How would you handle this?

My daughter, just turned 6, is a very good player and plays up a year for one of the better clubs. By most accounts she has a lot of skill and potential, unfortunately none of her friends are much into soccer and those that do play rec are not near her level. Well she came to my wife and me last night and stated that she wants to take a break from soccer and do gymnastics like a lot of her friends. Now my daughter is beautiful but she is the height of an 8-9 year old and definitely not built for gymnastics nor is their any future in that activity.
My question is, in your opinion is the right thing to keep her in soccer or allow her to waste her time (and my money) at gymnastics?

Thanks

That's a really tough one. If she is playing up a year maybe there is no "social" side to her soccer experience right now. That is important. At her age I don't think taking a season off can do any damage so maybe let her take a break? Of course I would be trying to find ways to guide her back to soccer in the meantime even if she plays rec with some friends. Put posters of Alex Morgan in her room and buy her picture books with female soccer stars:) She has to be motivated on her own but I understand wanting to guide her to where her natural talents lie. Good luck.

Just my opinion...

She's 6. Let her waste her time and your money on gymnastics.

When my DD was 7, she had the choice between playing basketball and being a cheerleader for basketball. Both my wife and I were guiding her towards basketball, but she was insistent on wanting to do cheerleading so that she could be with her twin sister (who wanted nothing to do with basketball).

We let her do cheerleading, and at halftime of the 1st game, she came up to us, pointed to the court and said "I want to do THAT!"

We told her that she made a commitment to do cheerleading and had to finish out the season, but the following year, she could do basketball. That's exactly what she did and she is no worse for the wear of missing out on that 1st year of baseketball.

Point being... your DD is SIX! Let her find her passion and then encourage, support, and nurture it. You never know, she may just surprise you!

Better now than later. If her heart is in soccer, she will gravitate back to it within no time, so long as she stays in touch with it.

Our U15 dd went through the same when she was around that age, and did Dance, Karate, Upward Basketball but always had Soccer in the mix. By the time she turned 8 onwards, she picked on soccer more and stayed on it, and doesn't seem to miss the other activities at all.

Our bb on the other hand tried Football, and never went back to soccer again. That was about 10 years ago.

neomastino wrote:My daughter, just turned 6, is a very good player and plays up a year for one of the better clubs. By most accounts she has a lot of skill and potential, unfortunately none of her friends are much into soccer and those that do play rec are not near her level. Well she came to my wife and me last night and stated that she wants to take a break from soccer and do gymnastics like a lot of her friends. Now my daughter is beautiful but she is the height of an 8-9 year old and definitely not built for gymnastics nor is their any future in that activity.
My question is, in your opinion is the right thing to keep her in soccer or allow her to waste her time (and my money) at gymnastics?

Thanks

Geez, she is six, let her do gymmastics if that is what she wants. Maybe she doesn't have a future in gymnastics, but at 6 it is hard to say she has a future in soccer or any sport for that matter. By the time she's 8 she may decided to go back to soccer, or try volleyball or track. Or even decide she would prefer joining a club like 4H or Girl Scouts and not play any sport. Let her.

Let her do what she wants. She may be good at soccer but if she does not like it, why make her play? If she decides to do Gymnastics and can't tell a twist from a tuck, who cares. As long as she is having fun is all that matters.

I would probably echo what others have said and let her do what she wants to do at this age. Besides there's some core strength she will gain doing gymnastics that will help her in the future no matter what she chooses. I always encouraged and at times tried to get my daughter to play something other than soccer but she never wanted to stop. I knew then it was something that she wanted and she was playing because she wanted to play.

So I say let her try as many things as possible and you can always guest play in tournaments without having the long term financial commitment of two sports.

Painful I know... but I agree with everyone else...

My now 9 year old was in elite gymnastics training at 6... vertically challenged, super athletic, a twig but very strong, perfect for it... she wanted to quit... had to let her, if her heart is not in it, it will be a waste. That DD now plays lacrosse and loves it, not really the sport I would have picked, but my father wanted basketball, and volleyball was my thing. Gymnastics really could have been her thing, based on how she is made, but the 2020 Olympics will be without her services...

If she is good enough to play up, she will be good enough, at minimum to play in her own age group in a year if she wants to go back.

Spud Webb (5'7")was too short for basketball too...then he won the NBA slam dunk competition...just sayin'

Just an added note...gymnastics is very good training for a number of sports, including soccer. It will train her to fall/land safely and develop her balance. If she works much on bars it will translate into an awesome throw in as well! Let her have her fun with her friends. She is too young to funnel into one sport anyway.

Let her do gymnastics. My daughter wanted to do it too to learn how to tumble. It was great for her flexibility and core strength, all important things in helping her be a well rounded athlete.

If ours had to choose right now, she'd definitely choose gymnastics over soccer as she does it 24/7 around the house. We moved her from an age group up in soccer to age-pure so it wouldn't seem quite so serious at this age, but still keep her interest. Trying to balance both.

