Yesterday I think I might have attended my last ever club soccer game. (I say “might have” because I guess I don’t know for sure, but it looks that way.)
It feels a bit surreal and like an end of an era.
The boys started doing little toddler soccer classes when they were TWO years old.
They both joined our local soccer club when they were first old enough- I think around age 5? From there, they ended up playing for several different clubs and with various teams over the years, but soccer was always a constant in our household.
Asher also joined the swim team at age 6 and started leaning pretty hard and heavy into swimming, but still kept soccer on the side for a long time. He temporarily decided to “quit” soccer a few years ago and just focus on swim, but ended up missing it and rejoined last year.
However, as they are both high school aged now, it has become increasingly difficult to balance multiple sports. People will argue (and I don’t disagree!) that playing multiple sports is the best for kids, they shouldn’t specialize young, etc.
But logistically and practically…. it’s very tough! You just can’t be in multiple places at once, and sports these days simply do not involve like, one practice and one game per week like when we were kids. Most sports seem to be year-round, or at least involve “off season training”. Gone are the days of one sport in the fall, another in winter, another in spring….
Club soccer here has a fall season and a spring season, with both winter and summer off-season trainings. When in-season, they have always practiced 3x/ week, plus games, tournaments, etc. on the weekends. All this to say, soccer has been a BIG part of the last 10+ years in our household.
BUT…. it’s just no longer really fitting in! This year Ethan played high school soccer in the fall and high school tennis in the spring. On top of that, he attempted to play club soccer (winter trainings + spring season), but we found that due to tennis, he was basically not able to make any of the club soccer practices! Yeah, he got to some/most of the games, but what is the point of being on a team (and paying for club soccer….) if you have to miss most of the practices?! Also, his team is a TRAVEL team. It’s hard to justify driving 6 hours and paying for a hotel for a tournament when you haven’t even gone to practice (and therefore might see more bench time than otherwise…).
Asher had the same issue, doing school volleyball + club swim this spring. I think he usually made 1 of 3 soccer practices per week. Better than nothing, yeah, but it just really doesn’t make sense. I mean, he had tons of fun this spring! I don’t think he regrets anything.
But going forward now into high school, I think it’s time for some decisions.
We decided that if Ethan wants to do high school tennis again next year (which he does, and I fully support!), then there probably really isn’t time for club soccer, too.
Asher is actually thinking of pivoting away from soccer completely and joining the high school volleyball team instead! If he still wants to keep a “foot” in soccer, I suppose he could still do club soccer next spring, but we’ll see.
Soccer has created some BEAUTIFUL memories for me, and I’ll be forever grateful for their involvement with it over the years. From sunny days to snowy days on the sidelines, friendships, long car drives, MANY post-game lunches out (lol), tournaments and hotel stays, we have had lots of fun.
Neither boy seems quite at the level/ interested in pursuing college level soccer, so I think this is maybe a natural progression. Ethan definitely wants to continue high school soccer, but he just also really, really enjoyed high school tennis! So club soccer just has to take a back seat. (On the plus side, I’m so happy I’ll still get to watch him play soccer! It’s just a different experience on the high school side vs club/ travel soccer.)
It felt so weird to be at Ethan’s tournament game yesterday, looking around at the crammed parking lot and porta potties and the popcorn stand and all the shouting fans/parents and think…. Wait, I’m done with this? I might never be at a club soccer tournament ever again?!?! (He plays today too, but Ivan is going today. The spring season will end while we’re in Hawaii so this is his last game.)
I mean, I know, this sounds dramatic. Trust me, I will still have plenty of activities and events to attend. They’ll just be different ones. But it’s just strange to possibly see this huge staple in our life coming to a close.
One thing ends, another begins…. 🙂 It’s all good. But I will always, always cherish our club soccer memories!!! 💖
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for the serious quality time that SOCCER, of all things, has given our family. People might think, “Ugh, why do you want your kids in all that stuff? Seems so busy.” But they’re missing out on the connection it brought us! Can’t tell you how many countless chats I’ve had with the boys on the way to/from a soccer practice or a game, or how much fun we’ve had. It’s good stuff.
GRATEFUL KAE 
I can see how this is very bittersweet for your family! I love all the flashback photos through the year, especially the toddler ones. Ethan really looks like you in pic where he is sitting in the backseat with a winter hat on!
It does seem like your boys have a good amount of variety in athletics between their club sports + school-based sports! I can see how it is hard to try/be involved in multiple sports these days with the schedules for club sports. But it seems like your boys have been able to ‘dabble’ a bit more that they can do school-based sports that have more limited seasons compared to club seasons. So it all works out in the end!
