It’s not just soccer. The same thing is happens in other sports like baseball, volleyball, gymnastics, ice hockey. But it’s not just sports. Parents with money to spend and a desire to get their kids ahead.

Anonymous wrote:And gymnastics, ice skating, basketball are any different? Not defending the system, but its more than soccer alone.

In baseball or hockey, travel starts earlier and travel farther than any of these other sports. Add a few years and around the same time as soccer, many of these other sports go quickly, including gymnastics, ballet, basketball, cheer. Soccer and the travel culture aren't an outlier, it's the youth sports system overall. You just see it through the lens of the sport your kid plays.

And gymnastics, ice skating, basketball are any different? Not defending the system, but its more than soccer alone.

Anonymous wrote:The above posters are prime example of why America is never going to be good at football.

It just isn’t in the culture. The king sport is king because all you need is a ball to have fun. No fancy or expensive equipment. Just a ball to kick at.

Poors, rich, intelligent, dumbs… anyone can play it.

When it’s embedded in your life like outside of USofA then you inherently develop talented players with minimal to almost virtually no oversight of organized play.

Fun fact: in Brazil, the kids do not start organized club futebol until AFTER U13. Make of that what you will.

👆

The middle class Joneses use it as a status symbol and they chase everything to be the best.

The secret is to simply spend time with the ball in the backyard.

Regarding culture, participate in any live event for the World Cup this summer and tell me when you have ever felt that alive as an American about anything. That will be your answer.

It's a simple fun game

Its because competitive soccer is like competitive checkers. Everyone knows whats going to happen next and if you make one mistake the game is over.

Its also because club soccer is designed to hook parents into being overly engaged. Which translates into more $$$ for club owners.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of these kids are like mine and just love the game. Its excessive to me in terms of practices and games but even in free time, the kids enjoy playing at the park. Its their favorite activity. 99% are not talking about scholarships, they just want kids to enjoy it and friends. They worry more about what level of team they'll make next, not what college will recruit them.

How old are your kids?

13

À ton of kids play soccer around here, maybe because we are just a large metro area and you have a lot of kids in general, or maybe because we have a lot of people from other countries where soccer (football) is really popular.

As PP noted we don’t have a strong free play culture here, so most kids’ soccer experiences are in organized settings only. Many volunteer rec coaches do not come from a soccer background and don’t really teach the kids real soccer. And half the kids on the rec teams have zero skills because they don’t touch a soccer ball outside of one team practice a week. So parents of kids who look halfway good start to feel like they should put their kid on a travel soccer team so they can be around other kids who are decent and coaches who actually know the game.

Once you’ve been sucked into the travel culture, kids are competing for spots within their team or to move up to a higher level team or league. The whole tryout/offer thing is stressful and not to the benefit of the kids. But people feel like they have to play the game to ensure their child is on a team that’s right for them. These clubs cost enough money that it can feel like a big waste if you’re on the wrong team and have to stay the whole year because they won’t refund you. For boys, making a high school team is hard if you’re not on a top level team. So there is this pressure to get to and stay at the top even if college soccer is not the goal.

It’s really messed up. And instead of recognizing the actual problems, US Soccer just keeps allowing creation of more leagues, tapping into kids’ and parents’ FOMO.

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of these kids are like mine and just love the game. Its excessive to me in terms of practices and games but even in free time, the kids enjoy playing at the park. Its their favorite activity. 99% are not talking about scholarships, they just want kids to enjoy it and friends. They worry more about what level of team they'll make next, not what college will recruit them.

How old are your kids?

Anonymous wrote:The above posters are prime example of why America is never going to be good at football.

It just isn’t in the culture. The king sport is king because all you need is a ball to have fun. No fancy or expensive equipment. Just a ball to kick at.

Poors, rich, intelligent, dumbs… anyone can play it.

When it’s embedded in your life like outside of USofA then you inherently develop talented players with minimal to almost virtually no oversight of organized play.

Fun fact: in Brazil, the kids do not start organized club futebol until AFTER U13. Make of that what you will.

Op here -
I mean I think the posters above would generally agree with you? It sounds like some weird FOMO funnel has been created. I think it makes sense that it’s like the first sport kids can really get competitive in.

I also don’t think it should be competitive until HS. That’s the way it was when I was playing.

The posters above sound like their kids just enjoy playing and to keep playing the system requires a certain amount of time.

But even those posters aren’t doing as much as I’m seeing, 6 days a week all year for 8-10 year olds.

I don’t care that soccer will never be the biggest sport. I get why it won’t be in the US. I just don’t get why people have subscribed to the insanity.

I think a lot of these kids are like mine and just love the game. Its excessive to me in terms of practices and games but even in free time, the kids enjoy playing at the park. Its their favorite activity. 99% are not talking about scholarships, they just want kids to enjoy it and friends. They worry more about what level of team they'll make next, not what college will recruit them.

The above posters are prime example of why America is never going to be good at football.

It just isn’t in the culture. The king sport is king because all you need is a ball to have fun. No fancy or expensive equipment. Just a ball to kick at.

Poors, rich, intelligent, dumbs… anyone can play it.

When it’s embedded in your life like outside of USofA then you inherently develop talented players with minimal to almost virtually no oversight of organized play.

Fun fact: in Brazil, the kids do not start organized club futebol until AFTER U13. Make of that what you will.

I don’t understand it either tbh.
My 13yo plays, started with rec, then her school, joined a travel team in 8th. They only travel about an hour though, 2 hours was the most and it was once last fall. They practice twice a week.
She enjoys it, plays basketball as well ( not travel) and is pretty well rounded..
I don’t get all the talk of “ offers” and “ invites” it’s insane.
There are some of us who are normal, so know that not everyone in soccer is crazy

Anonymous wrote:I’m genuinely curious. My child does not play sports but I did competitively growing up in the NE before soccer became the popular fad.

What is the appeal of it? Why does it start so young and why are 8/9 year olds practicing 6 days a week all year long? Why do parents drive all over the place for futsal during the winter and tournaments for 9 year olds? What is the end game?

I understand for some it’s fun, but this type of demand cannot be “fun” for a 8-10 year old. Do so many parents really think their kids are going to all get D1 scholarships or go pro? And who cares about pro soccer - they barely make a living wage.

I guess where is the insanity coming from?

I have kids who play different sports and one really competitive soccer player. I’ve thought about this a bit and I think one reason soccer seems extra crazy is because kids can do it at a pretty competitive level starting at a young age. Other sports take more time before the travel/elite portion starts. But because there are 8 and 9 year old travel soccer programs people get sucked in early.

As my soccer player gets older, it seems that people mellow out some because there is more understanding of who is actually an elite player and people develop a more healthy perspective.

I’m genuinely curious. My child does not play sports but I did competitively growing up in the NE before soccer became the popular fad.

What is the appeal of it? Why does it start so young and why are 8/9 year olds practicing 6 days a week all year long? Why do parents drive all over the place for futsal during the winter and tournaments for 9 year olds? What is the end game?

I understand for some it’s fun, but this type of demand cannot be “fun” for a 8-10 year old. Do so many parents really think their kids are going to all get D1 scholarships or go pro? And who cares about pro soccer - they barely make a living wage.

I guess where is the insanity coming from?