Anonymous wrote:I can only imagine a young kid today and the stress they have to endure from some of the parents. Just listen to parents on the sideline yelling at their kids -- no wonder they all quit in droves after elementary school. Can't imagine the ride home either, lol

This is a huge problem. We have a few parents who just yell at their kids during the games and the kids yell back at their parents. It's awful. They are putting way too much pressure on them at 10 years of age... I can see 2 kids potentially quitting by age 13 due to the terrible pressure from their parents. I think the dads are acting like pressure builds diamonds... while that might be true at the high school and collegiate level, I don't think that applies to elementary school aged children.

I actually think it’s great that MLSNext band kids from playing in high school … except our HS has several MLSNext kids playing. Go figure.

I can only imagine a young kid today and the stress they have to endure from some of the parents. Just listen to parents on the sideline yelling at their kids -- no wonder they all quit in droves after elementary school. Can't imagine the ride home either, lol

Can we merge this with the Valor thread?

My kid didn't quit but was training a ton in 8th grade to level up, and he decided he wanted to focus more on academics in high school. He switched to a lower-level club team (from EDP 1 to 3), and even though he's doing double practices while high school soccer is happening, the intensity is all-around lower.

This is his sweet spot - he gets to just play soccer and have fun. His club coach is having his play a position he's never played, which I think is good for him. He'll still do privates and weight-training in the winter/spring so I don't think he'll put in fewer hours, but the pressure is now gone.

The unfortunate reality is that your kid has to play at the highest levels in middle school to ensure they will make varsity at the better high schools (you know which ones they are). That is fine for kids who want to play in college or go pro, but it’s really a lot to ask of a kid who just wants to play a sport they like in high school.

Of course, we all know that there are overuse injuries for kids playing at that level plus high school. It is too much for their young bodies.

Additionally, the younger ECNL players have the skills to be on varsity and want to be on varsity but are small and routinely get injured.

ECNL, GA and MLSNext should all ban playing in high school and enforce it so everyone can play at the right level. This is a crazy system and there must be a better way.

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Anonymous wrote:My kid played on an MLS Next team for two years before quitting - prior to starting high school.
He had lost his passion for soccer, and he started to resent that all his time outside of school was dedicated to practice and weekend games.
He was a starter, had positive experiences with coaches, liked his teammates though wasn’t super bonded with them.
Since quitting he has played three dif HS sports though not soccer.
Hats off to the kids and families who keep up the travel soccer intensity into HS.

Your kid quit in Elementary school before serious soccer even began
What intensity was there to keep up mwith at U12 and U13?

MLSNext is U13 and U14 for the first years so middle school (7th and 8th). DS MLSNext U13 and there are 30+ games for the year, some weekends two games. It’s a lot. Unless you want to play high level D1 or pro, it’s a lot to ask from a kid

You're saying if you have goals and ambitions it's not a lot.
But if you don't, it's a lot?

NP here, I think PP is saying that if your highest priority goals and ambitions relate to soccer, it's reasonable to expecting the kid to spend a huge portion of their weekends on soccer.

If your kid has other goals and ambitions that are higher priorities, expecting them to give up a lot of their weekend time to something that isn't their highest priority is a lot.

I have two kids who were serious athletes in middle school. One knew by the end of middle school that sports weren't his highest priority. He had the potential to play in college, but not the desire. So, he plays varsity, but not club.

My other kid wants to play D1, so arranging his schedule around his sport makes sense. He was a soccer player, but found another sport he loves more.

Then why was the kid in MLS Next at U12 and U13 if they had other goals and ambitions other than soccer?

U14 and U15 is really the age when the kids with potential and drive start to separate out. Whether puberty is evening out sizes, or when a kid is playing at an MLSNext level and not getting much playing time, academics demand more, etc. So reality starts hitting kids at those ages - that they need to sustain that level of skill and more and aren’t even there yet or don’t believe they’ll ever get there.

So they decide to step away. But up until then, many kids are still full in into soccer and if they can play at that level, yes, it makes sense to play at that level so they know what it’s like and can decide later if they want to continue to pursue it.