Quitting Soccer??

[Unregistered]

As I have been reading posts on this website I've come to a realization that many boys, in particular, quit soccer at a certain age.

Then I ask myself. Why is that? Why do they quit soccer?
Then I ask myself another question. Is building all these youth programs across the nation going to help? I think USA should focus more on advertising soccer than building youth programs. I think USA should try to focus on getting kids to enjoy soccer believe that it is a sport on equal par with basketball, baseball, and football.

When I turn on ESPN or some other sports channel, I barely see commercials for soccer. I don't see commercials for soccer cleats or NIKE commercials featuring soccer players. Also, my son tells me that American boys tend to believe soccer is the easier sport to play and the least fun to play. I'm scratching my head.. I thought soccer was fun.. at least the entire world but USA believes so. So, what are we missing? We clearly aren't missing these youth soccer program structures.

[Unregistered]

It's quite simple on the boys side. The social pecking order as it relates to sports in any highschool in the States is that Football players rank first and foremost they are the kings of the school even if they are not good, then basketball and baseball and in some locales Hockey may rank higher. Even Lacrosse and Track usually rank higher. HS soccer does itself a great disservice having a fall season and trying to compete with Football. It will never attract the truly gifted athletes as they will usually play Football or concentrate on their sport. Girls side is different, soccer ranks at the top, so the better atheletes will tend to stick with it.

[Unregistered]

Wait a minute Bud, why do the pro tennis players get all the girls.

[Unregistered]

My son is 14 - he quit soccer this year and is playing football in high school. In my opinion, he is a better soccer player, but from u6 on he only had two coaches that knew what they were doing and made it fun. Our town really only cares about the girls because all the board members have only daughters. When he was 10, a club coach who did clinics in town invited him to join their club. He said absolutely not, no extra soccer. He wanted to be with friends. I feel if the town coaching was better and the competition was better he may have stayed with soccer, but maybe not. He is bright, fast, athletic, but small in stature. I don't know why he loves football, but he loves everything about the game.

[Unregistered]

What are you gonna do.... I played lacrosse in high school and college and loved it. Despite my encouragement to "try it, you might like it....? They stuck with soccer and never looked back.

[Unregistered]

As I have been reading posts on this website I've come to a realization that many boys, in particular, quit soccer at a certain age.

Then I ask myself. Why is that? Why do they quit soccer?
Then I ask myself another question. Is building all these youth programs across the nation going to help? I think USA should focus more on advertising soccer than building youth programs. I think USA should try to focus on getting kids to enjoy soccer believe that it is a sport on equal par with basketball, baseball, and football.

When I turn on ESPN or some other sports channel, I barely see commercials for soccer. I don't see commercials for soccer cleats or NIKE commercials featuring soccer players. Also, my son tells me that American boys tend to believe soccer is the easier sport to play and the least fun to play. I'm scratching my head.. I thought soccer was fun.. at least the entire world but USA believes so. So, what are we missing? We clearly aren't missing these youth soccer program structures.

It all comes down to ball control. The reason why kids quit at 14 is because they don't have the skill to make soccer fun , if you can't control the ball why play a sport that you need your feet to play. We are not monkeys we are not born with feet that can be used like hands. Football is a hand based sport.We need legs to run and hands to catch .
In some positions you don't even need those

Think of why you played a sport for a minute .place yourself back when you were 12 or 13 and why you were picked first or last at any sport in gym. It was because you had the skill.
Kids will pick anyone that will help them win in a game if you didn't have puck handling skill you are not going to play hockey I don't care how fast or strong you are. If you can't catch a ball or hit no one wants you in baseball , If you can't shoot or dribble unless you are 6 feet in 6th grade no one will want you on your team for a basketball game.

Kids quit at 14 because they don't have the ball control or skill to keep up with the other boys. Soccer is one of those sports were you don't find late bloomers that make the pros. You need skill ...Maradona was found at 10 and then brought into the academies becuase he had amazing skill not because he was faster than everyone else.

Our coaching system and culture fails us all the time , there are few coaches that are willing to stick to their guns and develop skill and not win games.

[Unregistered]

2 opinions:

1) America is the land of opportunity! Where other country has so many sports to offer? You could play football, soccer, basketball, hockey, baseball, lacrosse... Individual sports such as golf, tennis, track and field, cross country.... As long as kids are playing sports and staying off the streets, it's a good thing.

2) US Soccer is broken and needs to be blown up... All over the world kids play soccer for free, towns raise money so kids can play. How much does club soccer cost? $1,000 - $1,500 per year? That doesn't include hotels and travel. The US loses great athletes due to cost... Inner city kids play basketball, not soccer.


Just my 2 cents... I believe #2 is a real problem, but I have no solutions for it.

