Son's last season of soccer.....

2,647 Views | 30 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by captainsubtext
agracer
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AG
TLDNR - Son switching from soccer to football. No more club and no more HS Soccer. Grown a lot over the years and I love watching him play....sad to see him give it up but I told him he's old enough to decide for himself and live with whatever happens.

Has decided he's had enough of club soccer and wants to play football starting this coming fall. HS Soccer and Football are the same season here so he cannot do both. He made some comments about playing football last year (prior to 9th grade) and I told him in no uncertain terms would he play for the old coach. *

He's played football in 6th and 8th grade and been playing soccer since he was 5yrs old. Our HS recently 'fired' their football coach and hired a new coach who seems to have the whole school fired up about football again. Program fell a lot under the old coach and the new AD decided after last's fall's debacle of a season enough was enough. New coach won a state title at a 3A school (we are 6A).

He made the HS JV soccer team last fall as a freshman (one of 2 - which is really good at his HS; several state titles and usually make several rounds of the play offs every season). He has a shot to make varsity as a soph. and if he doesn't, he'd be playing most of every game on the JV. He is on his current clubs 2nd team and is one of 2 players on the team who's played every minute of every game this season (~12 games so far) and I expect this will continue through spring and into the state cup games in June. He is usually the fastest player on the field and I've yet to see a fast break he did not run down. When he was 5 he literally could barely run and dribble the ball at the same time. Now I watch him run kids down, dribble circles around other teams, time his tackles just right to stop break away. I would have given up my left nut to have the coaching he's had over the years when I was his age.

He also got moved up to the varsity track team after the first meet this spring and placed 3rd at two varsity meets in triple jump as a fish (set a school record in 8th grade) = yes humble brag about my son. Club soccer has interfered with track a few times this spring and he wants to focus on track more than soccer right now (with good reason).

I told him he has until August basically to decide, just to understand he might be standing on the sidelines at the JV football games since he is a little behind the curve on his friends/classmates and might not see much play until his senior year vs. the potential of winning a state title in soccer. I did tell him he can do whatever he wants (and football would be A LOT cheaper!) and I'll support him either way. Anyway, just a bit sad to see him give it up. I love the game, used to coach, and still play and referee on weekends.

I just hope his feeble 14yr old mind is not caught up in the excitement of a new coach and he regrets his decision 3-years from now.

*My older boys played for the old coach and my current junior play(ed) for him. He was the offensive coordinator and my older boys were on offense and hated him. My middle son plays defense (the old coach never really coached the defense) and agrees he was a terrible head coach but he had no direct 'coaching' from him so didn't have a strong opinion one way or the other (although he would get pretty pissed when the defense would score more points than the offense and team would still lose games).
t - cam
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I made a similar decision around the same age. I had played club soccer for 6 - 7 years and had really grown weary of the commitment. I wanted high school to be just about high school so I focused on just High School baseball and really did enjoy the relaxed schedule that came with the decision.

As an adult though I sometimes regret the decision as I was a pretty damn good soccer player and really just an OK high school baseball player.
agracer
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oh, sorry for the long post...just dad crying over old dirty cleats....
t - cam
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agracer said:

oh, sorry for the long post...just dad crying over old dirty cleats....
I have a 3 year old son now and while everything is still in front of us right now I already dread when these moments will occur many years down the road.
Smokedraw01
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I hate that we've pretty much done away with the multi sport athlete in high school.
Pahdz
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RedAgs01 said:

I hate that we've pretty much done away with the multi sport athlete in high school.


Amen, has it gotten that bad in KISD? Almost everyone played more than one sport. The exception was mostly basketball due to the season splitting semesters.
HowdyTexasAggies
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Agracer- I can relate 100%. I am going through the exact same thing. 8th grader, football and track. Set records for track and will likely make varsity track next year. He wants to give up club soccer, team captain for past 4 years. I am having a hard time with it and worried he will regret in 3 years as well. He's a good footballer and track. Hard for me to let go. Already told his coach he is done.
PatAg
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AG
Just a question, but do any of those teams prevent him in taking part in multiple sports? Club soccer hadn't started that practice yet when I was in high school, so I played club soccer, high school soccer, football, and high school baseball. I was gonna run track, but didn't have enough time in the week, wanted a little down time. I eventually did drop basketball for the same reason after sophomore year.

Someone made the comment about experiencing high school, and that's a good way to look at it.
who?mikejones
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Yeah, that sucks. I played three sports in HS. Butbi didn't do the club thing.


