Was chatting with someone on another forum (for baseball) and he was like "what's the highest level you played? do you have anyone in your family that has played college or pro?" He was saying that genes matter a lot. He said that if I didn't play in college then my kid won't go far. This is a former coach who actually picked his 13u travel ball players based on the height of the dads (no joke). That got me thinking about who in my family has played what and to what level. Almost everyone in my son's lineage played at least high school sports. Let me see if I can lay it out, apologies if this is boring. Me: 4 years HS soccer (2 JV, 2 varsity, varsity captain). 1 year JV baseball. My brother 1: HS tennis and track (not sure how many years, I think 3 each). My brother 2: HS soccer, jr college soccer. HS tennis. My sister: HS cross country, tennis. My son's mom: HS softball, track (not sure how many years) I have 8 cousins. All 8 played HS sports. One played college basketball (small private college). My dad: Not sure. I think played HS football one or 2 years. Somewhat athletic, but not very competitive. My mom: unsure (grew up in foreign country). Other: My aunts and uncles. I think they were all somewhat athletic. But one in particular was very athletic. One of my dad's uncles was recruited by the Cincinnati Reds. My mom tells me also that one of her uncles went to the Olympics ice skating (I think short track or something). Anywho. I can't really say that my kid is going far based on his family genes. Though... I think there are a lot of pros who didn't have parents who were pros. I mean, even top top top level pros like the Williams sisters, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, etc. Now, while their parents were not pros, the parents were active, analytical in their sport (ie studied the sport and had ideas about how to get good at it), and helped their kid develop. We also see many examples of the opposite. Kids of great athletes who didn't go pro. For ex, Michael Jordan's kids. Didn't even make it to the NBA. Were decent college players though. So, I while I do think DNA matters, just because a kid's parents didn't play pro, doesn't mean the kid won't. However, I do see clear advantages if both parents have played college soccer. In this case the parents can teach the kid many things, giving the kid a big leg up over his peers.
I agree kids of athletes are more likely to be athletes themselves, but it's not a guarantee. I played baseball in elementary school. Did no sports in HS or college. DW played football in elementary school, nothing since. DS is playing soccer in college, DD was a four year letter winner in soccer in HS.
Parents who played a sport at a high level will likely pass on some genes that will help with athleticism. Perhaps nothing more than height and weight that are advantageous for certain types of sports. But, more than anything, they bring the experience of having played at a high level. They have seen with their own eyes what elite athleticism looks like. They have experienced the amount of work that it takes and the toll it also takes. Does this mean that kids of parents who have not played beyond high school cannot have kids who achieve more? Absolutely not, but kids of elite athletes have potential advantages if things still fall right for them. It is both Nature AND Nurture
I think I could have played in college had I had good training as a youth. I did not grow up in a soccer environment. A few seasons of rec soccer and then high school soccer. That was it. It was one season out of the year. Never any private trainings. No competitive clubs. My dad knew nothing about soccer. This is why I want to make sure my kid has those opportunities. That he has the training for him to fulfill his full potential. Maybe that potential is low or maybe its high, but I don't want him to not have the expert guidance that a lot of other kids get. I don't want that to be the reason that he doesn't fulfill his potential. It can be because he is lazy or finds other passions, but it won't be because he didn't have access to resources. But even at his age there are kids who are doing more training... but I don't see that always as an upside. It can back fire. Kids today have much more access to knowledge, due to the existence of the internet. Its a far different day and age. Plus soccer these days is far more popular than when I was a kid. That was pre-internet, and pre-MLS. Only soccer on TV was the World Cup every 4 years.
A parent playing a sport at a high level does not need to be in the same sport as the child. I have known parents who played college sports in completely different sports than their kids. You never played any sport at a high level. Most haven't. That doesn't mean your son is doomed, but it does mean that you are hear asking questions that a parent who played at a high level would know not to ask before certain stages.
If my son has a kid or kids who take to soccer, it will be really interesting watching his soccer-parent journey, because unlike me he's had experience playing the sport at a high-ish level and will certainly bring a different perspective than I did with him.
