Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My family is at the beginning of travel soccer and it seems like so many families are pushing for most competitive teams, most competitive or “elite” clubs, etc.

For those who have bought in (literally), what are you most hoping your kid gets from competitive soccer? A shot at a college scholarship? Benefits of a team sport? Discipline from playing at a competitive level?

You should be asking your player, not a general forum that has a tendency to go off the rails.

Having gone through the recruiting process with one child who is playing in college now, and with two others who changed focus to other sports during their prime recruiting years, I've learned that every athlete's situation is different. I've always guided my kids to play at the highest level possible while still loving the game. Every other scenario is a waste of time and money, surprisingly 99% of the time its the parents that keep pushing.

+1

Anonymous wrote:The goal is a college scholarship or at least entry to a school he wouldn’t otherwise qualify. It would be a major waste of time and money to give up at this point after what has been invested so far. He’s in 9th grade.

Wow you do not understand how soccer scholarships work.

Slowing progression of nearsightedness doing a fun activity that doesn’t require a ton of extra equipment and is a sport that I enjoyed most of my life.

Anonymous wrote:My family is at the beginning of travel soccer and it seems like so many families are pushing for most competitive teams, most competitive or “elite” clubs, etc.

For those who have bought in (literally), what are you most hoping your kid gets from competitive soccer? A shot at a college scholarship? Benefits of a team sport? Discipline from playing at a competitive level?

You should be asking your player, not a general forum that has a tendency to go off the rails.

Having gone through the recruiting process with one child who is playing in college now, and with two others who changed focus to other sports during their prime recruiting years, I've learned that every athlete's situation is different. I've always guided my kids to play at the highest level possible while still loving the game. Every other scenario is a waste of time and money, surprisingly 99% of the time its the parents that keep pushing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The goal is for kids to get some exercise, make friends and be on a team with kids of similar skill, with a decent coach. Ideally, they learn some discipline and that you get out what you put into it.

Yeah, we started like this in 2021 right after everything finally "opened up". Travel leagues started before rec so our daughter gave it a shot after being cooped up after enjoying a year of rec at U7ish? prior to covid. She made the U8 travel team and is now on a U13 ECNL team because she grew to love the sport and wants to play at the highest level and is very competitive herself. Neither my wife or I had any soccer background, but we both love sports and enjoy her being active and thriving in that team environment.

End goal is wherever she wants it to be, and we just now started adding in extra training since she is so committed. I should add the age change helped her immensely. She played U13 ECNL last year and got 50-60% PT on the wing where all wingers were subbed every game. She's a Sept. birthday and now will be the older kid for the first time in her time playing and will be thought of as the leader based on a few practices this spring with the new team.

see, you are one of the parents I want to avoid. Your childs leadership skills on the team have nothing to do with her age. You are too invested.

We have a self appointed team leader on our U12 team, none of the comments are well received by any of the players. The parents are insufferable, always telling her to "be a leader" on the team...but she just yells at everyone. It is so awkward. The Coach seems to like it, but he parents chat up the coach all the time.

Being a leader is a good goal, something that does take time and effort to practice... but the PP has a point, some kids find it more disrupting if the kid is not a natural leader and is being pushed by Alpha parents to be a leader. (Not saying that is the case at all, but not all kids (especially kids) are leaders.)

Anonymous wrote:There is no end goal. We have chased top level since 2018, got there only to find out it is not even worth it. But it is too late to stop now. It is a terrible addiction LOL.

Ha! This is an honest take!

At age 8 when he started, it was to have fun. At age 16, it was still to have fun. That was 100% the only goal. We made it clear to him that we only wanted him to play if it was fun. He wanted more than rec could offer with players who were all in and he begged so we signed up at 8. We immediately met families who had grand plans for their kids. We had family friends who lectured me that we weren’t making the right decisions by not chasing the most elite teams. Their daughter’s soccer was the center of their universe, switching teams year after year and traveling by plane year round. She is a great player but she is playing D3 (by choice). We took the lesser path and even let DS take a break to pursue baseball for a time before returning. He will also play D3. Might he have had more opportunities if we had pushed or chased badges, I suppose. But college soccer was never our intention. It’s just what he decided to pursue once he hit sophomore year. There is no money in college soccer for those chasing scholarships unless you play D1. The vast majority of kids aren’t going to end up there. You are better off to invest the money in a 529 if a scholarship is the main goal. DS’s friend played for DCU academy and is amazingly talented. While he will play D1 and is excited, he did not have the college coaches beating a path to his door as he expected and he did not get any traction with the D1 schools he really wanted. He has another friend who only wanted D1 and a scholarship and ended up with no offers. He finally settled for a D3 but he was incredibly limited in options by refusing to see the writing on the wall. This is not to say there’s anything wrong with D3. We know tons of talented players who chose it. And DS feels lucky to play D3. But my point is many parents are unrealistic. My advice is to just let things play out naturally. Keep reevaluating. And if you have a son, only take recruiting advice from those with boys. Girls soccer and boys soccer are completely different in terms of timelines, slots and odds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The goal is a college scholarship or at least entry to a school he wouldn’t otherwise qualify. It would be a major waste of time and money to give up at this point after what has been invested so far. He’s in 9th grade.

yikes

that's a very long shot as a boy is what the poster is implying ...