Besides, as someone else said, the gymnastics training will come in handy down the road. Particularly knowing how to fall correctly. Watched a LHGCL game lately?

She's six! I have to echo what others have said here. My dd started playing soccer when she was five, she's now U-16. She also did gymnastics from 6-8, then was tired of it. She has played BB and run track also, and still runs track. I can't tell you the number of players who have come and gone during that time, not to mention the ones that were "great" at six or seven who are barely average now, or no longer even play. The more vartied your dd's athletic experiences are the more it will benefit her in the long run,IMHO, and research is showing the variety may even help protect against injury, especial knee injuries in girls. Its the time doing stuff together, the encouragement and support that counts. That's what they will remember most and have the grreatest impact, not the specific sport itself.

At least you realized it early on.. see to many kids out there that would prefer to be somewhere other than the soccer field. Sure they may have skills but they dont really like the game. My 6 year old son was good at soccer learned from watching and playing with his older sister. But he doesnt really like it like she does so I decided to try a different sport so we are going BMX racing and if he doesnt like that we will try another sport and who knows maybe we will be playing soccer again in a couple years.

neomastino wrote:My daughter, just turned 6, is a very good player and plays up a year for one of the better clubs. By most accounts she has a lot of skill and potential, unfortunately none of her friends are much into soccer and those that do play rec are not near her level. Well she came to my wife and me last night and stated that she wants to take a break from soccer and do gymnastics like a lot of her friends. Now my daughter is beautiful but she is the height of an 8-9 year old and definitely not built for gymnastics nor is their any future in that activity.
My question is, in your opinion is the right thing to keep her in soccer or allow her to waste her time (and my money) at gymnastics?

Thanks

Playing up a year for one of the better clubs at U6 and she's had enough, huh? That has to be some kind of new record for burn-out. But it's nothing that withholding a few meals can't fix. Teach her to associate not playing soccer with hunger, and voila! She won't being wasting her time (and your money) at gymnastics anymore. After all, select soccer is such a great investment.

You can continue soccer at the sametime my kids do gymnastics in the morning at the local rec for 4 weeks during the summer.

There appears to already be a concensus here so I'm going to make a deviation from the other posters.

Burnout, even at age 6, is a very real thing. To avoid burnout, soccer needs to be made fun again. If it isn't fun, then she'll want to stop doing it. (Do you like being compelled to do the same crappy tasks by demanding bosses over and over again at work? I know I don't.)

Be honest with yourself when answering these next 3 questions... Does she like her coach or is she with her current coach just because it's a top team? Who likes her coach and team more, you or her? Who likes her playing soccer more, you or her?

Is she close to any of her current Academy teammates? If not, there may be the root cause for your problem. If she wants to switch to gymnastics ONLY because her other friends are doing it, why not try to encourage her to make better friends with her Academy teammates? Have you considered playdates with her teammates so she starts enjoying going to practices more? Why not throw a party for all the girls on that team? It may help her feel better about her time with them.

Soccer needs to be a reward, not a job and not a punishment. You need to be excited with her before and after practice (not complaining about traffic or money or whatever) and you need to give her a lot of positive feedback. You need to make soccer fun again. You need her to enjoy her coach and her team.

If soccer isn't fun for her now, burnout will be right around the corner. She may not need to quit but she made need things to lighten up some and be fun. 6 year-olds don't need stress.

6 yrs old, let her be a child. Soccer does not have to leave the picture, take her out and have competitions with dad or mom, in which she wins, its fun to beat your parents. Let her try other aspects of soccer on the side, indoor soccer, etc.

Have you ever watched a girls soccer game? That might make this an easier decision.

I appreciate all the responses (except for Xara,lol) in any case, we spoke at length with my daughter and it is not so much a function of burn out, heck she practices on her own every day, but a purely social issue. The team she is currently on are at the upper end of the next age group so they are a good clip older. On the field she relates well, but off the field she rarely is included in conversations and not invited to b-day parties or any after soccer activities. They treat her like a baby, after all they are going into second and she is just now starting kindergarten.
Good news is I spoke to the coach and he said that he knew of a team that was very good and her age that he could get her on to. I told my daughter about it and she is very excited now. So everything seems to have worked out, plus I told her that she could try out gymnastics next summer and she was stoked, so good deal.

Thanks

good at soccer is 6, like a boy being good at t-ball at 6, let her be a cheeleader, gymnast, softball player, bball player, girl scout and whatever else she wants

She will be bigger than all of her classmates in gymnastics. All the parents will think she's older and just a slow learner. Don't let other parents call your daughter a mong.

Let her do gymnastics. Keeps them flexible. My daughter quite gym early and regretted not having the flexibility that her older sister the dancer had. Let her have fun. My daughter can't play any more due to concussions, they need alternatives. Have her do rec swimming in the summer, gym when she can. It is all good!!!!!!