Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless your kid makes the 1st or 2nd travel team, don’t bother. Anything less is glorified rec for way more money and way more time commitment for all of you. Let her enjoy rec soccer and if she gets to the point where it’s not fun for her anymore because her skills have outpaced others, then it will be time to consider travel.

What if you have a kid who wants to do travel but is more of a third team (or lower, at a really big club) level? Older sibling moved to travel at their age and started on second team, now on first. Younger one doesn't fully understand that they aren't at the level their sibling was, but as a parent not sure I want to say travel is allowed for one kid but not the other. I guess we could say you can only do travel if you get offered first or second team? But that feels kind of mean.

Rec has still been sufficiently challenging this year, some weeks more than others depending on the opposing team. But no idea how many of the good kids on DC's and other teams will be headed off to travel. At least a couple on DC's team most likely are. The coach has been great for motivating the kids and teaching passing and spacing, but does not know soccer well enough to teach things like footskills. The travel club DC would join seems to work a lot of ball control/footskills in the youngest age groups. The rec coach may also not be around next year because I suspect their kid is gravitating to a different sport. Really not sure what to do...

Okay, so then that is different reasoning you take into consideration. If your kid wants travel just like big bro/sis you can say that it takes effort and commitment and you can discuss if you’re seeing that from your kid. I’m not talking drill sergeant level Debbie downwr convo but it’s definitely reasonable to teach an understanding of the value of a dollar & hard work at this age. “It’s not cheap, it’s more of a time commitment too, plus you need to practice on your own. So you should really love it for the economics to make sense. If not, stay in rec and have fun. Maybe for another year and let’s keep talking about this. Travel isn’t going anywhere.”
If kid insists they are ready, then go for the 3rd or 4th team or wherever they land, but with eyes wide open about what this really is - a cash cow. Doesn’t mean she can’t work hard and move up. She absolutely can. But that can also be done from rec (at that age), too.

TLDR: at this young age, 3rd team travel doesn’t mean she will always be in 3rd team travel. She can move up with effort. But she can also do that while staying in rec longer too. If it’s more about sibling dynamics, have an open convo with your kid and then choose whatever is right for your family.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t even know what first team and second team means. Clearly I’m a terrible parent. My kid does travel at EDP 3. Tbats all I know and I’m good, she’s happy. I don’t have the bandwidth for the drama.

kid being happy is all that matters. will keep her in soccer longer than you knowing what all the teams means.

I don’t even know what first team and second team means. Clearly I’m a terrible parent. My kid does travel at EDP 3. Tbats all I know and I’m good, she’s happy. I don’t have the bandwidth for the drama.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rec until at least sixth grade.

THere's no skill development that can't be replicated by a talented middle schooler. Keeping them in the game and enthusiastic will probably make them a better (and more skilled) soccer player than putting them on a tough schedule.

Honestly, if your kid is a natural athlete who has a career in sports that goes beyond high school, they'll be best served by playing as many sports as possible, developing lots of skills, staying fit and happy. If they're a soccer player destined for greatness, they can pick it up their junior year of high school and be fine. If they're not an athlete who has D1 or pro future, no amount of expensive travel soccer in elementary school will change that.

You have to be kidding me. No one is picking up soccer in Junior of HS. You need a reality check on the current state of youth sports.

USMNT goalie Matt Turner didn't start playing soccer until he was 15. Probably not the ideal way to make it, but it's surprisingly common for professional athletes. There's a reason why so few Little League World Series players wind up in the majors, and none of the game's top stars were LLWS participants—because if you're a super-talented athletic freak, it doesn't matter what you're doing with your elementary school years, as long as you're active.

Join travel if your kid loves doing nothing but soccer, but don't worry about it until late ES, because the discernible improvement in skill is not worth the $3k and emotional trauma. A kid who happily plays rec until middle school will be a far better player than a kid who starts travel in 1st or 2nd grade. And if they're going to be a great, it doesn't matter when you start them.

You cherry picked a very specific position that relies on attributes most players don't have. You cannot be a serious soccer player if you play rec until 6th grade. Sorry, that used to work but it's just not possible now.

