How much soccer is too much soccer?

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My children have all played on more than one team at a time. Sometimes that required training games pretty much 5-6 days/week. Seems like they always had friday off.

Didn't have any injuries until HS soccer took one out for a couple months with an ankle. But that was a contact injury. No overuse, but agree: discuss with your peds. Kids all very successful athletes Top of the top down to mid major. None "burned out" and all drove the decision making after about u10.

You are not crazy

[Unregistered]

My children have all played on more than one team at a time. Sometimes that required training games pretty much 5-6 days/week. Seems like they always had friday off.

Didn't have any injuries until HS soccer took one out for a couple months with an ankle. But that was a contact injury. No overuse, but agree: discuss with your peds. Kids all very successful athletes Top of the top down to mid major. None "burned out" and all drove the decision making after about u10.

You are not crazy

How are your kids doing at Bunker Hill? Education first? Typical southie

[Unregistered]

Shouldn't you be talking with a pediatric orthopedic doctor who specializes in young
athletes, namely soccer, lacrosse, cross-country etc? I assume that you went to a
foot/orthopedic specialty clinic. They should be able to refer you to that sub specialist.
Ask for recovery PT clinic who specializes in recovery for young athletes, not old women with broken hip clinics.

MYSA has some good reference material on their website about this stuff. For each age, they have recommended practice hours per week, game hours per season, etc. I believe it's in the coaching column.

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power 5 dumb***

[Unregistered]

Goalie? Seriously? I think standing around is acceptable 7 days a week.

Actually gkeeping is pretty hard on the body.

Gkeeping practice is extra and in addition to his team practice, where he participates like all the other players.

Knock gkeeping all you want, but modern keepers (who play from the back) are an important part of the team and often get more touches than other individual players.

[Unregistered]

I think at U12, playing on three teams is just too much structured soccer. My U12 kid wants to play all the time, too, but we try to make sure he has a good balance between practicing in a team setting and having fun with the ball at his feet playing with family members, a few friends, or on his own. He still plays every day, but I hope he's playing differently enough in these two settings to avoid overuse injuries, while still getting plenty of time becoming comfortable with the ball. Plus, I feel it will help him avoid mental burnout to have time away from coaches, having fun trying out new things without pressure to perform.

[Unregistered]

This is a great question. I would echo those that say take time off from soccer and play other sports. If your U little is ahead of the curve the clubs have no problem asking you to have him/her play multiple games in a day. The B team is short players can you play with them this weekend or every weekend after your A team game etc. I have seen way too many young kids in knee braces and limping around and the parents just go along with it. I think it is abuse at some level.

[Unregistered]

My u12 daughter was just asked to play on a 3rd team. She plays in NEP and travel through our town. She would basically be playing soccer every day of the week. She loves soccer and wants to do it, but I am concerned about burnout and injuries. Thoughts?

Play on one team, practice twice a week with them and the other days find some friends and play street soccer instead of "organized" soccer led by adults.

[Unregistered]

so I am a coach (not a professional) and parent with children around this age...and definitely not a doctor. All I can tell you is that last year by the end of the spring season, I had kids breaking down, injuries within the game seemed to increase, i had some kids whose doctors told them they had some injuries more overuse/physical stress related...which I didnt see at younger ages. Kids are playing club and town, some starting to play ODP and middle school as well. And few are doing other activities like karate and baseball. How I dont know. But all I know as a parent is that sometime I watch my son move around like an old man morning after a game or busy weekend. So I forced him to take the summer off for the most part other than backyard stuff. I suggest you speak with your child's pediatrician for sure. You want to let them be as active as possible but I also I have an obligation as a parent to help him stay healthy.

A big part of the problem isn't the amount of soccer these kids play, it is the amount of strength and conditioning they AREN'T doing. The bottom line is most kids are just not in the proper shape for their body to handle that amount of soccer so they get injured. There is nothing really wrong with playing soccer every day other than possibly increasing emotional fatigue if the child is in the proper shape, the real issue is most of the teams they will end up playing on typically do no conditioning or any type of real athletic work and they effectively suck time away from being able to do it.

[Unregistered]

Burnout is a fiction. The name implies that if a person participates in an activity beyond a certain level they will grow to dislike or detest further participation. I have never seen it and fundamentally believe the notion represents a misunderstanding of how people engage in activities.

In young players what masquerades as "burnout" is one of two things. Either it is a player forced to play soccer when they want to do something else or be with someone else; or, the player dislikes the environment (an abusive coach). Remove the environmental factors or allow the other opportunity and the player returns to playing.

If burnout existed my children and I would have "burned out" long ago. I played almost everyday for more than three decades. Many times I played two and even three games a night. I would take my kit with me when I traveled on business and play in indoor soccer houses and outdoor leagues across the country.

I quit playing on a regular basis when I was 52 after I lost sight in one eye. I was no longer able to play at the level I expected and stopped because of my frustration. I quit golf for much the same reason.

What matters is that you know your players; know their passion and love for the game and the other activities they wish to do. They may not want a break from playing. They may want to do another activity. Offer options and allow the players to decide (not the parents alone.)

They may wish to do something else. They may be like me and want to only play soccer and when taken away from the game intensely dream it and feel a phantom ball on their foot.

Overuse and rest are another matter and become even more critical as players age.

Overuse is not the result of just doing soccer and nothing else. It is the result of using muscle and skeletal groups too stressfully.

I had one girl a few years back who developed stress fractures from overuse. It was not from competitive soccer. It was from competitive soccer, competitive dance and travel basketball all at the same time. Her parents were like slave drivers. She had no rest.