Anonymous wrote:The goal is a college scholarship or at least entry to a school he wouldn’t otherwise qualify. It would be a major waste of time and money to give up at this point after what has been invested so far. He’s in 9th grade.

yikes

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The goal is for kids to get some exercise, make friends and be on a team with kids of similar skill, with a decent coach. Ideally, they learn some discipline and that you get out what you put into it.

Yeah, we started like this in 2021 right after everything finally "opened up". Travel leagues started before rec so our daughter gave it a shot after being cooped up after enjoying a year of rec at U7ish? prior to covid. She made the U8 travel team and is now on a U13 ECNL team because she grew to love the sport and wants to play at the highest level and is very competitive herself. Neither my wife or I had any soccer background, but we both love sports and enjoy her being active and thriving in that team environment.

End goal is wherever she wants it to be, and we just now started adding in extra training since she is so committed. I should add the age change helped her immensely. She played U13 ECNL last year and got 50-60% PT on the wing where all wingers were subbed every game. She's a Sept. birthday and now will be the older kid for the first time in her time playing and will be thought of as the leader based on a few practices this spring with the new team.

see, you are one of the parents I want to avoid. Your childs leadership skills on the team have nothing to do with her age. You are too invested.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The goal is for kids to get some exercise, make friends and be on a team with kids of similar skill, with a decent coach. Ideally, they learn some discipline and that you get out what you put into it.

Yeah, we started like this in 2021 right after everything finally "opened up". Travel leagues started before rec so our daughter gave it a shot after being cooped up after enjoying a year of rec at U7ish? prior to covid. She made the U8 travel team and is now on a U13 ECNL team because she grew to love the sport and wants to play at the highest level and is very competitive herself. Neither my wife or I had any soccer background, but we both love sports and enjoy her being active and thriving in that team environment.

End goal is wherever she wants it to be, and we just now started adding in extra training since she is so committed. I should add the age change helped her immensely. She played U13 ECNL last year and got 50-60% PT on the wing where all wingers were subbed every game. She's a Sept. birthday and now will be the older kid for the first time in her time playing and will be thought of as the leader based on a few practices this spring with the new team.

see, you are one of the parents I want to avoid. Your childs leadership skills on the team have nothing to do with her age. You are too invested.

I can't wait to avoid you as well! She was a great leader as a young kid too, until some "new" kids got the spotlight only to not be great leaders at all. The AG luckily made this is a non issue and she was already getting a bigger role in the spring vs the fall. What an **** comment! If you knew my kid, you would want her on your team.

There is no end goal. We have chased top level since 2018, got there only to find out it is not even worth it. But it is too late to stop now. It is a terrible addiction LOL.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The goal is for kids to get some exercise, make friends and be on a team with kids of similar skill, with a decent coach. Ideally, they learn some discipline and that you get out what you put into it.

Yeah, we started like this in 2021 right after everything finally "opened up". Travel leagues started before rec so our daughter gave it a shot after being cooped up after enjoying a year of rec at U7ish? prior to covid. She made the U8 travel team and is now on a U13 ECNL team because she grew to love the sport and wants to play at the highest level and is very competitive herself. Neither my wife or I had any soccer background, but we both love sports and enjoy her being active and thriving in that team environment.

End goal is wherever she wants it to be, and we just now started adding in extra training since she is so committed. I should add the age change helped her immensely. She played U13 ECNL last year and got 50-60% PT on the wing where all wingers were subbed every game. She's a Sept. birthday and now will be the older kid for the first time in her time playing and will be thought of as the leader based on a few practices this spring with the new team.

see, you are one of the parents I want to avoid. Your childs leadership skills on the team have nothing to do with her age. You are too invested.

Anonymous wrote:The goal is for kids to get some exercise, make friends and be on a team with kids of similar skill, with a decent coach. Ideally, they learn some discipline and that you get out what you put into it.

Yeah, we started like this in 2021 right after everything finally "opened up". Travel leagues started before rec so our daughter gave it a shot after being cooped up after enjoying a year of rec at U7ish? prior to covid. She made the U8 travel team and is now on a U13 ECNL team because she grew to love the sport and wants to play at the highest level and is very competitive herself. Neither my wife or I had any soccer background, but we both love sports and enjoy her being active and thriving in that team environment.

End goal is wherever she wants it to be, and we just now started adding in extra training since she is so committed. I should add the age change helped her immensely. She played U13 ECNL last year and got 50-60% PT on the wing where all wingers were subbed every game. She's a Sept. birthday and now will be the older kid for the first time in her time playing and will be thought of as the leader based on a few practices this spring with the new team.

Our goal was two-fold: That DS play at the level he wanted to play at (as a keeper, he was happier playing at a level where the other players weren't just phoning it in, LOL), and that DS develop the skills needed to be able to play on our high school team if he wanted to.

Both accomplished. Once he got to high school and made the team, he stopped playing club.

My HS freshman asked if we could move to a larger city an hour+ away so she can play on a more competitive team. The highest level where we live now is RL and her team played for the national championship last year. She just wants to play at the highest level she can and her most solid friendships are with her teammates.

After her sister graduates next year we may do it--I could probably double my income with the move and DH would be closer to more clients so why not do it for a couple of years? We could easily rent out our house--we live in a great neighborhood with excellent schools close to a military base and officers love to rent in our neighborhood.