Playing Other Sports

[Unregistered]

As a parent of a middle school boy who plays only soccer, it gets a bit frustrating when his teammates often miss practices or games for AAU basketball or club lacrosse. He is on a fairly competitive team. I know the arguments about specializing earlier and earlier, but what is the right age to expect full commitment?

[Unregistered]

As a parent of a middle school boy who plays only soccer, it gets a bit frustrating when his teammates often miss practices or games for AAU basketball or club lacrosse. He is on a fairly competitive team. I know the arguments about specializing earlier and earlier, but what is the right age to expect full commitment?

High School.... U15 and up....

[Unregistered]

As a parent of a middle school boy who plays only soccer, it gets a bit frustrating when his teammates often miss practices or games for AAU basketball or club lacrosse. He is on a fairly competitive team. I know the arguments about specializing earlier and earlier, but what is the right age to expect full commitment?

When they go pro at age 18. Otherwise specialization is a waste of time.

[Unregistered]

This isn't an age issue, it's a club/coach issue. People should be able to do as many activities as they can at any age. Your and your son's task is to find the club or team whose philosophy about commitment is pretty close to yours. It should be doable. And it will probably be easier than persuading current coach to get more serious, come down harder, and cut some of the kids who are playing multiple sports.

[Unregistered]

It has been amazing to me that in the last five years or so how many kids are playing Lax in college from this area....Let them play what they want to play until they are told they can not play anymore.

[Unregistered]

This isn't an age issue, it's a club/coach issue. People should be able to do as many activities as they can at any age. Your and your son's task is to find the club or team whose philosophy about commitment is pretty close to yours. It should be doable. And it will probably be easier than persuading current coach to get more serious, come down harder, and cut some of the kids who are playing multiple sports.

Totally agree with you. That said, the OP is specializing and feeling let down from the non-specialized teammates.

So in that case, I think the OP should find the organization that is in-line with their philosophy of specialization. I would guess that a middle school program is not it.

[Unregistered]

This isn't an age issue, it's a club/coach issue. People should be able to do as many activities as they can at any age. Your and your son's task is to find the club or team whose philosophy about commitment is pretty close to yours. It should be doable. And it will probably be easier than persuading current coach to get more serious, come down harder, and cut some of the kids who are playing multiple sports.

Great advice here. Early specialization is for kids in technical-oriented sports (or positions) who want to try to reach their full potential in their chosen sport--which need have nothing to do with ambition to be a pro, get a D1 scholarship, etc. While this doesn't create the best dynamic for other kids who prefer to be multisport athletes, that really is their issue.

[Unregistered]

Difficult issue. This came up in a major way on my daughters U 12 team (one of the larger clubs on the SS) when some of the parents complained to the coach about kids missing practices and games to play other sports. In this case the major of sport was AAU basketball which it seemed that at least 1/3 of the kids were playing. This ended up in a parents meeting with the director of coaching where all grievances were aired. The director of coaching ended up siding with the parents who wanted the kids to play multiple sports--- saying that playing basketball could only benefit their soccer development. This made sense though it was a bit annoying when the coach would play kids who missed the week of practices for essentially the entire game on a following Sunday. These mids were the most talented players but showing at practice should count for something.

[Unregistered]

Difficult issue. This came up in a major way on my daughters U 12 team (one of the larger clubs on the SS) when some of the parents complained to the coach about kids missing practices and games to play other sports. In this case the major of sport was AAU basketball which it seemed that at least 1/3 of the kids were playing. This ended up in a parents meeting with the director of coaching where all grievances were aired. The director of coaching ended up siding with the parents who wanted the kids to play multiple sports--- saying that playing basketball could only benefit their soccer development. This made sense though it was a bit annoying when the coach would play kids who missed the week of practices for essentially the entire game on a following Sunday. These mids were the most talented players but showing at practice should count for something.

In Ruiz, Laureano Soccer Secrets . He was a Barcelona youth academy coach.He specifically states that players have to specialize in soccer if they want to be successful. Soccer is a technical sport. That great that the kids play basketball but what does that have to do with their feet. They may stay in shape but that is not what soccer is all about.On the girls side I see that if your fit you have the edge but in the boys game you have to be technical . The mens u20 and National team just played . Their lack of skills was evident. We lost to Belguim. We looked awful passing and trying to setup our attack.
Colombia did a number on the U20 team.

On my u14 boys team we had two boys that did soccer and baseball . They would miss one practice of each in the spring . Those two boys dropped soccer the following year. They missed at least 6 session and that was enough for the other boys to pass them from a technical aspect. Baseball doesn't even build your physical stamina, Basketball might but your missing out on touches on the ball and other technical aspects.

