Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We only do rec soccer. I’m pretty sure my kid is good enough for travel but why? It’s more expensive, more of a time commitment and more competitive and less fun.
Travel soccer or any travel sport actually is marketed to parents the way gifted magnet programs are.
Let your kid be a kid and enjoy a relaxed childhood.

+1. You are driving around and paying lots of $$ for an 8 year old that doesn’t practice. Why not just do rec and reassess.

OP here- this is my point. He likes it and is learning but doesn’t like it enough to want to play beyond practice. I wish there was a non- travel league that had coaching like travel does but no travel. My beef with Rec is that they don’t learn any positions and it’s run by dads who may or may not know anything about the game. Maybe rec gets better the older they get?

If you are in Moco then MSI Classics is an option. Most teams are run by soccer clubs and you have a professional coach. It's like rec plus and you have don't have to drive more than 30 minutes for games.

Anonymous wrote:Son is U9 on the team just below top team in club. He’s certainly not the best but enjoys playing and being on a team. But what’s frustrating is that he will never work alone in the back yard on improving his touches. How many years of not being on the top team do you continue to do in travel soccer? Still so young but do things turn around oh so much if they don’t practice outside practice. Am I expecting too much of an 8 year old?

It is unusual for 8-year-olds to do a lot of practice at anything -- sports, musical instrument, dance, etc. Of course there are exceptions, but your child sounds like a typical kid, and as long as he is having fun that is all that matters at this age.

One way that I was able to "trick" my young kids into practicing soccer more regularly was to teach them how to juggle. Once a child begins to get the hang of it, it can be addictive, and can lead them into practicing other aspects of the game.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is youngest at age 11 and doesn't do anything with soccer outside of travel practices as none of her friends play soccer. JUST this year at U13 she is always with the ball. World Cup really held her interest and she watched entire games which she never had before. She took a few personal training sessions in off season just this past year. She's not in top club but steadily improving upwards. Last season she was the star striker on her team. My point is you have no idea how he may evolve in the next 2-3 years.

So I say to you - at U9 it is waaaaaaay to early! I can't tell you how many coaches have said to me you do not know until u12/13 what will happen.

Worst case scenario they play well enough for HS. Worst case they are active and have fun and not on electronics all day. Worst case they learn what commitment means with a heavy practice schedule, how to lose and why you win, they learn how to playa sport.

You really gotta lay off a kid at U9!!!!

U12/U13??? For boys it’s U16/17.

There are 5’2-5’4” Freshmen that will be 6 feet by Senior year. A lot of the big guns stopped developing during middle school. For my Senior- the top Mlsnext, Ecnl teams look very very different than u9-u15. Things change A LOT.

No the top teams really don't change a lot. They change a little bit. Most of the top U19s in the area were also top U13s.

Only at bad clubs.

If your boys’ roster on your mlsnext/ecnl boy team has not changed from U13 to U19 you are not providing appropriate competition and it’s status quo for the civil servants.

I read the PP’s post to mean that top teams at U19 are composed of kids that were on top teams at U13.

Of course MLSNext/ECNL rosters are going to change. Academies recruit from MLSNext. Other clubs take in kids from other top teams rather than pull kids from second teams.

If you are saying boys at U13 (12 years old) were all on the top team at a club, you are insane.

We are at a very big (popular club) and there are so many boys from the second, even some third, that moved onto the MLSnext/ECNL teams in high school.

Boys develop so much later and many of those clubs are picking the early puberty kids that have the testosterone/muscle mass. 12 is incredibly young for boys.

The best player we know (senior now) was on the 3rd team in middle school and committed to a D1 school last summer. He didn't make the move to the top team until Sophomore year. This should be more common but in this area they want to protect the 'customer'. Upset parents/players leave with their $ and create bad press for them.

It's just not competitive here where you are forced to prove yourself and your spot every.single.day/month/year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is youngest at age 11 and doesn't do anything with soccer outside of travel practices as none of her friends play soccer. JUST this year at U13 she is always with the ball. World Cup really held her interest and she watched entire games which she never had before. She took a few personal training sessions in off season just this past year. She's not in top club but steadily improving upwards. Last season she was the star striker on her team. My point is you have no idea how he may evolve in the next 2-3 years.

So I say to you - at U9 it is waaaaaaay to early! I can't tell you how many coaches have said to me you do not know until u12/13 what will happen.

Worst case scenario they play well enough for HS. Worst case they are active and have fun and not on electronics all day. Worst case they learn what commitment means with a heavy practice schedule, how to lose and why you win, they learn how to playa sport.

You really gotta lay off a kid at U9!!!!

U12/U13??? For boys it’s U16/17.

There are 5’2-5’4” Freshmen that will be 6 feet by Senior year. A lot of the big guns stopped developing during middle school. For my Senior- the top Mlsnext, Ecnl teams look very very different than u9-u15. Things change A LOT.

No the top teams really don't change a lot. They change a little bit. Most of the top U19s in the area were also top U13s.

Only at bad clubs.

If your boys’ roster on your mlsnext/ecnl boy team has not changed from U13 to U19 you are not providing appropriate competition and it’s status quo for the civil servants.

I read the PP’s post to mean that top teams at U19 are composed of kids that were on top teams at U13.

Of course MLSNext/ECNL rosters are going to change. Academies recruit from MLSNext. Other clubs take in kids from other top teams rather than pull kids from second teams.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is youngest at age 11 and doesn't do anything with soccer outside of travel practices as none of her friends play soccer. JUST this year at U13 she is always with the ball. World Cup really held her interest and she watched entire games which she never had before. She took a few personal training sessions in off season just this past year. She's not in top club but steadily improving upwards. Last season she was the star striker on her team. My point is you have no idea how he may evolve in the next 2-3 years.

