Why do we put our kids through this?

easoccer said:

In relation to Year round play and taking part in other sports, most information is based on potential career/high level athletes who are tempted into specializing too early. This Information certainly is less relevant to those practicing 2 hours per week with a game on the weekend. Nothing in that material says you shouldn't play year round as long as you find some time for other athletic pursuits.

Many players I coach are also involved In basketball, floor hockey or baseball.


Regardless I'd support my kids in whatever they would chose. Anything promoting less screen time is a win in my book.

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I think at younger ages you should be exposed to and play many different sports for picking one , with the pressures to specialize at a relatively young age are we losing more athletes than gaining? Hockey is probably to the worse for this with spring hockey, 3v3 leagues and summer camps being the norm, when you see 10 year old kids playing year round I cant help but ask who this is really for? Something tells me the kids don't really care either way they just want to make the parents happy.
In Newton of you don't play summer soccer you loose control of your team, players get poached , coaches get pushed aside, you are forced to play summer whether you want to or not just to protect yourself or your team, none of which is for the kids.....that is where my beef stems from....Year round single sport before about U17-U19 is a for profit industry for parents with big dreams of little Johnny being the next one , it is not about the athlete or development of.
Reality is we probably always played year round, just not in organized sport, free play is the biggest thing missing these days. How many street hockey games do yo see today vs 20 years ago, or kids playing baseball with friends etc...

And yes anything promoting less screen time is a win!!!

4_the_kids said:

I think at younger ages you should be exposed to and play many different sports for picking one , with the pressures to specialize at a relatively young age are we losing more athletes than gaining? Hockey is probably to the worse for this with spring hockey, 3v3 leagues and summer camps being the norm, when you see 10 year old kids playing year round I cant help but ask who this is really for? Something tells me the kids don't really care either way they just want to make the parents happy.
In Newton of you don't play summer soccer you loose control of your team, players get poached , coaches get pushed aside, you are forced to play summer whether you want to or not just to protect yourself or your team, none of which is for the kids.....that is where my beef stems from....Year round single sport before about U17-U19 is a for profit industry for parents with big dreams of little Johnny being the next one , it is not about the athlete or development of.
Reality is we probably always played year round, just not in organized sport, free play is the biggest thing missing these days. How many street hockey games do yo see today vs 20 years ago, or kids playing baseball with friends etc...

And yes anything promoting less screen time is a win!!!

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I agree 100%.

noee said:

I just received a survey from our club, basically asking if there would be intrest in Friday games.

With the lost games due to grass closure, I thought this would be a great option.

Thoughts?

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Absolutely. Imagine having your whole Saturday & Sunday free Any option to get games in is good one.

I remember playing a West Van team who had 6:30pm Friday night home games. Coming from Burnaby, trying to get over the bridge in rush hour...what a chore that was..

I'm all for anything that keeps kids playing sports and away from screens. Best way to ensure that happens is to make the experience as pleasant as possible. Easiest way to ensure a pleasant soccer experience? Play the game when the weather is at its best. Which in southwestern BC means anytime of year EXCEPT November-February. This is the season for skiing, skating, hockey, basketball, volleyball, badminton, wrestling etc. And if you're 13 years old and already hooked on the sport, maybe this is when you play an additional season of soccer with the other hardcore players.
I don't understand why the adults in charge accept the status quo. There doesn't seem to be any reason for the winter season beyond "It's always been done this way".

jmoulins said:

I'm all for anything that keeps kids playing sports and away from screens. Best way to ensure that happens is to make the experience as pleasant as possible. Easiest way to ensure a pleasant soccer experience? Play the game when the weather is at its best. Which in southwestern BC means anytime of year EXCEPT November-February. This is the season for skiing, skating, hockey, basketball, volleyball, badminton, wrestling etc. And if you're 13 years old and already hooked on the sport, maybe this is when you play an additional season of soccer with the other hardcore players.
I don't understand why the adults in charge accept the status quo. There doesn't seem to be any reason for the winter season beyond "It's always been done this way".

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Agree, could perhaps offer Futsal in Winter for those interested, say Nov - Feb

rich said:

Absolutely. Imagine having your whole Saturday & Sunday free Any option to get games in is good one.

I remember playing a West Van team who had 6:30pm Friday night home games. Coming from Burnaby, trying to get over the bridge in rush hour...what a chore that was..

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try getting to Burnaby, from Chilliwack, on a Friday night before the Port Mann Bridge upgrade, for a 6:30pm kickoff for a Coastal Cup game.

jmoulins said:

Hi all. I'm new to this forum and while this is my 7th season coaching my kids teams, I've been pretty much insulated from the greater BC Soccer community. I'm sure the topic I'm about to raise has been discussed many times in many venues, including this one. If there's an existing thread that makes this one redundant, please point me to it. But can someone explain to me why we on the south coast make our kids play soccer through the only 4 months of the season that aren't suitable for soccer?
How can we make our 6 and 7 year olds come out and play on frozen gravel fields in November and December and then force them to choose between playing hockey or soccer?
After my U14 boys game today, the ref came by to tell us not to bother shaking hands with the other team because everyone was too wet and cold. From experience, I know that it's only going to get worse until the merciful Christmas break, and then in March at the end of this annual death march we'll all ask "Why doesn't the season start now"?

