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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We got off the travel train this year at U13. My DSs (twins) enjoyed the practices and games, but didn’t like the stress and the intensity.  Whatever skills they learned didn’t stick in between seasons.  They would spend the winter and spring playing with the club team, get really good at playing possession and making quick decisions, but then lose ground in the fall with the town travel team, where the pace of play is much slower and the coaches favor a kickball style that rewards size and aggression.

They played with two different clubs starting at U8. IME, clubs don’t spend a lot of time working on dribbling, shooting, and basic footskills. It’s expected that kids work on their own to develop those.  Practices focused more on rondos, passing lanes, attacking 2v2 and 3v3, and small-sided games.  Kids will pick up footskills during those drills, but they advance more quickly if they work on their own.

During that time, DS #1 would frequently go out in the backyard and work to develop foot skills and first touch.  DS #2 never once touched a ball outside of practice, but because he’s a speed demon and has a high soccer IQ, he got more playing time and better positions.  That frustrated DS #1 no end, who felt like all his effort was for nothing.

They weren’t loving the club atmosphere, so this year we switched to a winter futsal league.  It was more relaxed and they had a lot more fun.  It’s all about their goals (enjoyment and socialization? skill mastery? make a high school team? get a college offer?) and pursuing the things that light them up.  DS #1 stopped practicing soccer and started spending all his free time on coding and music (I can barely pry him away from the piano at dinner and bedtime), so that was a clear signal to me about where his heart currently is.  DS #2 has discovered that he loves running and considers cross country his #1 sport now.  If they get passionate about soccer again, we’ll give club another try, but I think town travel and school teams will be enough for them.

You really don’t know until you give it a try for a few years.  As other posters have said, things change rapidly from U8-U12.[/quote]

From your first few sentences, it was clear a long time ago your kids were recreational level players only.[/quote]

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