[Unregistered]

Not every kid has the skill

It all comes down to ball control. The reason why kids quit at 14 is because they don't have the skill to make soccer fun , if you can't control the ball why play a sport that you need your feet to play. We are not monkeys we are not born with feet that can be used like hands. Football is a hand based sport.We need legs to run and hands to catch .
In some positions you don't even need those

Think of why you played a sport for a minute .place yourself back when you were 12 or 13 and why you were picked first or last at any sport in gym. It was because you had the skill.
Kids will pick anyone that will help them win in a game if you didn't have puck handling skill you are not going to play hockey I don't care how fast or strong you are. If you can't catch a ball or hit no one wants you in baseball , If you can't shoot or dribble unless you are 6 feet in 6th grade no one will want you on your team for a basketball game.

Kids quit at 14 because they don't have the ball control or skill to keep up with the other boys. Soccer is one of those sports were you don't find late bloomers that make the pros. You need skill ...Maradona was found at 10 and then brought into the academies becuase he had amazing skill not because he was faster than everyone else.

Our coaching system and culture fails us all the time , there are few coaches that are willing to stick to their guns and develop skill and not win games.

I agree 100%. The only problem though, these club coaches are forced to win. If they don't win they do not get a placement in Maple. So how does a coach balance that? How does a coach play fair and give equal playing time if the win is more important when some of the kids on the roster are not able to keep up? Sometimes they have incredible skill but they are physically not there yet. So does the coach give the most skilled player on the team more playing if they are physically behind? I hope you agree that the game is a small part of development. It is the 3 or 4 days a wk. of training right? Now try and tell that to the parents who only care about playing time during a game. Not an easy job for these coaches.

[Unregistered]

I agree 100%. The only problem though, these club coaches are forced to win. If they don't win they do not get a placement in Maple. So how does a coach balance that? How does a coach play fair and give equal playing time if the win is more important when some of the kids on the roster are not able to keep up? Sometimes they have incredible skill but they are physically not there yet. So does the coach give the most skilled player on the team more playing if they are physically behind? I hope you agree that the game is a small part of development. It is the 3 or 4 days a wk. of training right? Now try and tell that to the parents who only care about playing time during a game. Not an easy job for these coaches.

The game is a big part of development. You watch a game and you see what the kids are doing well and what they need to work and if your training is working.This is essential and u12 and above .At u12 and below you are right it is a smaller part of development. If you are training the right way 3 or 4 x week you should see some good gains throughout the season.
The key to making parents happy is how to show those gains.if you have an assitant have him take notes/observations about player and the teams. How many balls go in the box, how many shots on net , how many shots at GK, how many lost 1v1, keeps head down etc

Ex. ball control , how many times he looses the ball when he passes. does it get to his target does he just boot it

I know a player who was trying out for a good club u12team. He played indoor with them but didn't make the team for the spring. he was defender in a 2-3-1
he won many balls but he never build . he never won the ball he just destroyed. So I made some notes at the start of the season.He came over to my team (town) We worked on how to defend when opponent face or back to goal. he learned how to win the ball and only destroy as his last resource. I would remind his dad about how well he was learning and how confident he is now with the ball.



Maple leagues start keeping scores at u12.. The good/experience coaches town or club need to get to the girls and boys at the u8 and u10 level teach them how to control the ball .Kids now a days start soccer at 5 or 6 so that should be 4 years of playing .




Look at coerver 1,2,3 videos you can borrow it for free from any Mass library network the kids are 4 and 5 years old and doing basic ball control. let the kids play and focus on keeping and controlling the ball at young ages

[Unregistered]

2 opinions:

1) America is the land of opportunity! Where other country has so many sports to offer? You could play football, soccer, basketball, hockey, baseball, lacrosse... Individual sports such as golf, tennis, track and field, cross country.... As long as kids are playing sports and staying off the streets, it's a good thing.

2) US Soccer is broken and needs to be blown up... All over the world kids play soccer for free, towns raise money so kids can play. How much does club soccer cost? $1,000 - $1,500 per year? That doesn't include hotels and travel. The US loses great athletes due to cost... Inner city kids play basketball, not soccer.


Just my 2 cents... I believe #2 is a real problem, but I have no solutions for it.

That's right. AAU baseball and basketball teams cost nothing to play for and never travel. /facepalm Also, most club teams make scholarships available to strong players who have need of financial assistance.

It's not cost, it's culture. Soccer is a relatively new phenomenon. I'm 45. The town I grew up in is a hard core baseball and football town. I played HS and Legion baseball - no one played soccer then. Kids tend to gravitate to the sports that they see played on TV or that their parents played for or that are popular at their high schools.

But times are changing. My son loves soccer. He played baseball (and still plays basketball) - but soccer is his year-round, primary sport. Honestly, soccer's popularily will continue to grow - it's already much more prominent than it was 20, even 10 years ago. Whether that improves the quality of the US MNT remains to be seen. Contrary to the views of most, there's plenty of athleticism on US sides (though, I'll concede the point that two or three of the defenders the US put on the pitch Saturday evening had no business being there) - it's the tactical play that is severely deficient.