Anonymous wrote:My daughter plays awesome in scrimmages but chokes in games. Performance anxiety.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Unfortunately these days it appears travel is for anyone willing to pay. Its taken away from the notion that the better kids can compete against each other in a competitive environment. Now any kid who wants to play or who's parents want them to play is accepted. When one of those kids struggles or the parents see the talent gap. They want to ask why and what can I do to make my kid better. When in fact it has to come from the kid first. If they want it they will work for it. Some kids can work 10x harder than the better kids but never reach the same results. That is the reason travel should not be for everyone.

You understand that there are leagues and divisions within leagues to make sure kids are appropriately matched against opponents in travel, right? So they are not throwing 4th-team level kids who can pay into games with top-team level kids. Why does it bother you that people who can afford it whose kids want to improve have an option to play travel against other similar kids?

I guess in my opinion it takes away the try out make the team satisfaction. By adding lower levels cheapens the experience of better players. Also it tends to give fake status at times. Like when a kid says I play travel for Arlington. It can give the impression that your kid is pretty good. When in fact he is on the 3rd team and isn't very good. Parents are huge offenders of this. Just stating the club and not offering the level unless specifically asked. Do you see where this can get a little annoying to the player who is on the top team and gets lumped in with the lower level kids who aren't really good enough to be competing?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 14 year old son is on the second to bottom level travel team in his club. He's just mediocre, his better sport is baseball, but he doesn't enjoy it as much. We can afford to pay for travel anyway, so since he loves it, that's fine.

DH and I have started jogging in the local park where DS plays pickup soccer games, and we have noticed that he plays much, much better in these games than travel. He is more relaxed and looser, and his shot seems better. Not only that, he runs faster in these pickup games, and is more aggressive. DH mentioned the kids he is playing against at the park are not as good as his travel opponents, and that is likely a factor, but my son is also noticeably different. What gives? He's had a series of different travel coaches, most of whom have been fine. Why does he play better at the free soccer in the park than the soccer with a professional coach that we pay $2K a year for? I don't deeply care, but I do find it weird.

Coach here,

First the fact that he plays pick up soccer and enjoys it says a lot. The fact that he appears faster and more aggressive when playing pickup soccer says a lot to. My guess is your husband is mostly right. The players he's up against aren't on his level and his confidence is very high when playing against them.

Defense in pick up games is also usually pretty poor. No one is trying to get hurt (or hurt anyone) out there, so offense can really shine and appear better then what it would look like in a truly competitive match.

If you're truly concerned, you can talk to your coach about what you've observed. If I were you I would just give your son some compliments and try not to add a "I wish you'd play like that during the game..." type comments.

ha! So not true where my sons play pick up. It's brutal. There are no parents or refs interfering. I had to run over to tell one of them to come home and it was like a bloodbath, stuff that would have gotten called in a real game.

But, where my kids play it's a lot of top team travel kids and kids nearby without the means to pay for travel, but certainly the talent. Sometimes their much older siblings are there too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 14 year old son is on the second to bottom level travel team in his club. He's just mediocre, his better sport is baseball, but he doesn't enjoy it as much. We can afford to pay for travel anyway, so since he loves it, that's fine.

DH and I have started jogging in the local park where DS plays pickup soccer games, and we have noticed that he plays much, much better in these games than travel. He is more relaxed and looser, and his shot seems better. Not only that, he runs faster in these pickup games, and is more aggressive. DH mentioned the kids he is playing against at the park are not as good as his travel opponents, and that is likely a factor, but my son is also noticeably different. What gives? He's had a series of different travel coaches, most of whom have been fine. Why does he play better at the free soccer in the park than the soccer with a professional coach that we pay $2K a year for? I don't deeply care, but I do find it weird.

Coach here,

First the fact that he plays pick up soccer and enjoys it says a lot. The fact that he appears faster and more aggressive when playing pickup soccer says a lot to. My guess is your husband is mostly right. The players he's up against aren't on his level and his confidence is very high when playing against them.

Defense in pick up games is also usually pretty poor. No one is trying to get hurt (or hurt anyone) out there, so offense can really shine and appear better then what it would look like in a truly competitive match.

If you're truly concerned, you can talk to your coach about what you've observed. If I were you I would just give your son some compliments and try not to add a "I wish you'd play like that during the game..." type comments.

Anonymous wrote:

Coach here,

First the fact that he plays pick up soccer and enjoys it says a lot. The fact that he appears faster and more aggressive when playing pickup soccer says a lot to. My guess is your husband is mostly right. The players he's up against aren't on his level and his confidence is very high when playing against them.

Defense in pick up games is also usually pretty poor. No one is trying to get hurt (or hurt anyone) out there, so offense can really shine and appear better then what it would look like in a truly competitive match.

If you're truly concerned, you can talk to your coach about what you've observed. If I were you I would just give your son some compliments and try not to add a "I wish you'd play like that during the game..." type comments.

Thanks, I appreciate it. He is also trying out for a track club at his school, and when he trains for that, he runs considerably faster than he ever runs on the pitch. To me, it seems like a sign that he is not comfortable with travel soccer, and maybe it is just not for him. I will go with the approach you suggested, though, because ultimately, that is for him to realize himself, rather than me to dictate to him.

Coach here,

First the fact that he plays pick up soccer and enjoys it says a lot. The fact that he appears faster and more aggressive when playing pickup soccer says a lot to. My guess is your husband is mostly right. The players he's up against aren't on his level and his confidence is very high when playing against them.

Defense in pick up games is also usually pretty poor. No one is trying to get hurt (or hurt anyone) out there, so offense can really shine and appear better then what it would look like in a truly competitive match.

If you're truly concerned, you can talk to your coach about what you've observed. If I were you I would just give your son some compliments and try not to add a "I wish you'd play like that during the game..." type comments.

Anonymous wrote:My 14 year old son is on the second to bottom level travel team in his club. He's just mediocre, his better sport is baseball, but he doesn't enjoy it as much. We can afford to pay for travel anyway, so since he loves it, that's fine.

DH and I have started jogging in the local park where DS plays pickup soccer games, and we have noticed that he plays much, much better in these games than travel. He is more relaxed and looser, and his shot seems better. Not only that, he runs faster in these pickup games, and is more aggressive. DH mentioned the kids he is playing against at the park are not as good as his travel opponents, and that is likely a factor, but my son is also noticeably different. What gives? He's had a series of different travel coaches, most of whom have been fine. Why does he play better at the free soccer in the park than the soccer with a professional coach that we pay $2K a year for? I don't deeply care, but I do find it weird.

Anonymous wrote:Y’all need a hobby.

Anonymous wrote:

Unfortunately these days it appears travel is for anyone willing to pay. Its taken away from the notion that the better kids can compete against each other in a competitive environment. Now any kid who wants to play or who's parents want them to play is accepted. When one of those kids struggles or the parents see the talent gap. They want to ask why and what can I do to make my kid better. When in fact it has to come from the kid first. If they want it they will work for it. Some kids can work 10x harder than the better kids but never reach the same results. That is the reason travel should not be for everyone.

You understand that there are leagues and divisions within leagues to make sure kids are appropriately matched against opponents in travel, right? So they are not throwing 4th-team level kids who can pay into games with top-team level kids. Why does it bother you that people who can afford it whose kids want to improve have an option to play travel against other similar kids?