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Has BC Soccer ever done any surveys /studies on moving the winter season to Spring

I don't think so. I've raised the idea informally with BC Soccer board members who showed little interest.

Another weekend of cancelled games.

Weather appears to be changing for this week so hopefully the fields can take the rain that is supposed to happen.

Of course, this depends on the drainage systems in place which I'm guessing is virtually zero for grass fields now

easoccer said:

In relation to Year round play and taking part in other sports, most information is based on potential career/high level athletes who are tempted into specializing too early. This Information certainly is less relevant to those practicing 2 hours per week with a game on the weekend. Nothing in that material says you shouldn't play year round as long as you find some time for other athletic pursuits.

Many players I coach are also involved In basketball, floor hockey or baseball.


Regardless I'd support my kids in whatever they would chose. Anything promoting less screen time is a win in my book.

Click to expand...

LFC said:

There are several factors in the success of the USSL league played mostly in Surrey :
Brilliant weather
Competitive games
Low cost
Great turf & grass fields for games & training in Surrey

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I coached a team in the USSL league 2 years ago through a summer league club. I also find that the league is very well organized through its staffs on field. The teams are continually tiered to allow for balanced play.The fields setup and taken down by them and its is played on Sundays only too.

Only dislike I had was playing long weekends or at Newton during tournaments. Parking is a mess over there.

socceroo said:

I coached a team in the USSL league 2 years ago through a summer league club. I also find that the league is very well organized through its staffs on field. The teams are continually tiered to allow for balanced play.The fields setup and taken down by them and its is played on Sundays only too.

Only dislike I had was playing long weekends or at Newton during tournaments. Parking is a mess over there.

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It all starts with the weather.

Practices canceled all over the lower mainland tonight.

jmoulins said:

Practices canceled all over the lower mainland tonight.

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Lets get a campaign going to convince BC Soccer to switch the winter season to spring . If they don,t listen then Canadian Soccer should intervene and move the leage to spring /summer

jmoulins said:

Practices canceled all over the lower mainland tonight.

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We got all our practices in in Ladner... Of course, any snow was gone by midday, and we are lucky enough to be all on turf. Wouldn't have happened two years ago. It's why we get so lucky with getting all of our home games in as well.

Langley fields still closed as of tonight including turf

LFC said:

imoulins i salute u for a brilliant topic .The Lower Mainland has beautiful warm weather during the spring /summer and it makes sense to play soccer during that period. The rest of Canada mainly plays during the spring/summer due to extreme winters and though winters are not as bad in this area we should fall in line with the rest of the country. It would definitely help player development and games/training will not be cancelled as they often are during the winter season.

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The USSL Leage is played in perfect weather from April to July .

I've never minded the cold, nor has my son. If you love the game, you play through anything.

Metro Dad said:

I've never minded the cold, nor has my son. If you love the game, you play through anything.

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It's not about "the love of the game" with regards to the cold weather. Unless we somehow become the Iceland of football development in North America (note: we never can. Iceland is so small they can centralize all of their coaches and training in Reykavik - and of course they have a massive amount of professional level coaches who have youth-specific education) we have to look at every option to improve our development model.

You can't tell me that 8 year olds training in freezing cold at 7pm on a Tuesday are learning technical/tactical/theoretical skills at the same rate as those in warmer climates at 7pm on a Tuesday. Because of the conditions coaches here are left making sure the kids are always moving, which means less time to "teach" in the way that is necessary - different methods for different kids. You also then add in toques, hoods, wind, and rain, and when you are teaching one kid a theory the kid that is 10 yards away maybe can't even hear sometimes, let alone if you are doing situational training and you have a kid 30 or 40 yards away! But in nice weather, the voice can carry and kids can hear (ie, Super Y League).

TKBC said:

It's not about "the love of the game" with regards to the cold weather. Unless we somehow become the Iceland of football development in North America (note: we never can. Iceland is so small they can centralize all of their coaches and training in Reykavik - and of course they have a massive amount of professional level coaches who have youth-specific education) we have to look at every option to improve our development model.

You can't tell me that 8 year olds training in freezing cold at 7pm on a Tuesday are learning technical/tactical/theoretical skills at the same rate as those in warmer climates at 7pm on a Tuesday. Because of the conditions coaches here are left making sure the kids are always moving, which means less time to "teach" in the way that is necessary - different methods for different kids. You also then add in toques, hoods, wind, and rain, and when you are teaching one kid a theory the kid that is 10 yards away maybe can't even hear sometimes, let alone if you are doing situational training and you have a kid 30 or 40 yards away! But in nice weather, the voice can carry and kids can hear (ie, Super Y League).

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You're right, training in freezing cold weather is not as conducive to improving one's game as playing in warmer weather. One excuse that I hear for us playing during the winter is competition for field time in other seasons but I don;t really buy this since other regions of the country manage.
Of course, if the main concern is our kids getting some exercise and bonding with new friends, then they can play anytime of the year.