And, not bragging, i was still better than the guys who chose one sport. I think it was a much better experience to compete while playing three sports and spend my free time playing some sports but also doing other stuff.
Hello Newman
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Kids should be able to play football and soccer in Texas High Schools. The seasons aren't the same and the added weight training will help them on the soccer field. You may have a problem with the club vs. hs football. If he's good the soccer and football coach should work with him.
t - cam
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AG
I think the issue here is Club soccer and other sports. It really is an substantial time commitment that does not allow for much else. Kids can do it but it's a lot for a kid to handle.

BigJim49 AustinNowDallas
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AG
Club soccer 2 practices a week .

School soccer 5 practices a week !

School football 5 practices a week !
t - cam
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BigJim49 AustinNowDallas said:

Club soccer 2 practices a week .

School soccer 5 practices a week !

School football 5 practices a week !
I just meant it's hard to do club soccer on top of school sports commitments. It's a big time commitment beyond the already taxing schedule that kids have now a days.
HowdyTexasAggies
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AG
In my kids case, he could still do all three, football, soccer and then roll into track and also stay in club on the side. However it is a lot of work and all AP classes on top. He basically loves football the most and also really likes the idea of maybe making varsity track as freshman. Hurdles take more work. On top of that, 7v7 is kicking up now and he doesn't like that soccer practice or tournaments might conflict.

Baseball and then basketball were already dropped off by him over the years.
agracer
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AG
Hello Newman said:

KKids should be able to play football and soccer in Texas High Schools. The seasons aren't the same and the added weight training will help them on the soccer field. You may have a problem with the club vs. hs football. If he's good the soccer and football coach should work with him.
Not in Texas. Soccer and football both in the fall.

Club soccer interferes with track, not any other sports. But because of competition, if he drops club he'll fall behind his teammates that are still on club teams which will hurt him when it comes to making the HS team here. I'm not sure how much the HS coach cares, but if everyone else is playing year round, they'll get better, he'll fall behind.

But really he's probably going to move to fall football and soccer will be over. That's the sad part....
HowdyTexasAggies
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Hmm, are you private? I am in Texas and kids finish up football and jump into soccer.
Pahdz
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When did HS soccer in Texas move to a fall sport?
jeffk
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AG
He's saying he's not in Texas.
HowdyTexasAggies
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AG
My bad, read it wrong
Pahdz
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Oops
missinAggieland
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AG
Our son did something similar regarding a year-round sport this past year. On a very positive note, one of his football teammates (former soccer player) decided to try football his senior year. He became the Varsity's starting kicker, and is now off to Samford on a football scholarship. This kid's change in sport paid off for his education in a positive way.
Bryan98
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AG
I wonder how much of this trend is just kids burning out on having so much of their time dominated by club soccer, particularly weekends.
jeffk
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AG
A bigger trend I've noticed is kids deciding to give up on the club game for their senior year in order to just play HS ball and enjoy the experience with their classmates. Granted, a lot of these kids aren't your top-flight club or DA players, so most won't be playing after HS anyway, but it's a pretty common thing to pick up an older HS player or two each year who didn't play as a freshman or sophomore due to club commitments. We've had several quit the Dynamo DA teams to come play for us and I know other coaches in the Houston area who see similar "transfers" each year.

I was sort of the opposite of the OP's son - I didn't play my senior season of football in HS and instead played soccer. Our football team was garbage and they brought in a new guy to turn things around (he didn't) and he decided to take the let's run off all the upperclassmen approach to transition. Plus, our soccer team was great (2000 NM state champs!) and several of my friends played on the team.
texpdx
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For the OP. Take this in context as I am a bit older and soccer in Texas was not what it is today. I had an older brother that went the football route and my parents were determined to let me follow that path so I played soccer at a young age through highschool. I was a good, not great soccer player and was all district. I made the decision to focus on soccer, not football. There is not a football season that goes by that I don't regret the decision to not play football.

Club ball now days is the path to college, if he does not want that then the memories and experiences of playing football in highschool will last forever. In our culture something about football.
captainsubtext
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Quote:

Quote:

We've had several quit the Dynamo DA teams to come play for us and I know other coaches in the Houston area who see similar "transfers" each year.
My son is coming up against this. He will be a senior next year and will most likely play in college (most likely far away). He hasn't played any HS due to DA, but I wouldn't mind him playing HS for his senior year. I've seen many DA players play through DA showcase in December and then quit to play HS. He won't do that. But if he has verbal commitment in hand and the college coach doesn't care, then he could play HS..