Not that it’s directly applies but I remember seeing Lucho Acosta’s son at 3 to 4 years showing proficiency with a soccer ball that normally you wouldn’t see until they are a good deal older.
Genes matter a lot. But it's also know-how and networks to navigate the system. Unsurprisingly, I think success at the highest level = genetic advantage + hard work + parents' or coaches' knowhow and networks. Of course, there are plenty of examples of top players around the world whose parents did not play sports professionally, soccer or otherwise...
The guy said for his 13u baseball team he only took kids who's dads were over 6'0". He took short kids with tall dads over tall kids with short dads because he wanted kids who were going to grow tall and he though the then-tall kids had maxed out, or something like that. I thought that was a bit extreme. There are lots of MLB players who are under 6'0" tall. Some of them are even the best players in the league. When I pointed this out he got really mad at me and reminded me of how much he has coached and how he knows wayyy more than me about baseball. Which is pretty much the playbook if you disagree with someone on the internet, certainly not excluding big soccer
It's a bit extreme I agree for travel youth baseball. I know in youth soccer academies in Europe take hand x-rays to predict final height (most accurate to see bone age) coupled with obviously parents' height. Not 100% by any means but it gives you some idea and they're in the business of trying to produce a senior team player so I get it. I don't know if MLS academies do it or not. I've just watched documentaries about youth teams in Europe and it was commonly mentioned for teams there.
That is interesting, and also weird. Why would "Europe" care about height? There are many short players in Europe. It varies by country. Germany has taller players on average than Spain, for example. But the technique sounds interesting, never heard of it. How does "bone age" indicate final height?
Doctors can predict height based on not so much bone "age" as much as the gaps still in the bones. It's not totally accurate. DS was predicted to hit 6'3" when he was about your son's age. He got to 6'.
I know a shorter guy whose son played tennis at a very high level around age 9. He took his son and got this bone scan done. The results came back that the son is projected to be 5’8”. After that he stopped pushing tennis knowing there is no future for his son in that sport.
Interesting. There are some pros that short but its quite rare. What do you think - would you still let your kid play tennis?
Final height for specific positions... defenders... goalie... I guess even forwards. It's good to know than not to know.... You're investing so much in raising these youth players... nice to have info on a good estimate of their final height...
Pediatricians don't know really. I know the general based on their curve and the very rough formula that's commonly known: add mother's height to dad's height... then add 5 inches for boy, subtract 5 inches for a girl, then divide the two. When you ask Google how to predict final height: A child's final height can be predicted using a few methods, including the mid-parental method and the skeletal age method: Mid-parental method Add the mother's and father's heights in inches, then add 5 inches for boys or subtract 5 inches for girls. Finally, divide the total by 2. This method has a margin of error of about four inches, and most children will be within two inches of their mid-parental height as adults. Skeletal age method A doctor can compare a child's images to a standard atlas of bone development to estimate their skeletal age. Since bones undergo anatomical changes each year, this method can help predict a child's adult height and when they'll enter puberty. It can also help diagnose conditions that cause abnormal growth or extreme height. The most accurate by far is measuring bone age. I've got it done for my kids because I had FSA money expiring and wanted to spend it on something and not go to waste. Sort of waste of $200 or whatever. My kids were sort of going to be around my height and my wife's height LOL. I didn't need to pay money to know that! Where it's really helpful is when the bone age is far behind (or far ahead) the biological age. So if your kid is big for his age but his bone age is advanced as well then he's "growing ahead" and his final height might actually be lower than what his height vs his biological age is now. Conversely, if the kid's bone age is young vs his biological age, he could grow later into puberty years and could "catch up" on his growth later.
Michael Chang is 5 9 and the bone age prediction could be off by 1-2 inches + environmental factors (like diet and sleep), although many research out there to say 85-90% of height is genetic.
I'm sure you can find one near you. We went to an endocrinologist who specializes in height growth (aka administer HGH shots). You don't have to do the treatment. Just do the screening.
intersting. i made post on here about how short kids with short parents shouldn't invest too much into goalie training and i totally got hammered for it.