Travel soccer has helped my kids in a lot of different ways. My kids didn't start playing club until 5th and 6th grades.

Soccer was the first thing that my son loved that he wasn't naturally good at - he's had to work hard and I love seeing him put in effort to improve.

For my daughter, who has always been a bit meek, seeing her be aggressive on the field has been awesome for her self-confidence.

More than anything, both of my kids have had really great coaches who have really believed in them and their potential. That especially has been HUGE for my son.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My positive story is that we opted to keep our kids in MSI Classic so that they could play with their friends, and we didn't spend all weekend driving all over creation. I think the soccer industrial complex is out of control and not at all healthy for kids or families.

I'm always confused when people say things like this. At no point have we spent "all weekend driving all over creation" for travel soccer. Games are usually once a week, within an hour of home, and they last one hour each. We have plenty of weekend left to do other things. People who don't do travel soccer seem to have an inaccurate view of how much time it takes up. This isn't baseball with double headers and whatnot.

Depends on the level of travel you play at. ECNL/GA soccer, for example, has significantly more travel involved than you referred to.

More travel doesn't equate to always travelling
People seem to forget, half and sometimes more than half the games are Home games

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My positive story is that we opted to keep our kids in MSI Classic so that they could play with their friends, and we didn't spend all weekend driving all over creation. I think the soccer industrial complex is out of control and not at all healthy for kids or families.

I'm always confused when people say things like this. At no point have we spent "all weekend driving all over creation" for travel soccer. Games are usually once a week, within an hour of home, and they last one hour each. We have plenty of weekend left to do other things. People who don't do travel soccer seem to have an inaccurate view of how much time it takes up. This isn't baseball with double headers and whatnot.

Depends on the level of travel you play at. ECNL/GA soccer, for example, has significantly more travel involved than you referred to.

My kids have played on various teams and done various camps, and after several years of this, it's really broadened their social circle. Made the transition from elementary school easier, because they already knew kids from other schools via soccer (which obvious could also happen through swim or community theater or whatever, but soccer is their thing).

My DS has developed friendships with a vast network of other players in the area on just about every team from Northern VA up to Frederick/Baltimore County -- probably beyond -- and it is nice to see them compete hard on the pitch against each other and then walk away smiling and talking to one another, win or lose. He has lifelong friends, I am sure.

Soccer, travel soccer, high school soccer created an incredible group of friends for me and my son. I am so incredibly grateful for the mentorship my son's coaches have given him. If my son hadn't had soccer during Covid I'm not sure he would have keep his head screwed on right. For us soccer has been the best part of our day and lives. Now that he's off at college - I miss the connections and weekends of soccer tremendously.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My positive story is that we opted to keep our kids in MSI Classic so that they could play with their friends, and we didn't spend all weekend driving all over creation. I think the soccer industrial complex is out of control and not at all healthy for kids or families.

I'm always confused when people say things like this. At no point have we spent "all weekend driving all over creation" for travel soccer. Games are usually once a week, within an hour of home, and they last one hour each. We have plenty of weekend left to do other things. People who don't do travel soccer seem to have an inaccurate view of how much time it takes up. This isn't baseball with double headers and whatnot.

Young people would say, it's just the Haters

One family leaves home, goes to soccer game, comes home couple hours later.
Meanwhile the neighbors watching TV and scrolling the whole time.

The soccer family is unhealthy living

I do love that travel soccer for the most part is at a set time and day and that the games are not terribly long. My kid is also an amazing runner after playing soccer for many years and other team sports are fairly easy to pick up. Nice families on the team and we help each other out and carpool. My child is not on a top team and the games are all under an hour's drive - usually under 30 minutes - around here. The games themselves are about 2 hours total including warm up.

Compared to baseball which we'd get game notices about the day before and the games would be 4 hours long, travel soccer has been easier logistically. I think as kids age, baseball gets a little easier, but the 10-13 age range was crazy for one kid.

Anonymous wrote:My positive story is that we opted to keep our kids in MSI Classic so that they could play with their friends, and we didn't spend all weekend driving all over creation. I think the soccer industrial complex is out of control and not at all healthy for kids or families.

I'm always confused when people say things like this. At no point have we spent "all weekend driving all over creation" for travel soccer. Games are usually once a week, within an hour of home, and they last one hour each. We have plenty of weekend left to do other things. People who don't do travel soccer seem to have an inaccurate view of how much time it takes up. This isn't baseball with double headers and whatnot.

Anonymous wrote:My positive story is that we opted to keep our kids in MSI Classic so that they could play with their friends, and we didn't spend all weekend driving all over creation. I think the soccer industrial complex is out of control and not at all healthy for kids or families.

we said positive

My positive story is that we opted to keep our kids in MSI Classic so that they could play with their friends, and we didn't spend all weekend driving all over creation. I think the soccer industrial complex is out of control and not at all healthy for kids or families.

My son was passed over for the top team yet again, and I couldn’t muster any outrage because the kids and parents on his current team are so incredibly nice. I feel grateful that he has an activity that he loves that allows us to hang out frequently with such an awesome group of people.

My 11 yr old is really into soccer - days she doesn’t have practice or a game she wants to practice on her own.

She asked me a few months ago “You and Dad spend so much time, energy, and money on my soccer, what happens if I don’t always want to do it?” And I told her she’s already learning communication skills, the value of practicing to improve at something, teamwork, grit, and it’s keeping her moving.

Anonymous wrote:All stories about soccer on this forum seems to be negative: favorism, chaos, negligence, bully, abuse, teams underming each other, etc. Can anyone share their son or daughter's positive experience with soccer? How does playing soccer helps your player become a better person or better adapted to the world?

Actually, many positive things are said on this forum.

All stories about soccer on this forum seems to be negative: favorism, chaos, negligence, bully, abuse, teams underming each other, etc. Can anyone share their son or daughter's positive experience with soccer? How does playing soccer helps your player become a better person or better adapted to the world?