The problem is that after watching HS games this year and listening to a club coach who's son is on the team, it just sounds like an exercise in frustration as the coach relies on talent without any tactical knowledge. A lot of kickball that would bore my kid and me.

I had my son think about graduating in December and then going to Europe (Germany through family friends) or Brazil (through soccer associates) to informally try out. Not with any expectation that he would make a team, but just to play against better players. He's intrigued but would rather hang out with his girlfriend and buddies til graduation.

His old teammates are on several of the top club teams who participate in national, regional and classic leagues, but that is more expensive than DA and with just as much travel. He would rather play DA as it is a higher level of play.
jeffk
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AG
Yeah, coaching in the HS game is getting better, but it's still pretty uneven. Loads of us do a lot of work developing our abilities as coaches while others are just football assistants collecting a second sport stipend,

Funnily enough, several of those football-first guys eventually see the light and give up American football for the beautiful game.
An Ag in CO
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AG
My son played HS one season while returning from an injury (10th grade) and he never expressed any desire to try that again. And his HS team made it to the state championship semi's that year, which was their best result ever.

He loves the grind, though, and having a ten month season is what he's really enjoyed. Now that he's off to play D1 he has to supplement that with PDL or something else. The longer college season is still a few years out, if it ever is adopted (due to competition for the fields with lacrosse, etc. in the spring). Though the idea of a college cup tournament in May would be pretty cool and what most college coaches want to see.

He never wanted to try other sports seriously, though, and does those for fun when the opportunity arises.

I've been watching him (and his younger sister) play for so long and now it'll be the occasional in-person watching or live stream. I'm going to really miss the more direct connection to his playing, but the kid is all grown up and doing his own thing in two months. He's had a couple of overseas offers, but even his YNT teammate probably won't get picked up so he's decided to stay closer to home this summer.
captainsubtext
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Quote:

Quote:

Funnily enough, several of those football-first guys eventually see the light and give up American football for the beautiful game.
That is not the problem with this HS coach. He played college soccer, and seems determined to prove that he is an equal among club coaches, but makes mystifying decisions. He had a team a few years ago bulging with talent and favored to win state. He had the area's most outstanding player (striker), yet benched him while behind for 7 of the last 9 minutes of an OT game in regional final. Ended up losing that game to a team that they beat twice in district. It didn't appear to be for any punishment reasons.

Ag in CO, good luck to your son in college. I've seen him play with Rush for the last two years and he is a good player.
PatAg
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AG
From what you have said, especially not being in Texas and having them completely overlap, it sounds like your kid has definitely thought it through.
agracer
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AG
He's still a bit on the fence. One older brother told him to go for it, the other said stick with soccer, you're much better at it.

The HS team has a 1-week football camp this June. 3-days at the HS school, then 4-days of full contact at a college ~2-hours away (spend the night). I told him to go to the camp and if it works out, it works out. If you come home realizing you're not that good, or just plain don't like it, you've lost nothing.

The soccer team has a "captains practice" M-Th mornings all summer, a coaches camp in August then tryouts the first few days of school. So even if he attends the football camp and decides it's not for him, he can still play on the HS Team. He was one of two fish on the JV team last fall. So he's either going to be a starter on JV and play most games, or a sub on varsity and play 30-40m a game.

But at the end of the day he said he's done with club soccer. He wants to focus on track in the spring and club soccer takes up to much time.
jeffk
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AG
Sounds like a reasonable plan. Hope he enjoys whatever he decides to do.
captainsubtext
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The time is near for my youngest one to leave the comforts of club soccer. He's going to play in college at a quality D3 academic school, but that journey will be on his own.

It has been a wonderful ride from four year old rec soccer to DA and HS. Even the blown chance to go to Europe as a generation adidas player to the time he forgot his jersey during a key showcase game and to the serious knee injury caused by lunging at the ball and getting blown up by a defender.

Gone will be the vacation trips to college camps, the deviousness of club coaches (yea to both!) and the social networking of soccer parents (sad). Gone will be the bickering between parents on how much money and time was spent. Gone will be the time spent together going to practices and games.

Staying will be time management skills on how to study in airports and in vehicles. Staying will be the joy and commitment of playing and competition.

All worth the time, effort and at times, ordeal.

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