Youth club soccer rant

My BB loves playing soccer. I love watching him. At times he gets frustrated at the lack of focus and seriousness taken by teammates and opposing players, at times, admittedly, he and I can be too serious. Last night, deep in Plano, and over the weekend I noticed a few things that made me laugh and shake my head so I thought I would share, please feel free to add and if you are a lurker debating moving from rec to club please read and assess your BB. If you need to call me names, that is fine, but don't waste your time using elitist or a@@hole, I am already well aware of those and I am not bashing rec soccer, it is a useful tool.

Please consider leaving club soccer if your BB's running gait can be described as "skipping" or "galloping". Yes, soccer is fun but please tra-la-la back to rec. Also, if your BB runs with his hands waving in the air over his shoulders like some strange T-Rex, just, stop, all together.

Please consider leaving club soccer if at every half time of every game your BB has to come over and get his water bottle. Do they forget sometimes? Sure. Do you know they forgot it? I'd hope so, fix the problem.

Please consider leaving club soccer if every time the ball is kicked into the air over your BB's head his first reaction is to raise his hands and jump up. This isn't basketball. They should have figured it out by now. IF they get confused teach them to look at their hands, are they wearing goalie gloves? No. DON'T CATCH THE BALL!

Parents, please consider taking yourself back to rec if you congratulate your BB from taking the ball away from the goalie because "the goalie didn't have control of it".

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/refereeing/law_12_fouls_misconduct_en_47379.pdf

A goalkeeper is considered to be in control of the ball:
• while the ball is between his hands or between his hand and any surface
(e.g. ground, own body)

When the goalie makes a save and has his hand on top of the ball against the ground and your kid kicks it into his body, that shouldn't be encouraged, when said goalie then pushes the ball against his body with his hand and your son does the same thing, that is pretty much a foul, my BB did not really appreciate that. Good parenting, yell BS again and I will not protect you from the wrath my wife will lay on your ignorant self, please print out the rules and read them next season, in rec.

Please consider leaving club soccer if every practice your child has to run and use the restroom. They are at practice for an hour to an hour and a half. You know you are taking them. Their bladders are not that small, this is them telling you they are not interested or in to it. Help them to relieve the pressure, most rec teams practice in parks, if they need a break, they can go swing.


Yes, every child is different, yes every child will develop at their own pace. Don't push them or anything you are hoping to achieve is going to fail and please, for the love of the soccer Gods, stop making other players and parents suffer for it.

I would agree with you but for girls all bets are off. They operate under different rules but then again haven't they always?

That was freaking hilarious. I needed that!

As painful as it may be, there is a lot of truth in there. When you have a gazillion soccer clubs in the metroplex with a number of teams at each age, there will be many kids playing club soccer that probably should not there. A lot of club teams are glorified rec teams for parents to pay money and tell their friends," my kid plays club soccer." I am hoping that by age 13 or so, most of those kids are weeded out and it truly is a select soccer league.

A lot of club teams are glorified rec teams

And there's the rub, club teams survive on "insert name of that kid".

What if the kid shows up 20 minutes late for every practice wearing just his cleats(some times) and shin pads with no socks, would that be a strong indicator of not ready for primetime?

donotquestion wrote:What if the kid shows up 20 minutes late for every practice wearing just his cleats(some times) and shin pads with no socks, would that be a strong indicator of not ready for primetime?

As long as his shin guards are completely covered by his jeans I'm good with it.

What if they are over the jeans?

as long as his tennis shoes are "club appropriate"

knee pads...my son was on a rec team when he was younger, a child came for practice with knee pads (the kind a child may wear to skateboard). They were worn as shin guards - no socks

which is where he belongs. The shocker is when these kids show up to play Academy just so there parents can brag to their friends...

goscore! wrote:knee pads...my son was on a rec team when he was younger, a child came for practice with knee pads (the kind a child may wear to skateboard). They were worn as shin guards - no socks

Did he put his cup on backwards too?

I can't let it go... Denim is a real hang up for me. No one should ever play any competitive sports in denim. That should be outlawed. I blame the parents for that though... that starts at home. Don't even let the kid out the door!

i knew a guy who bought cleats for his son with some sort of extender in it so that as he grew he wouldn't have to buy new cleats, now that's rec

bigtex75081 wrote:

goscore! wrote:knee pads...my son was on a rec team when he was younger, a child came for practice with knee pads (the kind a child may wear to skateboard). They were worn as shin guards - no socks

Did he put his cup on backwards too?

I can't let it go... Denim is a real hang up for me. No one should ever play any competitive sports in denim. That should be outlawed. I blame the parents for that though... that starts at home. Don't even let the kid out the door!

What if they are jorts (jean shorts) and the team color is blue...

This could spawn a new comedy routinue.. "Your bb might be a rec player if..."

are jeggings verboten too?

There is a place for skinny jeans and jeggings in youth soccer...it just isn't on the sidelines with the players.

what about the kid who was the cheapest ball and its a size 5 or a 3 or whatever its not supposed to be and half flat?

