Exercise and social/teamwork environment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a good question, but no one will say the reason why about half of the kids (3/4ths of the girls) play -- "because me and the husband are super competitive and want to watch our little Suzy kick some other kid's arse."

I don't know any parents who push their kids into travel soccer. I have a competitive, sporty kid who loves it -- and thus I love it for her. Maybe I look like the people you describe, but I love watching her do something she loves. I'm pretty sure that's the case for everyone else. There's no way you could really do this if it wasn't kid lead.

What age is your DD?

Anonymous wrote:It's a good question, but no one will say the reason why about half of the kids (3/4ths of the girls) play -- "because me and the husband are super competitive and want to watch our little Suzy kick some other kid's arse."

I don't know any parents who push their kids into travel soccer. I have a competitive, sporty kid who loves it -- and thus I love it for her. Maybe I look like the people you describe, but I love watching her do something she loves. I'm pretty sure that's the case for everyone else. There's no way you could really do this if it wasn't kid lead.

This is an easy one for me:

- Better health via exercise & healthy eating
- Hard work and determination
- Academics + Sports (or other activities) = College
- But most of all, father/daughter bonding time.

It's a good question, but no one will say the reason why about half of the kids (3/4ths of the girls) play -- "because me and the husband are super competitive and want to watch our little Suzy kick some other kid's arse."

Because he has fun, it’s exercise and he likes it. I have spoken.

It keeps her off the pole.

Because she likes playing and likes her teammates. I let her play because of her two reasons and think she needs to burn energy.

End of story.

I married into a soccer family. They all played growing up, some of them in college. They watch every level of soccer on TV, go to most local games, go to World Cups when they can, etc. They are all nutty about it, and once our kids came along, so were they. I have slowly become a fan of the game, and definitely enjoy watching my kids play team sports, which I never did.

As for them, I think they get out of it all the things that anyone who loves playing a sport gets out of it.

Anonymous wrote:Title says it all.
What's their motivation for playing, and what is yours? Do you see them having a future career in it, college scholarship, or do you just want them to have fun?

This can be asked of every extra curricular activity.

Because that's what his friends play.

Because we said they have to find and commit to an activity outside of school - sports, music, etc - instead of watching youtube/Snapchat/video games. Not good enough to play travel basketball, doesn’t like baseball, so he chose soccer. Enjoys his teammates and competition, is decently good, but doesn’t love it.

I'll bite.

She loves the game and she's good at it. She enjoys the challenge of working hard at something to get better. She works hard to be a starter, stay on a top team, earn accolades, etc.

It's where she finds her friends. In soccer, she doesn't need to be rich, beautiful, popular, smart, cool, etc. It's enough to be nice, fun, and good at soccer.

It's her home.

Just stop it...really.

Title says it all.
What's their motivation for playing, and what is yours? Do you see them having a future career in it, college scholarship, or do you just want them to have fun?