Anonymous
11/01/2020 14:33
Subject: At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
9 used to be a pretty standard starting age.
Here's the tough thing -- it is very difficult to compare and contrast.
My kids started out in a local community club, but it was a club that happened to be very good, with good coaches. For us that was simply a matter of pure luck. Was every coach great? Nope, but most were good to very good. So, pure luck for us. It could have easily been much, much worse. And, how much effort do you want to put into finding a good coach/club that is reasonably close to you so that you can get to 2 practices a week and a game? That is no small deal.
It is a problem though. Get with a bad coach and it can be an issue in just keeping kids interested, improving, and even getting better relative to their competition (every other kid playing). And, keep in mind that athleticism (speed in particular) accounts for a great deal. A fast kid with lower skill levels can simply run right by a skilled slow player. That is why coaches, teams and clubs look first and foremost for athletes to coach up. Of course, not every kid who is big and fast at 9 will be big and fast at 17. In fact -- most will not. And, not every big and fast kid at 9 will do the work necessary to develop their skills so they are big, fast and skilled players at 12 or 17.
Then there is the issue of how long it takes to catch up if you start later. See -- the thing with all talent issues is that if you start later you have to catch up to the other good and talented kids. But, the other good and talented kids are also still working to develop their abilities. So a kid who starts late has to make up the gap, and the gap keeps moving. They have to work extra hard to make up the difference. And, if the other good and talented players are already working hard . . . . That, more than anything, is why starting younger, with good coaching, makes a difference.
My daughter who played in college 4 years started at u9. Her u15 team, a put together team from 3 big clubs, had 4 girls from her u9 team on it. Everyone on that u15 team either played in college, or could have played for a small school, but elected to go to a big school.
There was one girl who joined at u15. See was tall, fast, strong and the daughter of a coach at a small club. She was also well behind the other girls in her skill development. She never caught up through u18. She improved, but then so did all of the other kids who were also working to improve. The gap in skill level between herself and her teammates (and typically the opposing players on good teams) pretty much remained in place.
Here's the tough thing -- it is very difficult to compare and contrast.
My kids started out in a local community club, but it was a club that happened to be very good, with good coaches. For us that was simply a matter of pure luck. Was every coach great? Nope, but most were good to very good. So, pure luck for us. It could have easily been much, much worse. And, how much effort do you want to put into finding a good coach/club that is reasonably close to you so that you can get to 2 practices a week and a game? That is no small deal.
It is a problem though. Get with a bad coach and it can be an issue in just keeping kids interested, improving, and even getting better relative to their competition (every other kid playing). And, keep in mind that athleticism (speed in particular) accounts for a great deal. A fast kid with lower skill levels can simply run right by a skilled slow player. That is why coaches, teams and clubs look first and foremost for athletes to coach up. Of course, not every kid who is big and fast at 9 will be big and fast at 17. In fact -- most will not. And, not every big and fast kid at 9 will do the work necessary to develop their skills so they are big, fast and skilled players at 12 or 17.
Then there is the issue of how long it takes to catch up if you start later. See -- the thing with all talent issues is that if you start later you have to catch up to the other good and talented kids. But, the other good and talented kids are also still working to develop their abilities. So a kid who starts late has to make up the gap, and the gap keeps moving. They have to work extra hard to make up the difference. And, if the other good and talented players are already working hard . . . . That, more than anything, is why starting younger, with good coaching, makes a difference.
My daughter who played in college 4 years started at u9. Her u15 team, a put together team from 3 big clubs, had 4 girls from her u9 team on it. Everyone on that u15 team either played in college, or could have played for a small school, but elected to go to a big school.
There was one girl who joined at u15. See was tall, fast, strong and the daughter of a coach at a small club. She was also well behind the other girls in her skill development. She never caught up through u18. She improved, but then so did all of the other kids who were also working to improve. The gap in skill level between herself and her teammates (and typically the opposing players on good teams) pretty much remained in place.
Anonymous
11/01/2020 11:59
Subject: At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:When should I start putting my DD in soccer classes, she is about to turn 4?
Troll alert?
Not a troll, genuinely curious when is the best time to start, even if it is once a week
Both of my kids started at 2 or 3 in a program during their daycare/ preschool time and we just kept it up every year until travel. I'm not sure there is too early. Its good exercise..better than screens.
Anonymous
11/01/2020 09:17
Subject: At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:When should I start putting my DD in soccer classes, she is about to turn 4?
Troll alert?
Not a troll, genuinely curious when is the best time to start, even if it is once a week
Anonymous
11/01/2020 08:54
Subject: At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
Anonymous wrote:When should I start putting my DD in soccer classes, she is about to turn 4?
Troll alert?
Anonymous
11/01/2020 08:21
Subject: At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
U9, although I think a kid could wait until U11 or U12 and not miss much. By middle school they should be in travel if they want to keep up. There are exceptions to the rule, but this is a good guideline.
Anonymous
11/01/2020 08:08
Subject: At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
When should I start putting my DD in soccer classes, she is about to turn 4?
Anonymous
11/01/2020 08:02
Subject: Re:At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
Hi OP - my DS changed from rec to travel at the start of 6th grade. He probably should have done it a bit earlier, he was developmentally ready, but that was when he was mentally ready to move on. It worked out well.
