same thing in our school.  The Kumon preschool, workbook kids starting K ahead and down the road those play-based preschool kids end up scoring higher on tests and get into better schools absent the GT Bullsh*t that was a result of parents coddling and intervention.  When genetics match up with age appropriate training, things have a way of turning upside down.

[/quote]

Oh, come one -- "over-use" injury because they started travel soccer at age 7 instead of age 8?  lol

Clearly this 7 year old is above-average in soccer skills, or he wouldn't have been offered a spot on an team of 8 year olds (many 8 year olds wouldn't even be offered a spot).  If he loves the game (and yes, I agree that he has to be "into" soccer) there is absolutely no reason why starting earlier wouldn't be fun for him and beneficial to his soccer development.

My early-player was embarrassingly good in his early years (at age 5 and 6) ... he was that kid that, whenever he was in the little house league game, was running circles around the other kids and scoring goals.  He was having a blast, and of course we enjoyed watching him, but in truth we felt a little bad for the other players, and a few parents must have been rolling their eyes in frustration. When he was offered a spot to play up on the travel team, we took it.  He had fun, he enjoyed the challenge, he continued to develop, and then the next year he just stayed on the team and is now playing with kids his age.

It all worked out well. [/quote]

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