Don't let youth sports hijack your life

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A good message:
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor...Your-Life.html

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Yes, but if you're on this site, it's almost too late. Already been hijacked & drinking more kool aid everyday!

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Yes, but if you're on this site, it's almost too late. Already been hijacked & drinking more kool aid everyday!

Haha so true

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Lame story

What does a parent of a 4 and 6 year know of youth sports. Everybody is NOT committed to specializing their children at young ages. Most do not. And soccer games don't last all day. You can still play a game of soccer and go mountain biking, swimming, or searching for tadpoles at the pond.

Kids who commit to year round sports, typically do so because they LOVE it. And when a kid leaves a sport, does it mean they are burnt out? Or could it be just that they are kids and they have changed their mind and found something they like more?

Kids may start out in soccer, and then decide they just prefer the running and move over to track. They may just decide that they have too much homework as they get older, so they can quit.

People find joy in different ways. Personally, I find my joy in hanging out with my friends in the sun (or huddled under blankets on windy bleachers), watching my kids do something that they love. In my case, for 2 of my kids, it is soccer.

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What does a parent of a 4 and 6 year know of youth sports. Everybody is NOT committed to specializing their children at young ages. Most do not. And soccer games don't last all day. You can still play a game of soccer and go mountain biking, swimming, or searching for tadpoles at the pond.

Kids who commit to year round sports, typically do so because they LOVE it. And when a kid leaves a sport, does it mean they are burnt out? Or could it be just that they are kids and they have changed their mind and found something they like more?

Kids may start out in soccer, and then decide they just prefer the running and move over to track. They may just decide that they have too much homework as they get older, so they can quit.

People find joy in different ways. Personally, I find my joy in hanging out with my friends in the sun (or huddled under blankets on windy bleachers), watching my kids do something that they love. In my case, for 2 of my kids, it is soccer.

you are a rare breed - 90% of parents are crazy - soccer is parent driven not player driven. The ones that really succeed have parents who shut their pie holes and drop their kids off

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Yes, but if you're on this site, it's almost too late. Already been hijacked & drinking more kool aid everyday!

Yep! definitely too late.
There's no hope for me and you.

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We still have hope

I think it is nice to have a few articles such as this to add brevity to this craziness!!

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you are a rare breed - 90% of parents are crazy - soccer is parent driven not player driven. The ones that really succeed have parents who shut their pie holes and drop their kids off

I agree with you at young ages, but as players start to drive to their own practices and games, you will notice a big fall off in crazy parents. Generally, the self motivated players will continue to over achieve.

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I agree with you at young ages, but as players start to drive to their own practices and games, you will notice a big fall off in crazy parents. Generally, the self motivated players will continue to over achieve.

It depends on what you are calling self motivated. If you go into the series that the article was extracted from you will see a lot of talk about specialization. I think the point is that a vacation never hurt a high level player although it may have hurt the team with a game or a tournament. Additionally, the series encourages athletes to pursue multiple sports in high school if that is what THEY want to do. Over achieving self motivated players often play multiple sports to the chagrin of club coaches and other player's parents.

I do agree that parents get less crazy as the athletes get older and better.

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It depends on what you are calling self motivated. If you go into the series that the article was extracted from you will see a lot of talk about specialization. I think the point is that a vacation never hurt a high level player although it may have hurt the team with a game or a tournament. Additionally, the series encourages athletes to pursue multiple sports in high school if that is what THEY want to do. Over achieving self motivated players often play multiple sports to the chagrin of club coaches and other player's parents.

I do agree that parents get less crazy as the athletes get older and better.

There is such a thing as commitment and kids need to learn how to take responsibility and be accountable to their club team. It should be taken seriously. I get sick and tired of seeing players miss practice for other sports and vacation and yet they still start the game. There should be repercussions for not having followed through.

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was this thread started by a rec coach trying to keep his team together?

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That's the coach's fault. On our team, every player (& parent!) knows: if a player misses practice or is late to game warm-ups, the player doesn't start & plays less even if it's the best player on the team. Fair. Talk to the coach about team rules. If that doesn't help, talk to your DOC.

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was this thread started by a rec coach trying to keep his team together?

No the subject came from sports psychologist and Changing The Game Project which is doing very well. Childhood is short and talented players will remain talented even if they play another sport or take a vacation. Not playing the player will likely lead to their moving elsewhere and then the team becomes a little less effective.

This is what I like about the academy style play and ECNL (maybe not locally we were not involved). There are enough players in the pool to accommodate life. This allows the family to take vacation or life event without any disruption to the team.

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Too Late

I've been hijacked by youth soccer. HELP!

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I've been hijacked by youth soccer. HELP!

Right??? Ridiculous. So many of us parents are ignoring the activities of our other children for the benefit of the soccer kid. We need to get a grip and ultimately know that we will NOT damage our players by not buying in to these schedules laid out by clubs to justify their fees.