Anonymous wrote:Is this post a joke?

I opened it thinking it would be a debate about stopping shy of senior year.

Exactly what I thought U-17+

I am in the same boat as OP. I could have written this post word for word, except my son is 6 years old. Not sure if it’s worth continuing or not.

DD is youngest at age 11 and doesn't do anything with soccer outside of travel practices as none of her friends play soccer. JUST this year at U13 she is always with the ball. World Cup really held her interest and she watched entire games which she never had before. She took a few personal training sessions in off season just this past year. She's not in top club but steadily improving upwards. Last season she was the star striker on her team. My point is you have no idea how he may evolve in the next 2-3 years.

So I say to you - at U9 it is waaaaaaay to early! I can't tell you how many coaches have said to me you do not know until u12/13 what will happen.

Worst case scenario they play well enough for HS. Worst case they are active and have fun and not on electronics all day. Worst case they learn what commitment means with a heavy practice schedule, how to lose and why you win, they learn how to playa sport.

You really gotta lay off a kid at U9!!!!

Is this post a joke?

I opened it thinking it would be a debate about stopping shy of senior year.

Not sure where you are but Arlington has exactly this - it is called ADP. Kids have to tryout and you have one pool practice/week with a parent coach and a travel coach and one practice/week with your parent coach. The ADP teams all play one another so all games are in Arlington.

My older daughter played ADP from 3rd-5th and then switched to travel in 6th. ADP was a great way to learn the game without such a huge time commitment.

There is a lot of change at that age - players can make developmental leaps over the course of a couple weeks as thing start to make sense. If he is having fun, improving, and working hard at training let him be - don’t go overboard on making soccer a job he has to “do” and take the fun out of it.

I have coached travel players around that age for a long time, many of whom went on to play in college. Some of them were obviously playing away from practice, others weren’t. Some of them will mature a little and decide they want to get better on their own - some may not - but that has to be player driven.

Something to keep in mind - even if your player loves the game and plays every day at home - it may not ever be enough to make the next step, whether that is top team, play in college, play pro, etc - and that’s okay. The fact that he has something he loves to do, that he can gain confidence and friendships from, can play far into adulthood and can help him maintain a healthy lifestyle is huge and should be enough.

Anonymous wrote:He's 8, let him have fun and play. You sound crazy.

+1000.

Anonymous wrote:Son is U9 on the team just below top team in club. He’s certainly not the best but enjoys playing and being on a team. But what’s frustrating is that he will never work alone in the back yard on improving his touches. How many years of not being on the top team do you continue to do in travel soccer? Still so young but do things turn around oh so much if they don’t practice outside practice. Am I expecting too much of an 8 year old?

Yes you are expecting too much. My kids didn’t start working on their own until around 12 or 13.

But even if he never does, what does being on the top team have to do with it? If he enjoys what he’s doing, making friends, having good experiences, why not continue? what if he enjoyed playing piano and singing would you only continue lessons if he was really good and had a chance at a singing career? For 99% of kids soccer is a fun activity not a career investment.

Yes, you are being unreasonable. Why does he ever have to be on the top team? My son did travel soccer for years and never was, but enjoyed it and improved a lot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We only do rec soccer. I’m pretty sure my kid is good enough for travel but why? It’s more expensive, more of a time commitment and more competitive and less fun.
Travel soccer or any travel sport actually is marketed to parents the way gifted magnet programs are.
Let your kid be a kid and enjoy a relaxed childhood.

+1. You are driving around and paying lots of $$ for an 8 year old that doesn’t practice. Why not just do rec and reassess.

OP here- this is my point. He likes it and is learning but doesn’t like it enough to want to play beyond practice. I wish there was a non- travel league that had coaching like travel does but no travel. My beef with Rec is that they don’t learn any positions and it’s run by dads who may or may not know anything about the game. Maybe rec gets better the older they get?

So you want coaching like travel (ie paid professional coaches) but no travel and less cost? You could play rec and then pay for a private coach with the money saved. But it’s not just the better coaching it’s the better teammates and competitive games. Like most products and services you generally get what you pay for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We only do rec soccer. I’m pretty sure my kid is good enough for travel but why? It’s more expensive, more of a time commitment and more competitive and less fun.
Travel soccer or any travel sport actually is marketed to parents the way gifted magnet programs are.
Let your kid be a kid and enjoy a relaxed childhood.

+1. You are driving around and paying lots of $$ for an 8 year old that doesn’t practice. Why not just do rec and reassess.

My 8 year old never practiced. Just went to actual practice and didn’t get good until around 14. Fast forward College commit. Relax.

From experience- keep him on the team with the better coaching. Yes- it can be expensive but it makes a difference. We have done all levels of soccer and the time my kid gained the most skill was when she was with the paid coach and the kids who were good. Rec is fun but you get no skills and then if you rejoin travel- you are behind. The lower level travel is the same.

Very few 8 year olds play on their own. Even the best players we know in HS started practicing on their own some time in MS. Get a grip.

My dh coached rec soccer for years. He played soccer himself and he watches it all the time. To assume that the parent coaches have no clue what they're doing is short-sighted. Trust me that very few of them are out there with zero soccer experience. Travel soccer for an 8 year old sounds like a waste of time and a total money making scam. Why does your kid need to travel to another state and stay in a hotel to play soccer when there are hundreds of thousands of food soccer players in the dc area. It's a concept that was born when there were fewer kids playing sports and maybe a good team in rural Kansas truly couldn't find other players close to home and to travel to play. But here? Good players and teams are a dime a dozen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We only do rec soccer. I’m pretty sure my kid is good enough for travel but why? It’s more expensive, more of a time commitment and more competitive and less fun.
Travel soccer or any travel sport actually is marketed to parents the way gifted magnet programs are.
Let your kid be a kid and enjoy a relaxed childhood.

+1. You are driving around and paying lots of $$ for an 8 year old that doesn’t practice. Why not just do rec and reassess.

OP here- this is my point. He likes it and is learning but doesn’t like it enough to want to play beyond practice. I wish there was a non- travel league that had coaching like travel does but no travel. My beef with Rec is that they don’t learn any positions and it’s run by dads who may or may not know anything about the game. Maybe rec gets better the older they get?

I saw the same problem, and decided I was going to do a better job of coaching just because I cared more, which I ended doing and the parents thanked me at the end of the season. They mentioned they could tell I really enjoyed it and pushed their kids. I was essentially running travel level practices for those kids. My oldest was 14 at the time and had been in travel soccer, I was coaching my 8 yo.

Sadly the reason I could do the practices was right after the pandemic when I was still working remotely, the parents asked if I would be coaching next season and I had to say no.

After reading this post of yours, I'm reminiscing and thinking of coaching spring season, too busy this fall.

I never played in college or anything like that, but what matter most, and this is true, that you actually care. Taking the time to correct a player because their technique is wrong or spending more time on a drill because they need it is more important than following the prescribed coaching plans the clubs prepare.

Just my 2 cents