I’m an earlier PP -

I should have added, at 10 thru 12 club soccer is an introduction for kids and parents in athletics. Not every kid is cut out to play higher level club soccer much less in college or pro. It is a huge obligation on the part of parents to understand and be watchful for interest changes, and the development of physical attributes that may or may not assist with soccer.

With women’s sports, soccer has the advantage being open to all physical sizes. There is room for short kids, tall kids and everything in between. It is, however, a sport for fast and quick kids at the higher levels. That does not mean a kid who loves the game but is slow cannot play on their high school team. They can. But, they can’t play high level club. So what? Play lower level and have fun.

But, also it is very important that athletic kids do other activities and sports. My daughter played 4 years of college soccer, and she played on very high level club teams from 9-18. Almost all of the kids on her u17 and 18 teams played in college. But — over the years she played with many girls who went on to play several different college sports. Her u14 team had a future Big10 lacrosse captain, a Big10 x-country runner, and 2 SEC swimmers. I particularly liked the girl who went to a D3 school and played Soccer, Basketball and Golf.

Do not lock your kid into any particular sport at a young age. Help them take advantage of their own abilities. Soccer is just the first team sport lots of athletic kids start with.

I agree with PP. My DD moved too late and it is very challenging now. Many top teams at U13 and up have huge rosters.

Anonymous wrote:I would add - winning/losing is not a big deal for the obvious reason that it depends on who a team plays. As others have said, you want to mix it up a bit.

But - sadly - if your kid is potentially a high level youth player - it does mean moving to a good club. Those clubs will have the teammates and coaching to require continuous improvement or you are gone the next year. The cost sucks. But, you can’t compete at high levels unless you are regularly competing (practicing) at high levels. By 14/15 the gap is too great to catch up. Again, kids you are competing against are doing the same or more work. They are not waiting around for your kid to catch up.

OP doesn't have to move his kid now, but I'd move by U12. At U12, the girls on top teams at ECNL clubs will be playing 11x11 up a year (generally in EDP as well as some tournaments). I think that's when development and conditioning really accelerate. By U14 or 15, you'd really have to be exceptional to make the leap