Youth Sports (i.e. the thing we all loved which parents have now ruined)

Just had a gut punch conversation with my son.
He's 11 years old and has been playing soccer with the same group of kids since he was 5 years old. And they are a good group of kids and have become damn good at soccer. They've won their US Club conference at the highest flight for the last three seasons -- and they will easily win it again this year. This is a really good group of boys and this is a really good team. It's a Northern New Jersey Conference and one of the biggest leagues in the country. He's a solid starter on the team. Just going to give this background to show that what is about to happen is not unreasonable... but it really sucks for him.

Over the last few seasons, other travel clubs have been plucking top players and top teams out of the conference. His team has stuck together. No one has left and they have really started to dominate the conference. The team is just crushing all its opponents. Games that were 3-2, 4-3, 2-1 a year ago are now 8-1. 7-0. 4-1. etc.

It's tryout season now and most of the players have announced they are leaving for other teams in EDP conferences. This is the last run for this crew. By the summer, they will all be on other clubs.

So I had to sit down with him today and let him know that is team was done after this season. He needs to go find another team, tryout with other clubs and see what happens. A few of his current teammates might be on a new club with him... but probably not. I think if you gave the kids the options, they'd all stay together and the team would find a new conference. But that's not what the parents want to do. And the kids suffer.

My son is devasted. He played great today. His team won 8-1 and they are probably favored to win the overall championship. And it's going to be the last dance for this great group of kids. To paraphrase Stand Be Me...

“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 11. Jesus, does anyone?”

Growing up sucks. Sports parents suck. Is there anything more amazing than winning a championship with your friends when you are 11 and getting pizza and ice cream later? Hopefully he gets to enjoy that this spring before he has to face teenager sports crap next year.

 

So the kids are all leaving at once because the PARENTS bailed on the team?

 

They all think their kids are god's gift to whatever sport they are playing, in this case soccer, and don't see it as showcasing that gift. So they have to go to the best, brightest, whatever, to show little Johnny is in fact god's gift to soccer. It is a terrible aspect of competitive youth sports. One baseball team we know had two kids, also 11-year-olds, join a team like 80 miles away. For what? There are dozens upon dozens of good teams between here and there and they're 11! What are they getting out of that? Other than burned out for driving that much who knows how many times a week.

Some of it is just out of control, and in the end if the kids aren't happy, they aren't going to keep playing. So I guess joke is on the parents in the end.

 

The team had to move out of their current conference. There's no point in crushing your opponents every week. The problem is -- moving up means moving from one system (US Club) to another (EDP). You can only play for one team in each system. Some of the players on the team were already playing on an EDP team so they can't be on two teams. It's paperwork nonsense that only serves to hurt the kids. Stupid adult crap causing problems for kids who just want to play.

Yes -- several of these kids are driving 30-45 minutes away to practice. Probably a bit much. There are closer teams but they aren't as good as the ones further away so the best kids are driving further away for new clubs. Seems like a bit much.

None of the parents are overbearing nut jobs -- I dealt with plenty of them as a sportswriter. Some are slightly delusional about their college prospects but nothing awful. They leave the refs alone and are generally supportive of the kids. I just see how happy this group of 11 year olds are right now. And it sucks that it's going to be gone next year for paperwork and chasing wins. It's stupid and sad and mostly due to adults creating unnecessary rules.

And like noted above -- who knows if they are even going to play soccer forever? I just wish adults stayed out of the way of kids having fun.

 

I get that playing with your friends since you've been 5-6 is great, but part of life is leaving your cocoon and starting over with new people as well, whether its your soccer team, your high school team, your social team, your work team, etc. Maybe a reset is better for the kids in the long run.

Maybe the diversity of skill levels and redistribution of that will benefit all of the players in the league, the top players on the team will now have to compete against each other, instead of coasting to 8-1 wins.

My POV comes from constantly having to recalibrate with new teammates every couple of years and I'd say learning to play with others is one of life's most valuable skills.

 

93devil thinks the ref had it coming:

Youth Basketball Players Violently Attack Referee After Game, Cops Investigating

 

He ended up getting offers from both clubs where he tried out -- one with a top-level club that has plenty of advancement opportunities if he gets better and one with a low-level club where two of his friends are going. He ended up picking the better club and he's excited. He gets once last spring season with his current club and then he tries something new. It was a tough decision but he seems happy. He also might be spending too much time on college football twitter because after deciding he said "Please respect my decision. No interviews please."

 

This tweet thread is making the rounds.

 

See also …

https://www.syracuse.com/us-news/20...t-punches-softball-umpire-at-childs-game.html

 

The travel-ball age is well on its way to putting Little League Baseball in an early grave. Next to nobody wants to make the run toward Williamsport when they can be playing high-level tournaments almost year-round.

Our local Little League, Red Land, made its run to the U.S. title five years ago. But it was essentially a travel-ball team which played just enough regular-season LL games to be eligible for the all-star tournament. And that's the way it is now. Three kids from that team are playing D-I college ball now, so that's showing everyone else down this way that it's a path there.

Cal Ripken's also siphoning a healthy amount of potential Little Leaguers, with its rule changes (base stealing, longer basepaths).