Just wanting some options and thoughts. My son is a club soccer player and a good basketball player and he came up to me and said he wants to play basketball year round and quit soccer. Keep in mind I let him play club sports because he wasn't getting much out of rec ball and he loves competing. I'm not a nut parent that thinks he's going to get a D1 scholarship because he plays AAU or Club ball. As much money as some parents pay for traveling teams today you could almost pay for college by the time it's all said and done. I told him no that he needs to play different sports so he doesn't get burned out at such a young age. I think at 9 yrs old you should change sports with the seasons. When he gets older i can see letting him choose that but for now I say no. What is everyone's opinion on this?

Burnout is only one of the problems. A bigger problem is the repetitive use injuries that kids suffer as they get older. Would be good for him physically to play more than one sport at this point in time. He can always choose what he likes when he gets in middle school at the earliest.

The fact that your son said that he wants to quit club soccer and play basketball year round is the reason that you should honor his wishes. He is young enough that if he changes his mind and later wants to resume the club soccer, he certainly can. But at that point it will be him missing soccer, not parent telling him he must do it. Big difference.

I agree he will be the one to decide what he wants when he gets older but he is only 9 at this point and doesn't understand completely what i"m talking about being burned out. With my son I've seen it already with soccer when we were letting him play indoor soccer in the winter instead of making him take a break and multiple times he would say dad i don't want to go to soccer today. Just for the record i don't force him to play any sport but as a parent drawing from my own experience and watching other obsessed parents i will limit him in what he does. Thanks for the input

Just wanting some options and thoughts. My son is a club soccer player and a good basketball player and he came up to me and said he wants to play basketball year round and quit soccer. Keep in mind I let him play club sports because he wasn't getting much out of rec ball and he loves competing. I'm not a nut parent that thinks he's going to get a D1 scholarship because he plays AAU or Club ball. As much money as some parents pay for traveling teams today you could almost pay for college by the time it's all said and done. I told him no that he needs to play different sports so he doesn't get burned out at such a young age. I think at 9 yrs old you should change sports with the seasons. When he gets older i can see letting him choose that but for now I say no. What is everyone's opinion on this?

My son at that age played 3. Baseball football basketball. On his own he dropped baseball. Loved basketball liked football. Glad he didn't drop football because he did get a D1 schorship out of it. I know the fact he played basketball for a good AAU team and started on the HS team for 3 years helped the football recruiting.

This is a tough one. I wish my kids would play soccer until in middle school. I have multiple examples of soccer kids performing really well on the basketball court. They step on the court and can guard pretty much anyone because they have such good footwork. Having said that, the wear on the joints is real. Personally, I would not let him do basketball all the time. Keep him wanting more. The more he wants it the more he will get out of it. If I had the luxury to have my kids play 3 or 4 sports I would do it until past puberty. One thing I do recommend its finding an individual sport that has less use of joints. My boys race bicycles. It is totally up to them to perform and to be honest it creates an entire different mind set. Some kids are socially akward in team sports and they don't perform well. Then put them in a sport that is all about them and they excel. Then they have that background and confidence to apply to team sports. I think swimming and golf would be great supporting sports. Swimming for overall strenth, Golf for mental toughness etc.

I learned early on that if a kid says he doesn't want to play a sport then don't make him. It ends up being a waste of time and money.

I guess let me clarify because I wasn't very clear after i read my original post again. He only wanted to quit soccer because he wanted to play basketball year round and because i told him he can't do both at the same time at the club level nor do i want him going 6 days a week with sports. He's 9 so he changes his mind every other day. He can quit any sport he wants but I think at the age of 9 to play a sport year round to me is crazy. Thanks to all for the input.

Only if he wants to. Had two boys through.....

 

Do NOT listen to clubs that talk about scholarships and preach playing all year round.......it is their business model and it is rare that scholarships on the boys side are given for soccer.......the colleges give those to overseas players.....don't believe me.....nku has only 6 us students on their roster.

 

So let him choose......

Maybe he really wants to play on a certain AAU team now that school ball is over. Maybe he wants to get better at basketball right now.

 

My son played both club soccer and on a local AAU team when he was that age. He enjoyed both. Both programs had very minimal travel so it was manageable.

The Cincinnati Reds' head trainer said that the best off-season training program for kids is to play another sport. 9 years old is too young. You should probably always have some sort of a secondary sport (even if it's recreational) so that you can use different muscles and do not get burned out. If he continues to want to focus on soccer, high school would be a good time.

Another thing to also consider and I experienced with both my kids.....

 

Playing one sport year round, which soccer has become, puts a ton of stress on the body....

 

Stress fractures in the spine are becoming extremely common in younger players....essentially, the top 3 sports for these, according to our ortho specialist, are gymnastic....twisting and jolting from tumbling.....soccer....no off season........diving.....twisting......

 

This will take your player out 4 to 5 months.......

 

Playing another sport, will strengthens and use other muscle groups.....

I am in the minority here. If he only wants to play 1 sport then support it. You have to mandate an off season to let his body recover. Make him play baseball or with his friends in the neighborhood, if your neighborhood kids do that. Take him swimming a lot during the summer. Just do something to break up the same movement patterns of bball, like JOAT said. My boys played bball and club soccer this past year. Club soccer is August to end of October and then January to June. I was hoping that they would not tryout for bball. They did, they made it, and sat the bench bc they were not skilled enough to crack the rotation. I knew that they weren't and was hoping that they would take the 2 mos. to rest and play bball for fun. I don't think other sports are necessary at a competitive level, I do think that it is necessary to just go and play to give the body and mind a different challenge.

No at that age focus on being well rounded. But all kids need to play some sort of team sport which teach great life lesson in winning and losing.

Maybe around 12/13 start focusing on one sport if the kid is passionate about that sport. It's a shame more kids don't play pick up it seems the only way they play is organized and then the parents get competitive.

No at that age focus on being well rounded. But all kids need to play some sort of team sport which teach great life lesson in winning and losing.

Maybe around 12/13 start focusing on one sport if the kid is passionate about that sport. It's a shame more kids don't play pick up it seems the only way they play is organized and then the parents get competitive.

 

And that is where burnout happens. Luckily my boys and their friends live within walking distance of the Fort. The Armory, while not as hopping as it once was, still has enough players to get a run in here and there. On top of that, the soccer field is open quite often. That used to be normal, no I feel like my boys are blessed to have those opportunities. Crazy how times have changed, and I'm only 34.