Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 20:55     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My U14 player is starting to burn out and is questioning whether she wants to play next year. And frankly, as a single parent, I am feeling burnt out from travel soccer as well.

For my DD, her burn out is from always being sore or injured. She also has had a hard time finding the right level of play/time commitment combination for her. She needs a lot of downtime that just doesn't really exist once you are at the level of ECNL-RL or higher, but that is the level of play that she wants and is suited for.

We will see where things stand later this spring, but I truly am fine if she decides to walk away from soccer and try other things.


Far from burnout

It's just not for her and you. Nothing wrong with that


Omg
You are not the arbiter of what “burnout” means.
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 20:06     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My U14 player is starting to burn out and is questioning whether she wants to play next year. And frankly, as a single parent, I am feeling burnt out from travel soccer as well.

For my DD, her burn out is from always being sore or injured. She also has had a hard time finding the right level of play/time commitment combination for her. She needs a lot of downtime that just doesn't really exist once you are at the level of ECNL-RL or higher, but that is the level of play that she wants and is suited for.

We will see where things stand later this spring, but I truly am fine if she decides to walk away from soccer and try other things.


One epic fail is too many clubs don't make health issues a priority when there should be athletic trainers, especially to address nagging injuries that could be better managed before they lead to something that derails a kid for months.


Clubs really don't do a good job with ensuring the health of players. If they did, you'd see actual stretching, mental health sessions and injury recovery programs.
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 19:47     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My U14 player is starting to burn out and is questioning whether she wants to play next year. And frankly, as a single parent, I am feeling burnt out from travel soccer as well.

For my DD, her burn out is from always being sore or injured. She also has had a hard time finding the right level of play/time commitment combination for her. She needs a lot of downtime that just doesn't really exist once you are at the level of ECNL-RL or higher, but that is the level of play that she wants and is suited for.

We will see where things stand later this spring, but I truly am fine if she decides to walk away from soccer and try other things.


One epic fail is too many clubs don't make health issues a priority when there should be athletic trainers, especially to address nagging injuries that could be better managed before they lead to something that derails a kid for months.
Kids are 8 times more likely to have to quit soccer because of a medical injury/health issue than go pro. Yeah, they ignore the health side.
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 19:04     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
Anonymous wrote:My U14 player is starting to burn out and is questioning whether she wants to play next year. And frankly, as a single parent, I am feeling burnt out from travel soccer as well.

For my DD, her burn out is from always being sore or injured. She also has had a hard time finding the right level of play/time commitment combination for her. She needs a lot of downtime that just doesn't really exist once you are at the level of ECNL-RL or higher, but that is the level of play that she wants and is suited for.

We will see where things stand later this spring, but I truly am fine if she decides to walk away from soccer and try other things.


One epic fail is too many clubs don't make health issues a priority when there should be athletic trainers, especially to address nagging injuries that could be better managed before they lead to something that derails a kid for months.
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 17:41     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
Over 20 years ago I literally hit a mental wall while doing ladder runs my senior year of high school preseason in the August heat in Maryland. Thought about how much I missed out on mainly in high school because I played travel and I also worked on the weekends. I knew I wasn't going pro and hadn't thought about playing in college and literally said screw it in the middle of the run and of course I would've been a starter that year and they went to the wcac finals against Dematha. Something I've regret for a long time.
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 17:19     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My U14 player is starting to burn out and is questioning whether she wants to play next year. And frankly, as a single parent, I am feeling burnt out from travel soccer as well.

For my DD, her burn out is from always being sore or injured. She also has had a hard time finding the right level of play/time commitment combination for her. She needs a lot of downtime that just doesn't really exist once you are at the level of ECNL-RL or higher, but that is the level of play that she wants and is suited for.

We will see where things stand later this spring, but I truly am fine if she decides to walk away from soccer and try other things.


Far from burnout

It's just not for her and you. Nothing wrong with that
Has she always had these ailments or is it fairly recent? Any sense for the cause of soreness and injuries?
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 16:48     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
Anonymous wrote:My U14 player is starting to burn out and is questioning whether she wants to play next year. And frankly, as a single parent, I am feeling burnt out from travel soccer as well.

For my DD, her burn out is from always being sore or injured. She also has had a hard time finding the right level of play/time commitment combination for her. She needs a lot of downtime that just doesn't really exist once you are at the level of ECNL-RL or higher, but that is the level of play that she wants and is suited for.

We will see where things stand later this spring, but I truly am fine if she decides to walk away from soccer and try other things.


Far from burnout

It's just not for her and you. Nothing wrong with that
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 16:25     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
My U14 player is starting to burn out and is questioning whether she wants to play next year. And frankly, as a single parent, I am feeling burnt out from travel soccer as well.

For my DD, her burn out is from always being sore or injured. She also has had a hard time finding the right level of play/time commitment combination for her. She needs a lot of downtime that just doesn't really exist once you are at the level of ECNL-RL or higher, but that is the level of play that she wants and is suited for.

We will see where things stand later this spring, but I truly am fine if she decides to walk away from soccer and try other things.
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 13:29     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
Anonymous wrote:You pay for this, but they give you that
And once you're gone, you can't come back


All the while making foreign “coaches” living opulently when they wouldn’t amount the ball bag boy in their home country
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 13:19     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My best friend played D1 at our college. By sophomore year she was so burned out she stopped playing altogether. She just decided she wanted nothing to do with it anymore and never looked back.


She was a soft quitter


We had the time of our lives, she met her husband in college, has a great marriage, and is highly successful in her career, so I would say she made a good decision, but thanks for your unsolicited opinion.


Started poor, had no ready-made advantages and privileges, worked hard through adversities and became successful independently, has a better ring to it
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 10:37     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My best friend played D1 at our college. By sophomore year she was so burned out she stopped playing altogether. She just decided she wanted nothing to do with it anymore and never looked back.


She was a soft quitter


We had the time of our lives, she met her husband in college, has a great marriage, and is highly successful in her career, so I would say she made a good decision, but thanks for your unsolicited opinion.
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 10:31     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:parents living through their kids is the number one reason.


Explain how exactly


Screaming at them as soon as they get to the car, not allowing the coaches to coach (kids looking to the sideline for parent instruction over coach), not allowing them to have a life outside of soccer, embarrassing them while your begging coach/director for playing time, etc….all that takes the fun out of it for them.
Idk, coach. Seems like having a 10-12 month season from age 6 onward is designed to extract as much money as possible from families while trying to block kids from trying to start/learn/play other sports has consequences. It makes diamonds and dust and soccer being fun is such a secondary consideration for the youth soccer industry that it drives kids away.

Once you accept that the youth soccer industry is just that, a business just like any other business, it all becomes completely logical and expected. I expect a business to put their own interests first. My job as a parent is to put my child’s interests first. We have different priorities and objectives. I don’t expect a soccer club to put my child’s interests first any more than I expect a business like McDonalds or Nike to put my child’s interests above theirs. I don’t resent soccer clubs for what they do or how much they cost. It’s a business.


We don't have longer seasons than anywhere else.
We have something more dangerous and sinister to the monopoly seeking youth soccer industry, other sports options as the kids get older.


Heard of the Olympics for example?

Other countries have sporting options to soccer.
Many of the academies in Europe are multisport. We just think they're only soccer.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 22:51     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
You pay for this, but they give you that
And once you're gone, you can't come back
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 22:24     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
Anonymous wrote:It’s better to burn out than fade away


Let the light shining in you burn brighter than the light shining on you
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 21:59     Subject: Kids that burned out, what were common characteristics and how to prevent?
It’s better to burn out than fade away