So I say to you - at U9 it is waaaaaaay to early! I can't tell you how many coaches have said to me you do not know until u12/13 what will happen.

Worst case scenario they play well enough for HS. Worst case they are active and have fun and not on electronics all day. Worst case they learn what commitment means with a heavy practice schedule, how to lose and why you win, they learn how to playa sport.

You really gotta lay off a kid at U9!!!!

U12/U13??? For boys it’s U16/17.

There are 5’2-5’4” Freshmen that will be 6 feet by Senior year. A lot of the big guns stopped developing during middle school. For my Senior- the top Mlsnext, Ecnl teams look very very different than u9-u15. Things change A LOT.

No the top teams really don't change a lot. They change a little bit. Most of the top U19s in the area were also top U13s.

Only at bad clubs.

If your boys’ roster on your mlsnext/ecnl boy team has not changed from U13 to U19 you are not providing appropriate competition and it’s status quo for the civil servants.

I think I know where you are coming from.

Maybe?

Are you wanting to see the investment “pay off”?

Are you worried he will be disappointed in the future with where he has reached if he doesn’t work on touches now?

In my case, my kid had lofty goals. I gently shared the work that goes into being at the top and said I’d support them however I could. I said it would be hard work and described some of the types of choices they would have to make.

Long story short, they wanted to choose friends and relationships over “moving up.” It was hard to let this play out because I didn’t want them to feel pain or have regrets.

They wanted to attend a big D1 school and we had to explain who becomes a D1 player. They could see the D1 and D3 schools where their teammates were going and decide if that path was for them or not.

They are at their D1 school and probably won’t even try out for the club team. They want to do other things and we are very happy for them to do that.

The whole process was child led and they are happy with their decision and we have a strong relationship.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is youngest at age 11 and doesn't do anything with soccer outside of travel practices as none of her friends play soccer. JUST this year at U13 she is always with the ball. World Cup really held her interest and she watched entire games which she never had before. She took a few personal training sessions in off season just this past year. She's not in top club but steadily improving upwards. Last season she was the star striker on her team. My point is you have no idea how he may evolve in the next 2-3 years.

So I say to you - at U9 it is waaaaaaay to early! I can't tell you how many coaches have said to me you do not know until u12/13 what will happen.

Worst case scenario they play well enough for HS. Worst case they are active and have fun and not on electronics all day. Worst case they learn what commitment means with a heavy practice schedule, how to lose and why you win, they learn how to playa sport.

You really gotta lay off a kid at U9!!!!

U12/U13??? For boys it’s U16/17.

There are 5’2-5’4” Freshmen that will be 6 feet by Senior year. A lot of the big guns stopped developing during middle school. For my Senior- the top Mlsnext, Ecnl teams look very very different than u9-u15. Things change A LOT.

No the top teams really don't change a lot. They change a little bit. Most of the top U19s in the area were also top U13s.

Anonymous wrote:Son is U9 on the team just below top team in club. He’s certainly not the best but enjoys playing and being on a team. But what’s frustrating is that he will never work alone in the back yard on improving his touches. How many years of not being on the top team do you continue to do in travel soccer? Still so young but do things turn around oh so much if they don’t practice outside practice. Am I expecting too much of an 8 year old?

Things aren't likely to change if he doesn't practice. Parenting style is parenting style - people usually end up inflciting on their kids whatever their own parents inflicted on them. My advice would be to talk with him. If he wants to be on the top team you could explain what he needs to do and maybe get out there and play with him every day. If he's happy then maybe just chill.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP but thanks to see many who have posted. It's helped me recalibrate my own perspective for my 8 year old that is in season 2 of travel soccer. She has fun, has gotten better, but doesn't practice on her own. That's different from how I was as a child, but I have to accept that it's okay.

American soccer does not require the kids to practice on their own. It is about aggression followed by speed and size. Get better at those.

That seems often true.

Technical basis can support confidence for others

Anonymous wrote:NP but thanks to see many who have posted. It's helped me recalibrate my own perspective for my 8 year old that is in season 2 of travel soccer. She has fun, has gotten better, but doesn't practice on her own. That's different from how I was as a child, but I have to accept that it's okay.

American soccer does not require the kids to practice on their own. It is about aggression followed by speed and size. Get better at those.

As long as they are having fun
It may be more a question of what they would do with the time if they were not in an organized program:
Unsupervised Couch video gaming v outdoor socialization w decent instruction

NP but thanks to see many who have posted. It's helped me recalibrate my own perspective for my 8 year old that is in season 2 of travel soccer. She has fun, has gotten better, but doesn't practice on her own. That's different from how I was as a child, but I have to accept that it's okay.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We only do rec soccer. I’m pretty sure my kid is good enough for travel but why? It’s more expensive, more of a time commitment and more competitive and less fun.
Travel soccer or any travel sport actually is marketed to parents the way gifted magnet programs are.
Let your kid be a kid and enjoy a relaxed childhood.

+1. You are driving around and paying lots of $$ for an 8 year old that doesn’t practice. Why not just do rec and reassess.

OP here- this is my point. He likes it and is learning but doesn’t like it enough to want to play beyond practice. I wish there was a non- travel league that had coaching like travel does but no travel. My beef with Rec is that they don’t learn any positions and it’s run by dads who may or may not know anything about the game. Maybe rec gets better the older they get?

meh why bother with “better coaching” if your kid isn’t really into it

Drop down to rec and try some other sports. When he finds something he really likes then put time and effort into that

Anonymous wrote:I am in the same boat as OP. I could have written this post word for word, except my son is 6 years old. Not sure if it’s worth continuing or not.

Anonymous wrote:Is this post a joke?

I opened it thinking it would be a debate about stopping shy of senior year.

+1

OP is hanging up her kids cleats at 8.