JORTS ??? That is HILARIOUS.

its a size 5

I can remember being out at the practice fields and a new kid was coming to see if he liked the club. His Dad brought him to the fields and pulled a brand new size 5 ball out of a shopping bag with the box still around it. Bless them for trying. I am sure when they were at the store picking it out together it was a bonding moment, no jest intended. But as you mentioned, the rest of the six year olds were knocking around a size three ball.

And we wonder how on earth kids grow up to be bullies??? I see now where many of the kids get it. You all should be ashamed of yourselves, making fun of little kids--hiding behind your avatars on an anonymous board. These boys still sleep with stuffed animals-- and you expect even the "club" kids to remember to not put a hand out when a ball is headed over their heads.
We tsk tsk at school shootings in Ohio this week and suicides of kids ridiculed on Facebook by their peers...and then go on a soccer forum and promptly make fun of kids and parents for not being near as cool as our "gifted" children and our awesome and "with it" parents who can rank 7 year old soccer while at work, who always remember to put them in Adidas shorts instead of denim. What a shame...

sambowins wrote:And we wonder how on earth kids grow up to be bullies??? I see now where many of the kids get it. You all should be ashamed of yourselves, making fun of little kids--hiding behind your avatars on an anonymous board. These boys still sleep with stuffed animals-- and you expect even the "club" kids to remember to not put a hand out when a ball is headed over their heads.
We tsk tsk at school shootings in Ohio this week and suicides of kids ridiculed on Facebook by their peers...and then go on a soccer forum and promptly make fun of kids and parents for not being near as cool as our "gifted" children and our awesome and "with it" parents who can rank 7 year old soccer while at work, who always remember to put them in Adidas shorts instead of denim. What a shame...

yawn, blah blah blah go look up satire and also humor. and tell your boy to stop skipping........

soccerisgood123 wrote:

sambowins wrote:And we wonder how on earth kids grow up to be bullies??? I see now where many of the kids get it. You all should be ashamed of yourselves, making fun of little kids--hiding behind your avatars on an anonymous board. These boys still sleep with stuffed animals-- and you expect even the "club" kids to remember to not put a hand out when a ball is headed over their heads.
We tsk tsk at school shootings in Ohio this week and suicides of kids ridiculed on Facebook by their peers...and then go on a soccer forum and promptly make fun of kids and parents for not being near as cool as our "gifted" children and our awesome and "with it" parents who can rank 7 year old soccer while at work, who always remember to put them in Adidas shorts instead of denim. What a shame...

yawn, blah blah blah go look up satire and also humor. and tell your boy to stop skipping........

Yep, that's the same thing I would have said when I was young, immature and my "bully friends" were picking on the weaker kids.
But I've grown up and now and know when it is inappropriate to demean others, and I also have learned to stand up for the righteous.
You can use google to help with words you don't understand.

Awwww :-(. No. I think this is just a few soccer freaks-- having fun. I've seen the kids that have shown up in shin guards & no socks. They are all doing well :-). I don't think any of this is intended to demean anyone.

Wow! There seems to be some real winners in the 04 section.

sambowins wrote:And we wonder how on earth kids grow up to be bullies??? I see now where many of the kids get it. You all should be ashamed of yourselves, making fun of little kids--hiding behind your avatars on an anonymous board. These boys still sleep with stuffed animals-- and you expect even the "club" kids to remember to not put a hand out when a ball is headed over their heads.
We tsk tsk at school shootings in Ohio this week and suicides of kids ridiculed on Facebook by their peers...and then go on a soccer forum and promptly make fun of kids and parents for not being near as cool as our "gifted" children and our awesome and "with it" parents who can rank 7 year old soccer while at work, who always remember to put them in Adidas shorts instead of denim. What a shame...

Whine much?

How do you perceive this to be bullying? These are general terms with wide statements about casual observations. Is anyone being picked out specifically? Have any individuals or groups been named? If you're offended, than maybe you should question why you're offended and fix that problem. I know I can offend people pretty easily but who am I offending here? Which kid is taking offense on the personal level? Or are you just employed by Levi's?

I admit my sense of humor isn't for everybody. I like watching 'Family Guy' and 'American Dad' before I crash at night because I like a good laugh. I do realize though that some people are simply too sensitive for that.

Tell you what, I'll tell you how I can prove my point... During the next couple weeks go to 6 Flags in a regular pair of blue jeans. Get there early and for the first ride of the day go on the log flume ride and sit in the back. Get really really soaked. Then, just walk around and try to enjoy the rest of your day with the family. Stay until about 6:00pm. Then, at the end of the day, jump on this board and post a reply to this note to let us know how that denim worked out for you. Think about how restrictive it was and how poorly it moved. Think about how it limited you. Think about the rashes on the insides of your legs. Then… think twice about the people that let their kid go to a 90-minute soccer practice in 90-degree heat in “jorts”.