We have June practices post-tryouts basically to wrap up the season and prep for playoffs. (When we first joined current club we only attended a few May-June sessions since we still had previous team's postseason and weren't playing in new team's postseason.)
Is that California? I can understand the "old" team practicing after tryouts to finish up the season. I don't understand a "new" team practicing for a couple of week, then a couple of weeks off, then starting again. @NewDadaCoach, how'd the conversation with the coach go?
At pre-high school ages, the two clubs my son played for in Illinois both had gaps between tryouts and the start of practices. It varied by year and club, but it was common. Kids got their team placements at the first club and then were off for weeks. The second club was a bit different -- it had only a single team at most age groups before COVID (they added some B teams that year when loads of kids showed up for tryouts because they were among the first teams to start up when it became possible; the club didn't have anything at all below about U13) and you either made the team or you didn't.
I don't understand that either. We're in New England so little kid playing seasons are fall/spring. Tryouts in May or maybe June. "Preseason" with a new team wouldn't be until late summer. HS season here is during fall, so older club teams would start up late November.
It went ok. I said we can pull out of all-stars if it will be a big negative, but he said he didn't want to take that experience away. He said we can train in the evening with an older group. But that might overlap still with all-stars so I let all-stars people know we would have to leave practices by a certain time 3 days of the week. We'll see if they are ok with that. They might not like this limitation. I really don't like having to try and juggle these 2 sports. It feels like it shouldn't have to be done at this age. I think if a kid is multi-sport then its too hard to do competitive sports because each organization expects too much commitment. So maybe rec is the way to go.
Serious question... how would you set it up so a multi-sport athlete can play at the highest level in multiple sports? IMO, there are two things going on... 1) Only so much time in a day/week. So if you want to practice with team 'x', you might have to give up team 'y'. And saying "Soccer can practice M, W, and baseball can practice T, Th" might work great for you, but what about the kid who's on a different baseball team? 2) The kids who ARE available for all the practices are naturally going to keep getting better. So is it fair telling those kids "well, Joey is going to miss 'x' practice time, but he's on the team and will get a lot of the playing time." You think juggling two sports is bad, DS this summer has two jobs (one gives him college credit), one summer class, AND a summer soccer team. Oh, and the two jobs are/can be evening/weekends, interfering with practices/games.
I think that teams should be more flexible at this age. and not too serious. I think rankings and tournaments are not so good. Should be more pickup type play. Or there should be a one-stop-shop sports club that offers multiple sports. A coach should also see the value in a kid being at another practice. The kid is still getting some fitness and other type of atheltic training in.
I feel, to reach the top, a kid has to grow up in a soccer family. We aren't. I am. But the mom isn't and we are separated. So the kid is pulled in various directions. The kids who go far in soccer are able to channel most of their time into soccer. So, being multi-sport just seems like a better fit. But yes it will prevent him from reach full soccer potential. But maybe he'll go further in another sport. He's good at baseball. Kids these days also are soft from too much screen access.
While talented, my son is also lazy. I kind of want to put him in rec soccer, or no soccer, for a while and see how he responds. Will he get bored and will it make him realize what he had and make him start to train more on his own? Or will he become a couch potato and wither away? If he wants to be one of those kids that does nothing but online gaming all day... maybe let him. I think if a kid has a real athlete inside of him, he will get antsy, and eventually want to do something physical. He'll want to move his body. He'll miss competition. Maybe I need to let him hit rock bottom, and let him ask for it (club soccer), rather than me handing it to him.
But didn't the soccer coach say your son should play All Stars? How much more flexible to you want? If you don't want rankings and tournaments, then rec would be a good fit.
Again, ask him what he wants. Not just "do you want to play soccer/baseball", but "what level do you want to play?" We asked our kids before every tryout/signup, "Do you want to keep playing for this team?" Maybe he'll want to play basketball. Or tennis. Or football. Or be in drama. We told our kids they had to be involved in SOMETHING. That didn't have to be sports.
Yes and that was nice to hear. I appreciated his feedback. I guess my complaint at this moment is more directed at All-stars. The wording in the application is very serious. They take is very seriously. I mean, c'mon it ain't that serious at this age. Maybe next year where they can actually get to the Little League World Series, but they can't at this age. Farthest they can go is state. The form said you have to practice 5 days a week and you can't be late or leave early for practice. Dude its not even healthy for a kids arm to practice this much. Kids at age 8, 9, 10, 11 are getting overuse injuries. I have seen it plenty.
