At this age it's best to have fun and be in a supportive, encouraging environment. I live near you and have similar-aged children. Feel free to PM me.

Step 1: Ignore the "toxic" ninnies.

Step 2: Reach out to the clubs closest to you (as noted). You don't want to be traversing NoVA 2 or 3 times a week for practice during rush hour as you are just getting your feet wet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stay away at all costs. Put your kid in a different sport.

It will bleed $ and time and unless you have the stomach for parent douchery politics it will be a big regret.

If you believe in never getting involved. Keeping your mouth shut and not “advocating” or pulling out all stops to bulldoze your kids way: run! Run far!

Soccer really is in a class if it’s own when it comes to meddling parents.

All sports are this way not just soccer. Jist do the sports your child enjoys. Baseball parents are just as nuts and involved. So are volleyball, basketball, and lacrosse parents.

^ This. We have been incredibly lucky to find a sport (soccer) our player liked, families that we enjoyed spending time with and coaches that truly mentored our player. It can be done. We did jump ship from several teams where we didn't find this, and worked to find a great place for our player. If you have a player who enjoys the sport, wants to develop and is committed then travel soccer can be a great pathway. Others have given good advice on the time and logistics.

"our player" - ewwwwww

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stay away at all costs. Put your kid in a different sport.

It will bleed $ and time and unless you have the stomach for parent douchery politics it will be a big regret.

If you believe in never getting involved. Keeping your mouth shut and not “advocating” or pulling out all stops to bulldoze your kids way: run! Run far!

Soccer really is in a class if it’s own when it comes to meddling parents.

All sports are this way not just soccer. Jist do the sports your child enjoys. Baseball parents are just as nuts and involved. So are volleyball, basketball, and lacrosse parents.

^ This. We have been incredibly lucky to find a sport (soccer) our player liked, families that we enjoyed spending time with and coaches that truly mentored our player. It can be done. We did jump ship from several teams where we didn't find this, and worked to find a great place for our player. If you have a player who enjoys the sport, wants to develop and is committed then travel soccer can be a great pathway. Others have given good advice on the time and logistics.

To keep busy during the winter, if the child truly loves soccer, you can have him play futsal. There are some threads on here about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stay away at all costs. Put your kid in a different sport.

It will bleed $ and time and unless you have the stomach for parent douchery politics it will be a big regret.

If you believe in never getting involved. Keeping your mouth shut and not “advocating” or pulling out all stops to bulldoze your kids way: run! Run far!

Soccer really is in a class if it’s own when it comes to meddling parents.

All sports are this way not just soccer. Jist do the sports your child enjoys. Baseball parents are just as nuts and involved. So are volleyball, basketball, and lacrosse parents.

Witnessing the "advocating" year after year is vomit-inducing.

Anonymous wrote:Email VYS (contact info on their web site) and ask to join practices with the 2015s. They will likely say yes. We only have 2 more weeks of practice, then will take a break until January.

His best bet is to practice with the team now and in the spring, which will set him up for success in tryouts April / May.

Great advice, I didn't know this was a thing, thank you.

Anonymous wrote:The spring tryouts are fall the next Fall/Spring season so the spring 2024 tryouts are for the Fall 2024/Spring 2025 team. So he would play one more season of rec in Spring 2024 unless you found a team doing mid year tryouts this winter.

OK really good to know, thank you!

Anonymous wrote:Stay away at all costs. Put your kid in a different sport.

It will bleed $ and time and unless you have the stomach for parent douchery politics it will be a big regret.

If you believe in never getting involved. Keeping your mouth shut and not “advocating” or pulling out all stops to bulldoze your kids way: run! Run far!

Soccer really is in a class if it’s own when it comes to meddling parents.

All sports are this way not just soccer. Jist do the sports your child enjoys. Baseball parents are just as nuts and involved. So are volleyball, basketball, and lacrosse parents.

Toxic in this area. Incredibly toxic.

Email VYS (contact info on their web site) and ask to join practices with the 2015s. They will likely say yes. We only have 2 more weeks of practice, then will take a break until January.

His best bet is to practice with the team now and in the spring, which will set him up for success in tryouts April / May.

The spring tryouts are fall the next Fall/Spring season so the spring 2024 tryouts are for the Fall 2024/Spring 2025 team. So he would play one more season of rec in Spring 2024 unless you found a team doing mid year tryouts this winter.

Stay away at all costs. Put your kid in a different sport.

It will bleed $ and time and unless you have the stomach for parent douchery politics it will be a big regret.

If you believe in never getting involved. Keeping your mouth shut and not “advocating” or pulling out all stops to bulldoze your kids way: run! Run far!

Soccer really is in a class if it’s own when it comes to meddling parents.

Tryouts will be in the spring. Sign up for emails from VYS. At this age, just play close to home. You'll figure out quickly if this is for him. Some kids LOVE It. Some don't like doing it 4-5x week and get burned out.

If he joins a travel team they will work on footwork with him. You can also get private lessons.

My 8 year old plays on a U9 rec league, and had played rec league for about 4 years and truly loves the sport. He is a decent player. He's not like "wow stop what youre doing and watch this kid" amazing, but he is noticeably better than most kids on his team. He has been selected for the various all star tournaments. He is fast and strong and enthusiastic but his foot skills are mediocre in my opinion. He is thus better suited to defense and he also loves goalie. He is asking us about when he can join a travel team. His friends from school play on travel leagues. Ive done some research but am confused about what to do next. We live in Fairfax, near Vienna. I am willing to pay and commit time if this is his passion. But I don't even know where to start for tryouts, what to look for and ask to ensure its a good team, etc.

It is more important to me that he has fun, has good coaches, and learns skills than it is that he plays for a top team. With our location, and his current skill level, what league would you recommend? And are tryouts always in the spring, meaning this would be his last rec season if we pursue this?

Give me all of the stupid question detials here. And if your advice is to stick with rec, give me that too! Thank you!