Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best week long vacations I've ever had were out on west coast attending ECNL playoffs. I'm talking "actual" vacation. I do nothing but enjoy the sun, watch my DD play high level soccer, and dine out. We visit places, see new universities, and spend time. WTF else would I rather do? Gimmie all of this 100/100 times.

Stroll around Italy with Stanley Tucci. Not staying in pay-to-play crap La Quinta type hotels with loud soccer kids swarming the halls, elevators, etc.

Sleep in. Not have to get up before 7am due the morning games.

Just chiming in to say how much I absolutely loathe parents and coaches who let their children run wild in hotels during tournaments. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been trying to get a good night’s sleep before an early morning game, only to be kept awake by groups of kids running and stomping and yelling around the hotel at 11pm.

No class asshats.

Anonymous wrote:My oldest dropped out of high level travel soccer a couple years ago, in favor of playing high school + a much lower local travel team and sometimes a house league team.

While I suppose the stakes aren’t as high, he now plays with more joy and abandon than he ever did on his travel team. So I still enjoy watching him play and I know it won’t last much longer.

I watch zero professional sports and so I get my fix by watching my boys play!

Mine did the opposite. He dropped high school and second team to play on an Mlsnext team abs it’s the best soccer by far. The set schedule is conducive to school work during the week instead of different game times, driving an hour or 2 hours to play another high school on a weeknight. Before he’d be up at 7am and not get home until 10pm with high school and the lower level team practice. Now he’s home at 3 and has 4 hours before he has to leave for practice. Games weekends.

Anonymous wrote:Best week long vacations I've ever had were out on west coast attending ECNL playoffs. I'm talking "actual" vacation. I do nothing but enjoy the sun, watch my DD play high level soccer, and dine out. We visit places, see new universities, and spend time. WTF else would I rather do? Gimmie all of this 100/100 times.

Stroll around Italy with Stanley Tucci. Not staying in pay-to-play crap La Quinta type hotels with loud soccer kids swarming the halls, elevators, etc.

Sleep in. Not have to get up before 7am due the morning games.

Best week long vacations I've ever had were out on west coast attending ECNL playoffs. I'm talking "actual" vacation. I do nothing but enjoy the sun, watch my DD play high level soccer, and dine out. We visit places, see new universities, and spend time. WTF else would I rather do? Gimmie all of this 100/100 times.

My oldest dropped out of high level travel soccer a couple years ago, in favor of playing high school + a much lower local travel team and sometimes a house league team.

While I suppose the stakes aren’t as high, he now plays with more joy and abandon than he ever did on his travel team. So I still enjoy watching him play and I know it won’t last much longer.

I watch zero professional sports and so I get my fix by watching my boys play!

U16 parent here. I still love going to the games, but the overall experience just isn't as fun. Team bonding isn't what it used to be when they were younger. Most of the parents we became good friends with no longer have sons on the team due to them being dropped to lower teams or leaving the club. There's only 3 kids left that were on his original U9 team. The ECNL or other showcases we go to just don't have the same feel as a tournament did. Not a big deal if you lose. Player development is all but done now it seems.
Luckily, my son still likes the grind of it all, but even he misses comradery of earlier years.