It is good to do other sports because they can exercise different muscle groups while allowing exercise and the joy of competition. What is critical is for you to know what those other activities are and their load level so you can factor in the rest players need.

Each player will be different. Their bodies are different and the strains they impose on those bodies will differ. A general policy of X weeks off is not a good plan for they may not get the rest needed. They may go from one stressful activity to another, even one using the same muscle groups.

The proper thing is to know your players and educate both them and their parents on the need for rest.

Finally, learn what proper rest periods are. They are rarely going to be months in duration.

Your players need both periods of short term and long term rest. Short term rest is to remedy fatigue. This is the skipped practice session after a tournament or hard game. It is the light session after two consecutive hard practices. It is what is often missing in too many high school seasons and is a reason injuries, particularly ACL tears are more common during high school seasons. It does not have to be that way. I know excellent high school coaches who build rest days in after hard games, or a spate of concentrated games. This short term rest is to allow players to recover energy, repair minor bruises and have the stamina for the next game.

The body needs long term rest, too. You should program this into your training. About every seven weeks give everyone a week to no more than ten days off. This period allows recovery and mending from the accumulated small muscle tears and bruises built up in the previous weeks.

Allow this rest and you will see players on their return perform at a higher level. It is noticeable.

Longer than ten days and you will notice that skill levels begin degrading. The amount of fall off becomes noticeable in many players after three weeks. There is a reason for regular practice.

This is one reason highly competitive teams, especially professional teams, have large rosters. With proper planning a team may have a constant schedule of games and still give players the proper amount and timing of rest.

[Unregistered]

Play on one team, practice twice a week with them and the other days find some friends and play street soccer instead of "organized" soccer led by adults.

Typical "rec" mindset. With this crew it's only about having fun and they never seem to understand that some kids do actually want to be serious about their soccer and that their advice can actually hamper a serious player's development as well as also increase the chances that they get injured. If your kid is serious about soccer then the days on which they aren't practicing with a soccer ball they need to be working on their athleticism and that work should be both structured and supervised so that they don't injure themselves/

[Unregistered]

Typical "rec" mindset. With this crew it's only about having fun and they never seem to understand that some kids do actually want to be serious about their soccer and that their advice can actually hamper a serious player's development as well as also increase the chances that they get injured. If your kid is serious about soccer then the days on which they aren't practicing with a soccer ball they need to be working on their athleticism and that work should be both structured and supervised so that they don't injure themselves/

I do not agree. You have to have a love of the game, and it has to be a joy to play. I absolutely agree with structure and a competitive team environment should be a major force in your development, but I encourage my daughter to grab a ball and her boots and go down to the field that is nearby. Play a pick up game, try some things you wouldn't try, laugh, fool around...be a freakin' kid. Every player in every sport all over the world will play a pick-up game, and it shouldn't be stopped.

We need to be instilling a love the game for the game's sake...not only for development. I've loved the game for 40 years, played it in college and still do today. I hope my kid has the same love and desire to stay involved as long as I have. That starts now.

There's still a few years before she has to think of this as a job, a chore.

[Unregistered]

Typical "rec" mindset. With this crew it's only about having fun and they never seem to understand that some kids do actually want to be serious about their soccer and that their advice can actually hamper a serious player's development as well as also increase the chances that they get injured. If your kid is serious about soccer then the days on which they aren't practicing with a soccer ball they need to be working on their athleticism and that work should be both structured and supervised so that they don't injure themselves/

Typical american mindset..."work on athleticism"...that's the problem with players from this country...very athletic with no or little skills....

[Unregistered]

I do not agree. You have to have a love of the game, and it has to be a joy to play. I absolutely agree with structure and a competitive team environment should be a major force in your development, but I encourage my daughter to grab a ball and her boots and go down to the field that is nearby. Play a pick up game, try some things you wouldn't try, laugh, fool around...be a freakin' kid. Every player in every sport all over the world will play a pick-up game, and it shouldn't be stopped.

We need to be instilling a love the game for the game's sake...not only for development. I've loved the game for 40 years, played it in college and still do today. I hope my kid has the same love and desire to stay involved as long as I have. That starts now.

There's still a few years before she has to think of this as a job, a chore.

Don't disagree with you about learning to love the game but the reality is there are only so many hours in the week and what is really causing problems is the lack of proper conditioning so working on that has to be prioritized over your "free play" ideas. Also if you are unwilling to let soccer become a "job" then by definition you are talking about recreational soccer. Nothing wrong with that but you need to recognize that it is a completely different mindset from what it takes to go the other route and that your advice is damaging to anyone who wishes to go in that other direction.

[Unregistered]

Don't disagree with you about learning to love the game but the reality is there are only so many hours in the week and what is really causing problems is the lack of proper conditioning so working on that has to be prioritized over your "free play" ideas. Also if you are unwilling to let soccer become a "job" then by definition you are talking about recreational soccer. Nothing wrong with that but you need to recognize that it is a completely different mindset from what it takes to go the other route and that your advice is damaging to anyone who wishes to go in that other direction.

We are talking about an 11-year old kid with an undeveloped body. No, soccer should not be a job at this stage.

I'm not suggesting eliminating all the club activity that takes up 5-6 days a week, but for that other 1-2 days, she should be having fun. If that's playing XBOX, watching TV, etc. I guess that's OK. Prefer she's reading a book. But, if she wants to go down and knock a ball around and try rainbows and the crossbar challenge and try to nutmeg the dog, have at it.

I'm not running a sweatshop out of my house.