soccer...call it quits?

My girls dance. One seems to be a space cadette at times but then can do the moves so well. The other one...doesn't seem to care but says she wants to keep dancing.

So I figured it's best to try several things to see what interests them the most so they're now also doing soccer. They just started their second season. Season 1, in the fall, was tough on mama. :blush: My girls didn't hustle and weren't aggressive so they never ran for the ball. Does that make sense?

Now we're in season 2 and it's much of the same. Both girls seem interested and get excited when it's time to go, so I know they want to be there which is good.

Now here's my question...when do I decide that they just aren't good enough to keep going? ardon: If all they're doing is following the kids in a snake-like pattern around the field, they really are no benefit to the team. :blush: I obviously don't say this to them because in our town they praise kids at this age for their efforts, which I think is great. But, the next level they go to (in the fall) would start to be more competitive.

 

I hope you don't mind me posting in this forum :blush: My two did soccer last fall and it took them until the end of the season to really start running after the kids in a snake like pattern.
I would give the girls another season of it, especially if they want to do it. Maybe talk to the coach about what are the best ways to motivate them to have more hustle but it might be something that when they see the other kids do it, then they will too. It could also be that as more competitive as it gets, they might not find it as much fun and then won't want to do it.
My girlfriend has a 10 year old son and he likes to watch sports and play them in his backyard. But as the older he got, the less he desired to play at a competitive level, so this year they stopped with baseball for him.
Good luck with your decision.

 

Your girls are still very young. If they enjoy going, let them keep at it. They are still at the age where they are just learning the very most basics of the sport. The fact they aren't sitting down picking at their fingernails in the middle of the game shows promise.

 

As long as they want to play, I would let them play. They may not be the best or fastest on the team, but if they think they are having fun, that is what matters! They are only in K, I know around here, it really is not truly competitive until 3rd grade. It took until then for Marcus to find his niche in soccer. And the other day, one of the dads told me that he was truly the MVP of their team. I will wait until they tell me they don't want to play before I no longer sign them up. And, until 3rd grade, I really didn't offer a choice. For one main reason, as a kid I was always afraid to try new things, so I didn't want my boys to have that experience. They need to have some understanding of what the sport is, before I will allow them to stop. Prime example, last year, Marcus said that he was NOT playing baseball. We went to Jonathan's first practice, then he changed his mind--so got signed up late. This year he had no hesitation, and is loving it.

 

If they are having fun and wanting to do it, I would let them. If they aren't having fun, then quit after the season.

My son plays soccer. He's 8 and this spring season is the first season his team has look like a soccer team with passing and putting together a few plays as opposed to a herd of boys out there chasing the ball. There is one other team we play that looks like they "get" it. There are 2 teams we play that still look like a herd and 1 that sort-of gets it.

Marissa

 

I would keep them in it because they still want to go. :good: Anthony did the same thing last year and this year he is very into it and I was debating taking him out last year. Angelina says she won't go and even last year I took her there with tears in her eyes so definitely no more for her. :lol: I think you should keep them there until they tell you they don't want to go anymore.

 

I agree with everyone else, if they are having fun and enjoy it, keep them in! My boys played soccer last year (we missed the sign up this year because of moving) and one did okay but the other one, well let's face it, he sucked! But they had fun and the coaches really tried to teach them about good sportsmanship and having fun rather than WIN WIN WIN!

 

As long as they are having fun who cares?! They are still young. Plus, my motto is, if you start the season, you finish the season. You don't want to pull the kids out and leave the team with 2 less players. That can mean the difference between a forfeit or not if some children dont show up for a game. That's my theory though.

 

In my opinion if they are having fun and it isn't putting extra stress on the family, let them keep it up. Even if for no other reason than, its good exercise and fresh air!

Cassie decided she wanted nothing to do with soccer or softball this year, so I let her not sign up. She did sign up for track, but the team changed the rules part way through and she got frustrated with the fact that all she was going to be able to do was practice, not compete at meets. I made her talk with coach, with me there and he fully understood her reasons and had no problem with her leaving. She did ask if there would be a chance that she could come some days and run with them. He said depending on what they were doing, yes she could. Otherwise I too have the rule that if you start the season you finish it (now with the caveat that if the team/organizers change the rules, you can opt out)

 

Ditto everyone else. If they are having fun & enjoying it, I would keep them going. They are young still, a lot of kids won't really "get it" & start really playing hard for a couple of more years even.

 

Ditto! I don't care how tired of the sport you are by the end of the season, you gotta stick it out!

As for quitting overall, my oldest son is 10 now, but when he was 8, he was still taking soccer in the fall and baseball in the spring. But, to be honest, he's just not very athletically inclined. So we started discussing whether he was going to continue or not(especially with baseball becoming so competitive, he was spending a lot of time on the bench). We found a karate class for him to try. He loved it! Which worked out great, he quit taking baseball and soccer just before they got really competitive, and switched to karate.

He'd been playing soccer and baseball since he was about 4 yrs old and up until then he had fun and enjoyed himself. But I could tell it was upsetting to him to have to sit out a lot of times, he couldn't hit the ball during coach's pitch and I know he'd never hit it during a regular game the following year. It was just time to find something else that suited him better.

