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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Rec until at least sixth grade.

THere's no skill development that can't be replicated by a talented middle schooler. Keeping them in the game and enthusiastic will probably make them a better (and more skilled) soccer player than putting them on a tough schedule.

Honestly, if your kid is a natural athlete who has a career in sports that goes beyond high school, they'll be best served by playing as many sports as possible, developing lots of skills, staying fit and happy. If they're a soccer player destined for greatness, they can pick it up their junior year of high school and be fine. If they're not an athlete who has D1 or pro future, no amount of expensive travel soccer in elementary school will change that. [/quote]

You have to be kidding me. No one is picking up soccer in Junior of HS. You need a reality check on the current state of youth sports. [/quote]

USMNT goalie Matt Turner didn't start playing soccer until he was 15. Probably not the ideal way to make it, but it's surprisingly common for professional athletes. There's a reason why so few Little League World Series players wind up in the majors, and none of the game's top stars were LLWS participants—because if you're a super-talented athletic freak, it doesn't matter what you're doing with your elementary school years, as long as you're active.

Join travel if your kid loves doing nothing but soccer, but don't worry about it until late ES, because the discernible improvement in skill is not worth the $3k and emotional trauma. A kid who happily plays rec until middle school will be a far better player than a kid who starts travel in 1st or 2nd grade. And if they're going to be a great, it doesn't matter when you start them. [/quote]

You cherry picked a very specific position that relies on attributes most players don't have. You cannot be a serious soccer player if you play rec until 6th grade. Sorry, that used to work but it's just not possible now. [/quote]

Oh dear, you've been brainwashed. A child who has been playing rec soccer K-6 can most definitely make a travel team in 7th. It won't be the best team in the league, but they can make a team if they're good. [/quote]
I think this is highly dependent on the quality of the rec program.  Where i live the girls rec programs are awful.   You are not going to get better if half of the team you are on is only there because their parents want their daughter to get some exercise.   Then they just stand around the whole time.   [/quote]

All the rec and all the travel in the world won't work if the kid isn't interested. It's the kid who goes out to the backyard or alley and juggles or kicks against the wall, or goes to the park with friends for pickup games every afternoon after school... and gets to school early for keepy-uppy circle, who is going to take your kids spot on the travel team, and who is going to play at a high level after high school. Doesn't matter if they played rec or travel.

We have kids in 6th and 7th whose parents are diplomatic and come in from Europe or South America having never played organized soccer of any kind, and their skill and their IQ are vastly superior to the kids who have been in travel since 1st grade. Because one kid has been playing soccer non-stop and is never without a ball at his feet from the time he could walk, and the other is forced to play under middling coaches because his parents are frantic over the money they're flushing down the toilet on "travel".[/quote]

All true, but the point still stands if you can go to practice with players that want to be there vs players that don't,  you will improve alot more with the ones that do even if it is "low level travel".  My daughter is in 3rd grade goes to elementary school with a lot of immigrants.   They play soccer during recess she is the only girl that plays.   We go to the field to kick the ball around when she has free time,  there are usually some boys playing pick-up there are never girls.   The culture isn't here for that.

Of course if you can't afford or don't want to spend the $$ and the kid is athletic and motivated to always find a way to play they could make a team later.  That is not the scenario OP is talking about.   
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