Anonymous
11/01/2020 04:22
Subject: At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Halfway through 2nd grade (u8). Thats when he started changing from just a pastime to a huge interest. In hindsite our club is sooo competive that I wished we did it in 1st grade. But I couldn't justify the cost for a 6 year old.
What are the more affordable soccer programs for littles
What area do you live in? I live in moco. Msi is most popular for rec for about $100 per season. It starts at k grouped by school. My kid loved this because he played with his classmates. Depends on how long you stay. You can stay for the long haul and move up to msi classic or select for more competition. There is also ppa which is about $400 per season for their mid teir level (forgot name) and has more competitive options. They may be cheaper for rec.
I don't know any other affordable options or the other areas.
Most of the clubs run >2k/yr
From my understanding the big clubs in nova have rec options which are more affordable than travel but are combined with the club.
Anonymous
10/31/2020 20:23
Subject: At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
Anonymous wrote:Halfway through 2nd grade (u8). Thats when he started changing from just a pastime to a huge interest. In hindsite our club is sooo competive that I wished we did it in 1st grade. But I couldn't justify the cost for a 6 year old.
What are the more affordable soccer programs for littles
Anonymous
10/31/2020 10:33
Subject: Re:At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
I said I would never be that parent but fate had a different plan. I wanted to wait until middle school... but my son was very athletic so it was not really a “choice”.
In football he was told he wasn’t allowed to carry the ball after we were up 3 TDs.
In soccer the league would not allow him to play with his age he had to play 2 ages up.
In lacrosse he was told he could not hit anybody. His hit literally took kids off their feet. The kids were fine but parents complained.
It’s hard to teach a 9yo to throttle back.
I held off until 5th grade and had to do travel for everything.
Dumped football added wrestling since it’s weight and age. (Except his weight was very low... but it just felt more even)
Plays in college now.
So I did judge these parents but is it fair to kids in rec to play against somebody like this?
In football he was told he wasn’t allowed to carry the ball after we were up 3 TDs.
In soccer the league would not allow him to play with his age he had to play 2 ages up.
In lacrosse he was told he could not hit anybody. His hit literally took kids off their feet. The kids were fine but parents complained.
It’s hard to teach a 9yo to throttle back.
I held off until 5th grade and had to do travel for everything.
Dumped football added wrestling since it’s weight and age. (Except his weight was very low... but it just felt more even)
Plays in college now.
So I did judge these parents but is it fair to kids in rec to play against somebody like this?
Anonymous
10/31/2020 10:27
Subject: At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
Anonymous wrote:RantingSoccerDad wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:And you don't have to jump to a crazy-competitive club that drives 9 year olds all over the east coast.
Nobody drives 9 year olds all over the east coast.
Oh yes they do. I won't, but some do.
Which league means driving all over the east coast at age 9?
Leagues, not necessarily, but certainly tournaments.
U9 for our club culminates with a tournament in Richmond. The kids love it, but I wouldn't consider it a that much of a drive. What clubs are sending kids all over the east coast for tournaments?
I think this is mostly BS. I'm not aware of any 9 year old team that plays in a league or regularly enters tournaments all over the east coast. Sure a team might decide to do a tournament in Florida or the Jersey shore - but that would be a team decision because everyone thinks it might be fun - not because the team level requires it.
Anonymous
10/31/2020 10:24
Subject: Re:At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
Truth is there are some rec kids out there who can play circles around a lot of kids whose parents are paying $2,000 a year.
This is a bit misleading too. A truer statement might be "There is a considerable overlap in abilities between some of the better kids playing rec and and the lower levels of travel soccer. And there are even a handful of kids playing rec who are truly significantly better than quite a lot of kids playing travel
I agree. But, I'm not really paying 2K for my son to climb to the upper levels of soccer. I want him getting out of the house, socializing, learning to work as a team, and getting exercise. One rec practice a week and one rec game is not going to meet those needs to the degree that I want. I had thought about signing him up for two separate rec teams to save money, but that is not allowed at our club, and no way am I driving to two different clubs. I don't have the time for that, I'd rather just pay the money for travel.
Anonymous
10/31/2020 10:21
Subject: Re:At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
RantingSoccerDad wrote:I think the defensiveness is that travel folks have a tendency to look down on rec folks. It's actually quite a pecking order -- everyone in the GA, ECNL, MLS Next, EDP and CCL all look down on each other, they all look down on the NCSL, and they all look down on rec leagues. [/quote
That's a pretty broad generalization: "everyone in the .... all look down on each other ...." I don't think this is true. If you replace your "everyone" and "all" with "some", then that would be a fair comment.
Truth is there are some rec kids out there who can play circles around a lot of kids whose parents are paying $2,000 a year.
This is a bit misleading too. A truer statement might be "There is a considerable overlap in abilities between some of the better kids playing rec and and the lower levels of travel soccer. And there are even a handful of kids playing rec who are truly significantly better than quite a lot of kids playing travel."
Anonymous
10/31/2020 09:28
Subject: At what age did your kid switch from rec to travel?
RantingSoccerDad wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:And you don't have to jump to a crazy-competitive club that drives 9 year olds all over the east coast.
Nobody drives 9 year olds all over the east coast.
Oh yes they do. I won't, but some do.
Which league means driving all over the east coast at age 9?
Leagues, not necessarily, but certainly tournaments.
U9 for our club culminates with a tournament in Richmond. The kids love it, but I wouldn't consider it a that much of a drive. What clubs are sending kids all over the east coast for tournaments?