 

hey...let them go for it! Ian's really finding his niche in hockey...the forms came home from school for Jr. football/cheerleading and I knew that Abby wanted to cheer (to her credit just about EVERY little girl in K cheers LOL) and I asked Ian if he wanted to play football - to my shock he turned me down!!!! I thought for sure he was going to want to go in that direction but he LOVES hockey (and though he skates very well, the mechanics are a bit lacking) - but he loves it!

Abby on the other hand just likes it but wants to cheer - she says she'll go back to hockey in the fall but I'm not holding my breath...and if she doesn't - well ok...we'll find her something else to do for the winter...

 

Oh no! I didn't mean to imply I would pull them out before the season ended. :blush: Heck NO!!!! They would most definitely finish the season...even if THEY said they were done. I'm of the same mindset. :good:

 

This is pretty much what I'm struggling with. They obviously can't try everything, but in order to try something else, we'd have to give something else up. I guess that's where my thought to give up soccer comes into play.

I get what you all are saying about them getting it eventually. But, I'm not sure I have "those" kids. :blush: All of the other kids on their team, and the team they played "got it". Mine, just don't go after the ball like the others. ardon: We spent 5 years telling them to back off from fights over toys, to share, yadda yadda, and now we're telling them to "go in and steal it". :laughing: Kind of funny to me.

 

Mine REALLY REALLY wanted to do cheering, but we found out the games were at 9 a.m. on Sundays. I was bummed they wouldn't get a chance to try it.

 

You know your kids best, if you feel they might enjoy something else more, go for it! Think of their skills & what they really like to do and see if you can think of a sport that fits those skills. I am trying to do the same thing with Lila right now, trying to figure out what might suit her likes & skills. I am still not sure!

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for sharing. I appreciate it! :grouphug:

 

That's exactly what I'm saying. :good: I think maybe we should move on to try something else. And, in the end, if either of them feels like soccer was a better fit than something else (they've recently been asking about gymnastics ) then we'll go back to it. I don't mind bouncing them around until they find something they like, as long as they find something. :good: And I have told them they can try different things, but if we sign up, they need to stick with it for the "school year". I made up this rule back in the fall when, after only one soccer game, one of mine said she was "done". :laughing: Nice try sistah!

 

Michelle, have they asked to play a different sport or do you just think they aren't having fun? My husband and I are HUGE sports people. We played all during school, and we still are pretty active now. So, when it looks like our kids aren't giving 100% it just kills us. However, we have decided that until our girls tell us they want to do something different, we are leaving them where they are. Sarah and Allison have tossed around the idea of playing soccer or softball, but (especially since we only allow one sport at a time) they both don't want to give up dance over choosing another sport.

If you think there is another sport they may like better, I would suggest you take them to see it in action, or start watching it on TV to give them an idea of what it would be like to play it. Then they may decide that soccer isn't for them, and especially after going and watching girls play it, they may decide they like it better. Since the girls have started talking about softball a lot lately, we are going to be taking them to some high school girls softball games (my HS won the state championship last year so of course this gives us a good reason to go ) and that will give them a better idea of deciding if they really want to play it or not.

 

Everything they hear their friends play, or see their friends or others play, they want to do...cheering, karate, gymnastics, etc. They definitely like soccer and get excited when it's time to go to their game. Not one hesitation from either of them.

That's a great idea about taking them to see it first. That's exactly what we did for soccer. Their friend's older sister plays so we watched her and they were very interested.

 

Ugh, that is where I am with Lila right now. She wants to do gymnastics, skating, soccer, baseball, etc., anything she hears one of her friends say that they are doing. I would like to find something for her that she would enjoy and I would actually be happy if it was without any of her school friends. That is one thing I have always liked about the older two girls & their dance, they have friends there that they don't go to school with, so they have a complete set of other friends outside of school.

 

:ibiggrin:Not only am I a soccer mom, but I'm the soccer coach. :ibiggrin:

Our organization is very strict on training for coaches and we're told at this age level, they are still distracted, not coordinated, have very strong, but short, bursts of energy, etc. If they're having fun, I say let them keep it up and don't pay attention to their talent or skills at this time. Some kids are just more coordinated than others, and faster at developing that coordination. My kids certainly aren't going to be the best ones on any team (unfortunately, it's the gene pool they come from ) but they just need to have fun and keep trying.

 

can you do church on Saturday night so they can cheer on Sunday morning?

 

We certainly can but that's not our only obstacle. They'll have choir at 8:30 then CCD at 9:15 and I'm going to teach so we definitely can't skip out on that. :blush:

 

wow CCD already?!?! I didn't start till 1st grade!

 

I was glad our CCD is during the week.

If they are having fun, I would stick with it for maybe another season. Nolan played two seasons and said he didn't want to play anymore. Liam has played one season. Meghan LOVES playing and is really good at it. So she will continue (as will Liam in the fall). I also have them in baseball (twins) and t=ball starting at the end of the month. Meghan also does gymnastics.

I would look around for something else for them to try. Here we have youth lacrosse, flag football, and most recently the rec dept has offered Floor Hockey and street hockey. Let them get a feel for something else and see if they are interested.

 

Yep, 1st grade here too. In the fall.
Cheering is only in the fall for a few months, so my posts back to you are referencing what will happen this fall.

 

Ours used to be but they started competing with too many afterschool activities and sports. :good: I like it on Sunday because we're already there for choir and mass anyway.

 

Zoe is not good at soccer but wnats to play. We are on a non competative team so everything is all good. Zoe gets to play how she does and parents are not losing it over losing a game.