[Unregistered]

This isn't an age issue, it's a club/coach issue. People should be able to do as many activities as they can at any age. Your and your son's task is to find the club or team whose philosophy about commitment is pretty close to yours. It should be doable. And it will probably be easier than persuading current coach to get more serious, come down harder, and cut some of the kids who are playing multiple sports.

Agree-we have chosen our current club b/c daughter is young and I want her to try another sport. She seems to be focusing on soccer though and if this continues when she is U13 or so we will probably try out for a club that requires more of a commitment. I just felt that U10/11/12 was too young for that type of hard core one sport commitment, for us. Everyone is different.

[Unregistered]

In Ruiz, Laureano Soccer Secrets . He was a Barcelona youth academy coach.He specifically states that players have to specialize in soccer if they want to be successful. Soccer is a technical sport. That great that the kids play basketball but what does that have to do with their feet. They may stay in shape but that is not what soccer is all about.On the girls side I see that if your fit you have the edge but in the boys game you have to be technical . The mens u20 and National team just played . Their lack of skills was evident. We lost to Belguim. We looked awful passing and trying to setup our attack.
Colombia did a number on the U20 team.

Obviously the best thing for you and your son to do is move to Columbia. There are some really warped views on this site from people like you who seem to think that soccer has achieved some sanctified status and that everything should take a back seat to it. Klinnsman has this view, and the U.S. National team looked just great the other night losing to vaunted Belgium! Let athletes be athletes and let them chose to specialize when THEY WANT! Great athletes who happened to be playing soccer, Bayern Munich, crushed the men who played soccer all their life(Barcelona) this year in the Champions, the world's best soccer!To the OP, 99% of kids playing youth soccer will stop at high school. Just make sure whatever decision your son makes, IT IS HIS! Let him/her have fun!!! Or soccer or anything else that was meant to be fun in youth will turn into a chore and be dreadful. And leave other kids and their parents alone.

[Unregistered]

Don't expect ANY club with a couple hour and a half practices will develop anything other than their own bank account. Let your kid play multiple sports. Praise, rather than criticize others. And if your child is in the yard or down the street playing soccer 4 hours a day, only then will you know you MIGHT have a soccer player. Might.

[Unregistered]

In Ruiz, Laureano Soccer Secrets . He was a Barcelona youth academy coach.He specifically states that players have to specialize in soccer if they want to be successful. Soccer is a technical sport. That great that the kids play basketball but what does that have to do with their feet. They may stay in shape but that is not what soccer is all about.On the girls side I see that if your fit you have the edge but in the boys game you have to be technical . The mens u20 and National team just played . Their lack of skills was evident. We lost to Belguim. We looked awful passing and trying to setup our attack.
Colombia did a number on the U20 team.

Obviously the best thing for you and your son to do is move to Columbia. There are some really warped views on this site from people like you who seem to think that soccer has achieved some sanctified status and that everything should take a back seat to it. Klinnsman has this view, and the U.S. National team looked just great the other night losing to vaunted Belgium! Let athletes be athletes and let them chose to specialize when THEY WANT! Great athletes who happened to be playing soccer, Bayern Munich, crushed the men who played soccer all their life(Barcelona) this year in the Champions, the world's best soccer!To the OP, 99% of kids playing youth soccer will stop at high school. Just make sure whatever decision your son makes, IT IS HIS! Let him/her have fun!!! Or soccer or anything else that was meant to be fun in youth will turn into a chore and be dreadful. And leave other kids and their parents alone.

And there we have it folks ..the American soccer player and his dad ..ribery played in street soccer in the ghetos, Robben is a technically gifted player both soccer players first then athletes.

You must of never been good at any sport because if you were you would have known that sport is fun when your actually good at something. That is why kids quite sport because they are not good.



If your good at soccer kids will play till their 50+ haven't you been around the indoor places with men's leagues. That is what makes soccer the beautiful game

[Unregistered]

Difficult issue. This came up in a major way on my daughters U 12 team (one of the larger clubs on the SS) when some of the parents complained to the coach about kids missing practices and games to play other sports. In this case the major of sport was AAU basketball which it seemed that at least 1/3 of the kids were playing. This ended up in a parents meeting with the director of coaching where all grievances were aired. The director of coaching ended up siding with the parents who wanted the kids to play multiple sports--- saying that playing basketball could only benefit their soccer development. This made sense though it was a bit annoying when the coach would play kids who missed the week of practices for essentially the entire game on a following Sunday. These mids were the most talented players but showing at practice should count for something.

Then don't play for Western United Pio's, they don't even want kids even playing high school soccer. Depends on the age group but our son was told he couldn't play town soccer anymore at u-13.