A January report from the American Academy of Pediatrics explains why 70 percent of teenagers and youth are dropping out of organized sports by age 13: burnout and injuries. Parents need to think twice about a young person’s life dedicated to competitive club sports. I did not consider it, and when my high school senior son decided to stop playing club soccer this year, it made me a bit reflective.
Club soccer in Colorado has had enormous success, sending players to NCAA D-I schools, Major League Soccer, the English Premier League, and the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams. And there are some real benefits to playing in a club system, whatever the sport.
The club system is extremely competitive at higher levels and develops athletic skills that set those players apart from their peers. Players practice and play 10-20 hours per week or more, honing their abilities. Go to a varsity high school game and you’ll quickly observe which players come from clubs and which are multi-sport athletes or are “just” playing for fun.
Spending so much time together, they develop solid friendships, some long-lasting and some more marked by an underlying sense of competitiveness. Club parents develop friendships too, though some of them are even more competitive than their players. A chance for your player means a lost chance for my player.
Realistically, the chances of a male high school soccer player making a college team is 8 percent. Making a Division I team? 0.9 percent. Making a