LOL, rubewhogetstrickedbytravelsoccercoaches says what?

No reason for a kid to do travel pre-sixth grade. To be a star, they need to be outside playing soccer on their own everyday because they love it, and that kid is guaranteed to be more talented than a kid whose parents shelled out $12k for "professional coaching".

Your 6-7yo will be fine doing rec for a few more years unless she gets really serious. Try other sports too.
My 7th grader literally just tried out for travel soccer ( after 4 years doing rec plus 1 season on the MS team) and got on a team so it’s not like there’s no hope.
Don’t jump on the crazy.

My daughter’s team prioritized staying together. Everyone tried out after 1st grade but not everyone made it so the whole team stayed in rec for one more year. Everyone made it in 3rd grade.

The team is still together years later!

Anonymous wrote:Please stay rec. If your kid is good you will be spending 10-12K yearly on this crap.

And yet another completely bogus claim.

Please stay rec. If your kid is good you will be spending 10-12K yearly on this crap.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rec until at least sixth grade.

THere's no skill development that can't be replicated by a talented middle schooler. Keeping them in the game and enthusiastic will probably make them a better (and more skilled) soccer player than putting them on a tough schedule.

Honestly, if your kid is a natural athlete who has a career in sports that goes beyond high school, they'll be best served by playing as many sports as possible, developing lots of skills, staying fit and happy. If they're a soccer player destined for greatness, they can pick it up their junior year of high school and be fine. If they're not an athlete who has D1 or pro future, no amount of expensive travel soccer in elementary school will change that.

You have to be kidding me. No one is picking up soccer in Junior of HS. You need a reality check on the current state of youth sports.

USMNT goalie Matt Turner didn't start playing soccer until he was 15. Probably not the ideal way to make it, but it's surprisingly common for professional athletes. There's a reason why so few Little League World Series players wind up in the majors, and none of the game's top stars were LLWS participants—because if you're a super-talented athletic freak, it doesn't matter what you're doing with your elementary school years, as long as you're active.

Join travel if your kid loves doing nothing but soccer, but don't worry about it until late ES, because the discernible improvement in skill is not worth the $3k and emotional trauma. A kid who happily plays rec until middle school will be a far better player than a kid who starts travel in 1st or 2nd grade. And if they're going to be a great, it doesn't matter when you start them.

You cherry picked a very specific position that relies on attributes most players don't have. You cannot be a serious soccer player if you play rec until 6th grade. Sorry, that used to work but it's just not possible now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rec until at least sixth grade.

THere's no skill development that can't be replicated by a talented middle schooler. Keeping them in the game and enthusiastic will probably make them a better (and more skilled) soccer player than putting them on a tough schedule.

Honestly, if your kid is a natural athlete who has a career in sports that goes beyond high school, they'll be best served by playing as many sports as possible, developing lots of skills, staying fit and happy. If they're a soccer player destined for greatness, they can pick it up their junior year of high school and be fine. If they're not an athlete who has D1 or pro future, no amount of expensive travel soccer in elementary school will change that.

You have to be kidding me. No one is picking up soccer in Junior of HS. You need a reality check on the current state of youth sports.

USMNT goalie Matt Turner didn't start playing soccer until he was 15. Probably not the ideal way to make it, but it's surprisingly common for professional athletes. There's a reason why so few Little League World Series players wind up in the majors, and none of the game's top stars were LLWS participants—because if you're a super-talented athletic freak, it doesn't matter what you're doing with your elementary school years, as long as you're active.

Join travel if your kid loves doing nothing but soccer, but don't worry about it until late ES, because the discernible improvement in skill is not worth the $3k and emotional trauma. A kid who happily plays rec until middle school will be a far better player than a kid who starts travel in 1st or 2nd grade. And if they're going to be a great, it doesn't matter when you start them.

Can we stop taking examples of pro athletes who started a sport late and extrapolating to the average kid? It's not the typical path for the VAST majority of kids. Most kids need to work at and practice something for a long time in order to achieve fairly modest levels of success. For every pro athlete who started in 8th grade there are thousands of kids who went out for the MS or HS team after only playing rec (or not at all) and not even being close to making the team.

