How much soccer per week?

Our team is considering a Sat. and Sun. league for the fall.
right now my dd does 2 team practices, 1 skills and weekly team game.

How do you decide what is enough and what is too much? I'm worried about all soccer all the time - especially at this young age.

Any thoughts?

EyesWideOpen wrote:Our team is considering a Sat. and Sun. league for the fall.
right now my dd does 2 team practices, 1 skills and weekly team game.

How do you decide what is enough and what is too much? I'm worried about all soccer all the time - especially at this young age.

Any thoughts?

Welcome to competitive soccer
This is normal to have 2 practices and then participate in two leagues the year before qualifying.
And yes, you can forget having a life for the next few years.
Oh, tell the family and friends that you'll never have another free holiday until your DD is out of high school.
Unless, they would like to meet you on the soccer field.

My '02 DD played two leagues both seasons last year. 2 practices a week, then approx. 3.5 hours out of both Sat and Sun. We live an hour from Plano. Guess you just do what you gotta do

We are definitely developing a soccer friend network! It's bad when when your friends outside of soccer start off an invitation with "if you don't have soccer..."

EyesWideOpen wrote:We are definitely developing a soccer friend network! It's bad when when your friends outside of soccer start off an invitation with "if you don't have soccer..."

Pretty soon they won't even bother inviting you anymore!

This past spring, TFC Guzman '01 signed up for 3 leagues and played 3 or 4 games every weekend with only 10 or 11 on their roster (and many guests). FCD Grubb '01, Taxans Farley '01, and Solar Monte '01 each signed up for 1 league only and played one game per week. Other top 10 '01 teams signed up for 2 leagues. Different coaches/teams have different philosophy/objectives and there is no "right" answer. However, most "official" guidelines suggest 3 to 1 practice to games (in terms of hours) ratio.

The bottom line is you and your DD select a team/coach and you go with whatever the coach decides is best for the team.

I say 2 to 3 practice 1 game. Who ever decided for young kids to play 4 to 7 games a weekend is a knuckle head. Why don't the pros play 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 games a weekend? Because it is a bad thing to do!!!!

And the coaches that say that the team needs it is a fool!!!

twomattiesmom wrote:

EyesWideOpen wrote:We are definitely developing a soccer friend network! It's bad when when your friends outside of soccer start off an invitation with "if you don't have soccer..."

Pretty soon they won't even bother inviting you anymore!

My God.... Both quotes are so true!!

twomattiesmom wrote:

EyesWideOpen wrote:We are definitely developing a soccer friend network! It's bad when when your friends outside of soccer start off an invitation with "if you don't have soccer..."

Pretty soon they won't even bother inviting you anymore!

Amen!

wxyz wrote:This past spring, TFC Guzman '01 signed up for 3 leagues and played 3 or 4 games every weekend with only 10 or 11 on their roster (and many guests). FCD Grubb '01, Taxans Farley '01, and Solar Monte '01 each signed up for 1 league only and played one game per week. Other top 10 '01 teams signed up for 2 leagues. Different coaches/teams have different philosophy/objectives and there is no "right" answer. However, most "official" guidelines suggest 3 to 1 practice to games (in terms of hours) ratio.

The bottom line is you and your DD select a team/coach and you go with whatever the coach decides is best for the team.

This is a valid quote. You'll need to find a coach and team that fits your DD's love for the sport. The one good thing about NTX soccer is that there is a level of soccer for everyone. You have girls that are serious about soccer and have to win and are extremely competitive. To girls that just want to have fun and text their friends on the way home after practice or games about what's playing on the radio and what station.

So if your team is doing a league on Sat. and Sun., do you feel obligated to do both, or do some people choose to do one?

EyesWideOpen wrote:So if your team is doing a league on Sat. and Sun., do you feel obligated to do both, or do some people choose to do one?

Depends on the coach and on whether or not you want your DD to stay with the team.

#2420 wrote:I say 2 to 3 practice 1 game. Who ever decided for young kids to play 4 to 7 games a weekend is a knuckle head. Why don't the pros play 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 games a weekend? Because it is a bad thing to do!!!!

And the coaches that say that the team needs it is a fool!!!

Don't you think that the coaches play two leagues because "if you don't keep your girls busy, someone else will" theory? Totally, agree with you, one game a week is enough. At this age, the work the girls do during the week is more important than the game. The game is the reward for working hard during the week.

EyesWideOpen wrote:Our team is considering a Sat. and Sun. league for the fall.
right now my dd does 2 team practices, 1 skills and weekly team game.

How do you decide what is enough and what is too much? I'm worried about all soccer all the time - especially at this young age.

Any thoughts?

I share your worry about too much of soccer ( or any single sport/activity) all the time. The last thing we concerned parents want is to burn-out our children. On the other hand, we don't want them to fall behind their peers in skills and experience. IMO 2 practices and 1 skills session along with 1-2 games per week is no problem at all. This is provided that our children are focused on school and have other activities to ballance the mental demands of competitive soccer. IMO, children at this age should be physically be able to train/play some sport 5 days per week.

EyesWideOpen wrote:So if your team is doing a league on Sat. and Sun., do you feel obligated to do both, or do some people choose to do one?

I think most coaches will agree to let you decide to play one or both and if your dd is a solid player it shouldn't effect her status on the team. Our coach played one competitive league to challenge them and one not as competitive league to build their confidence. We always played both because we are soccer freaks...and our dd did miss out on social stuff sometimes... b day parties, sleepovers, etc... Sometimes she wasn't very happy about that. There is certainly sacrifice on your time to do both but we spent a lot of time with the team and that was really fun too. Sort of got to be like family that you hung out with every weekend

[quote="skynet"]

EyesWideOpen wrote:IMO, children at this age should be physically be able to train/play some sport 5 days per week.

I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree, at least in part. While some form of exercise (or even training) five days a week is certainly fine, I'm not sure about the same sport, year round, for the long haul.

My daughter (entering U14) has been playing competitive soccer year round for seven years without ever taking more than a two-week break. Fall and spring she trained and played in first academy then LHGCL; summers and winters she trained with her club team outdoors and played indoor. She wanted to play those indoor games during summers and winters to spice up the practice routine. It wasn't until U13 that she began three practices a week and skills became a every-week thing. The added practice was a team requirement; the skills became consistent because she asked for them.

Compare this to high school sports (my older son's basketball is my experience here). In season, they practice or play in a competition five or six days a week. The practices are up to two hours and pretty intense. But this only lasts a few months. In the off-season, players participate in other sports or in much less intensive training. Even in AAU/summer league ball, there are no more than two practices a week.

My point is that it's hard both mentally and physically to practice or play the same sport with intensity, day after day, season after season, year after year. Some can do it, but I don't know if that kind of focus is common. I think that youth soccer is much more of a marathon than a sprint. One of my objectives is for my daughter to actually be playing at U17 and U18, not ignoring the trophies she won before high school. Everyone's child is different but don't worry too much that they'll fall behind. Sometimes, less is more and will lead to longer-term enjoyment and success.