He mainly wants to play at the same soccer club because he's friends with the kids. And my kid is a very social and fun loving kid. His mom and him were playing tennis a couple months ago and another guy said he's a natural. So then she wanted to get him lessons. And his school has a flag football team and he already said he wants to try out this fall. So maybe I should give him a year or two to just do all of these different things and not push club soccer. Maybe he can be a Training Player with the club which will offer more flexiblilty yet still keep him engaged in the sport and with his friends. Thoughts? He is currently in the school band.
Do you really need me to say it? If you need to push him to do something, especially at this age, don't. If he wants to tryout for flag football, how do you expect that to work with club soccer? Let HIM make the choice on what he does. You just say "if you want to play flag football, you can't play club soccer". I swear, it's ok.
But can he just train with the soccer club. Its cheaper and more flexible, less pressure. Then he can still see his soccer friends and still train, and then also do other sports. is this a good solution?
I always forget how the same thing needs to be said 100 different ways or times in NewDadaCoach threads.
In my opinion, no. Our rule was "one season, one activity". There were exceptions for "overlaps" (basketball pre-season training starting with a week or so left in soccer). We broke the rule when DS was in 8th grade and he played soccer on the MS team, HS JV team, and did a tournament his club team put together for "trapped" players (players who weren't old enough for HS). He ended up playing 10 games in 11 days. And finished with a pulled hamstring. Let him make the decision. "You can play flag football, but it would mean no soccer, probably for the year." (Unless the coach would let him join for the spring season).
After 5th grade we laid it out for our son. You have to make a choice. Baseball or soccer. There was to much overlap. It turned out fine. He chose soccer. Over the years he still found time to go our and shoot baskets with friends, play catch with friends, run routes and catch passes with friends, play ball hockey with friends, and fish with friends. None of those cost an exorbitant amount of money, those activities fit into his schedule, and none of them were run by an organization. He still harbors distant dreams of kicking in college then the NFL. He also thinks he wants to learn to throw a knuckleball and try his hand at baseball. I think this dilemma your facing is worrisome to you because it means he's not going to be a two sport star in college with a chance to go pro in 2 sports. He isn't going to anyway. He isn't going pro in anything either. As you said, he's lazy. But if you want him to play in college or be a pro, pick something. I would advise soccer. Baseball is not a lazy game. You can make it in college soccer with some skills and the ability to run. It may not be the level you want but it's still competing and on a team. Also, focusing on one sport may improve upon his laziness by giving him structure about what to improve upon instead of a million things from every sport just a thousand from one. Make a decision and run with it.
I think a lot of kids do 2 sports in a season I mean if you play club soccer you have no choice because its year round
There are generally four sporting "seasons" in year... Spring (March, April, May) Summer (June, July, August) Fall (September, October, November) Winter (December, January February) When DS was younger (12 & younger), Spring & Fall were club soccer. Winter was basketball, Summer (1 season) was baseball. He did Futsal a couple of winters. Yes, there was generally overlap, but that was acceptable to DW & myself. But we wouldn't have him play soccer AND football in the fall for example. Two sports in one season is not fair to either team (and the teammates). Sorry, you won't convince me differently. I still say don't force him to do any particular sport. Let him know that if he chooses soccer, then he can't play football (or vice versa). Let him make the choice. Seems pretty easy to me.
It worrisome because I don't want potential all-stars to change the Most of the soccer clubs here are year round. Technically the leagues are in fall and spring. But there is practices year round. There's no month where there is no practices at all. They take a couple weeks off in summer and in winter. I thought that was the norm for club soccer. In the winter the club has non-league games they setup. And a lot of kids do futsal or indoor soccer. Not trying to convince you of anything just letting you know how it is here.
He could do both if he just went to a less serious league where the commitment is not as high. He's lazy with me, but with a coach he is not lazy; he tries hard with them. He does what they ask even if its hard. But still that might not be enough. He's also young so idk how much to read into it. I was a lazy kid but in my teens and after I was not. I became the opposite of lazy.
OK, that's fine. I still don't think it's fair to be on two teams at the same time. If he wants to play soccer, let him play soccer. If he wants to play flag football, let him play that. If he wants to play tennis, or basketball, or baseball, it's all fine. YOU want him to focus on soccer. IT'S. NOT. YOUR. LIFE.