I am not even going to address the emotional trauma comment. You seem to have a warped view of what travel sports are like.

We have had a kid or two each year come out of rec and join our 2nd or 1st (ecnl-rl) boys teams (now U16)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rec until at least sixth grade.

THere's no skill development that can't be replicated by a talented middle schooler. Keeping them in the game and enthusiastic will probably make them a better (and more skilled) soccer player than putting them on a tough schedule.

Honestly, if your kid is a natural athlete who has a career in sports that goes beyond high school, they'll be best served by playing as many sports as possible, developing lots of skills, staying fit and happy. If they're a soccer player destined for greatness, they can pick it up their junior year of high school and be fine. If they're not an athlete who has D1 or pro future, no amount of expensive travel soccer in elementary school will change that.

You have to be kidding me. No one is picking up soccer in Junior of HS. You need a reality check on the current state of youth sports.

USMNT goalie Matt Turner didn't start playing soccer until he was 15. Probably not the ideal way to make it, but it's surprisingly common for professional athletes. There's a reason why so few Little League World Series players wind up in the majors, and none of the game's top stars were LLWS participants—because if you're a super-talented athletic freak, it doesn't matter what you're doing with your elementary school years, as long as you're active.

Join travel if your kid loves doing nothing but soccer, but don't worry about it until late ES, because the discernible improvement in skill is not worth the $3k and emotional trauma. A kid who happily plays rec until middle school will be a far better player than a kid who starts travel in 1st or 2nd grade. And if they're going to be a great, it doesn't matter when you start them.

Anonymous wrote:Rec until at least sixth grade.

THere's no skill development that can't be replicated by a talented middle schooler. Keeping them in the game and enthusiastic will probably make them a better (and more skilled) soccer player than putting them on a tough schedule.

Honestly, if your kid is a natural athlete who has a career in sports that goes beyond high school, they'll be best served by playing as many sports as possible, developing lots of skills, staying fit and happy. If they're a soccer player destined for greatness, they can pick it up their junior year of high school and be fine. If they're not an athlete who has D1 or pro future, no amount of expensive travel soccer in elementary school will change that.

You have to be kidding me. No one is picking up soccer in Junior of HS. You need a reality check on the current state of youth sports.

Rec until at least sixth grade.

THere's no skill development that can't be replicated by a talented middle schooler. Keeping them in the game and enthusiastic will probably make them a better (and more skilled) soccer player than putting them on a tough schedule.

Honestly, if your kid is a natural athlete who has a career in sports that goes beyond high school, they'll be best served by playing as many sports as possible, developing lots of skills, staying fit and happy. If they're a soccer player destined for greatness, they can pick it up their junior year of high school and be fine. If they're not an athlete who has D1 or pro future, no amount of expensive travel soccer in elementary school will change that.

Anonymous wrote:Unless your kid makes the 1st or 2nd travel team, don’t bother. Anything less is glorified rec for way more money and way more time commitment for all of you. Let her enjoy rec soccer and if she gets to the point where it’s not fun for her anymore because her skills have outpaced others, then it will be time to consider travel.

What if you have a kid who wants to do travel but is more of a third team (or lower, at a really big club) level? Older sibling moved to travel at their age and started on second team, now on first. Younger one doesn't fully understand that they aren't at the level their sibling was, but as a parent not sure I want to say travel is allowed for one kid but not the other. I guess we could say you can only do travel if you get offered first or second team? But that feels kind of mean.

Rec has still been sufficiently challenging this year, some weeks more than others depending on the opposing team. But no idea how many of the good kids on DC's and other teams will be headed off to travel. At least a couple on DC's team most likely are. The coach has been great for motivating the kids and teaching passing and spacing, but does not know soccer well enough to teach things like footskills. The travel club DC would join seems to work a lot of ball control/footskills in the youngest age groups. The rec coach may also not be around next year because I suspect their kid is gravitating to a different sport. Really not sure what to do...