Yep, my BSG has decided to hang up her cleats. After 10 years of playing club soccer, she’s decided that she wants to focus on other things her senior year of high school. It’s been coming for a while, so we weren’t super surprised, but it’s still a little bittersweet. Several people have asked me if I was upset that she quit after all the time and money invested, and I said, “Absolutely not!” She’s learned so many lessons in teamwork, commitment, disappointment, friendship and more that she will carry with her throughout her life. I couldn’t be prouder of her.
You’d never guess what she’s into now…
That’s unfortunate. I too have 2 high school daughters in club and trying to decide on Academy, DPL or ECNL but am hearing that several players who tried academy this past year got burnt out and quit academy (but still playing soccer). Do you think that the seriousness of academy had some impact on your daughter quitting soccer? I’m fearful that 4 days a week of training will lead to the same outcome for my girls and that high school has some stuff that they should not miss. Kids needs to be kids kind of stuff.
Thanks for reading and commenting! No, she’s not the one who plays Academy, it’s my younger one. She was thinking about playing again and then her team disintegrated (which is very common at the older ages!) and decided she would just call it quits. My younger one loves Academy, but then again she’s never had some of the high school experiences to know that what she’s missing. Good luck finding the right teams for your daughters!!
Congrats to BSG. I know she will carry those memories and lessons with her. Seems like a perfectly natural time to pursue new things.
Thanks, Melanie 🙂
Aww, so bittersweet! Time flies, I tell ya.
Thanks so much. Definitely bittersweet 🙂
We’re right behind you. Actually if you’d asked my kid 3 months ago she would have said she was done with soccer, but thankfully she’s decided to stick it out one more season (mostly because she really likes the social aspect of high school soccer and her club coach also happens to be the high school coach). It’s kind of bittersweet. Senior year will be full of a lots of lasts.
Thanks Shannon!! Yes, I think it all gets harder from here…
When I started searching for soccer parent info about 6 years ago yours was the first site that I ran across. I definitely read your “choosing a soccer club” post more than a few times. I can’t believe your oldest is done with her soccer journey!
I agree that all the things they take away from being part of a team, setting goals, dealing with disappointment, and working hard are themselves the reward. Still, I’ll be really sad the day my kids start hanging up their cleats. That photo montage really tugs the heart strings just thinking we’ll be in the same spot someday.
Thanks for all the insights about soccer parenting you’ve shared on the site! Inspired by your chronicles, I’ve been taking notes over the years as our three kids have gone through their soccer journey and I finally published them just in time for tryouts here in the MidWest.
Hopefully they’ll be helpful for other soccer parents the way that you’ve been for us – https://soccerstripes.com/guide-youth-competitive-soccer-clubs-soccer-tryouts/
That is so kind of you and I’m so happy I helped you in some small way. It was definitely bittersweet to see her hang up her cleats but I’ve still got my hands full with my younger one. That will be difficult! I’m looking forward to reading your post and am planning to add it to my tryouts section! Thanks so much for reading and commenting.