We are on the other end of the spectrum and just starting to dabble in different sports to see what is a good fit for the boys/of interest to them. So Paul has tried soccer, t-ball, gymnastics, and golf. Gymnastics was more for gross motor skill development so we won’t try that again but we will see if he’s particularly interested in one of the others. I also will put him in piano lessons but might wait until 2nd grade. Phil’s sport was baseball and then golf is his lifelong sport so I think he is hoping Paul takes to both of them but time will tell!!
LikeLike
The boys tried local rec t-ball/ coach pitch leagues for a few years when they were pretty little in the summers. I think they enjoyed it at the time, but neither seemed super into it nor particularly skilled, lol! So eventually they dropped that. Asher did a few rounds of some gymnastics class around age 4-5, and they both took tennis lessons for a bit (then Ethan continued longer). Both started swim lessons at 6 months old too, but in that case, ASHER was the one who continued. Trying to think what else they’ve tried… Oh, they both have done various golf lessons, but never really serious or ongoing. More just intermittent. And then of course they’ve dabbled in school sports- basketball (E) and both did volleyball. Our gym (which is one block from our house) has a million classes for younger kids, like 8 week session type things. Everything from toddler classes to more organized sports/skills classes, they have tons of options. So I used to sign them up from things from there too.
I think we as parents always kind of hope our kids will get into the things WE enjoyed doing…. but I haven’t really found this to work like that, exactly! haha. I mean, I LOVE playing the piano, and always assumed both boys would too. They both took lessons for a long time (Ethan longer than Asher) but neither one seems particularly interested in it. Ethan still plays but I generally sense more out of “obligation”, or to just be in something “musical” like we had asked…. ugh. Both like soccer a lot, obviously, but also I don’t think to the same high passion level that Ivan has for the sport! Like they don’t care as much about watching it, etc like Ivan does. Asher is obsessed with fishing, and I don’t think Ivan has fished a day in his life! lol. And I am certainly not a big fisherwoman, so he’s not getting that from me. Ha. Anyway, I guess we can’t just try to mold little mini-me’s, but I think it’s totally natural to at least start with the activities we know/enjoyed personally and hope for the best!
LikeLike
I love that your kids are so involved and that they genuinely want to try all these different sports… I think it’s wonderful to have all the exposure at a young age but I can imagine that it has been a lot to juggle – both for you and the boys.
It’s going to be bittersweet to say goodbye to an era but also wonderful to have all the memories to look back on!
LikeLike
Definitely! They have tried various things over the years and I think it’s just been a nice experience if nothing else to be able to say, yep, I tried that! I think back on my own life, and there are a few things I tried but didn’t stick with that still had a positive impact on my life. For example, I did track in middle school for 2 years. Was I particularly stellar at it? No… but it gave me insight into the sport, and now when I watched the Olympics or hear things about track, I’m like, Oh, yeah, I know a little about proper hurdle form! I’ve done that! Or I know little things about relay handoffs or the starting position, etc. Nothing earth shattering, but it still enriches my life just a bit more than otherwise.
LikeLike
I love how you’ve really supported their interests. I hope they can play soccer in a chill way, even just pick up games at that park? Ivan plays regularly, right? I feel like it’s a useful social skill to be able to play well, especially if they end up studying abroad at some point, where regular casual games are so much more common. My officemate had a regular Thursday game with the southern Europeans 🙂
Sports are much more chill here in the UK, it seems… like kids don’t play as seriously since it’s not a college scholarship thing. A lot of activities do free 4 week tasters. And I don’t think you get that real community because you don’t have all that time together.
T is nearly 7, and we’ve definitely just dabbled – currently swim lessons and beaver scouts. I hope he sticks with scouting, particularly as my husband ended up as chair of the local association to get him a spot – they were desperate for leadership volunteers and the waitlist was loooong…
we’ve got a mini goal in the front garden that T and the neighbour’s grandkids make use of, and are going to get a basketball hoop for his birthday. I bought him a full-size ball at the Nike outlet and he picked up dribbling immediately. Not much call for basketball here, but my dad/I can teach him.
LikeLike
Yes, that’s a great point about soccer being a pretty universal/ international sport! Ivan does play regularly in the summer and loves it, though I don’t think his 43 year old body can necessarily always keep up with the rigor of the games… (sometimes playing against much younger guys and man they can play really ROUGH!). Scouting sounds great! I know several families with kids who stuck with Scouts for the long haul and it seems like it has been a really positive, awesome experience for those kids. We had considered that back in the day, and Asher particularly kind of wanted to join, but at the time we thought the time commitment wasn’t going to really work with other things we had going on.
LikeLike
Aw… this is really the end of an era! I know, it’s weird. Somehow you think these things will go on and on forever. But they don’t! It really does sound like the boys are moving on from club soccer, for good. With all their other activities it seems unlikely they’ll go back to it. i’m reminded of the idea that there’s a last time you do everything, and so much of the time you’re not even aware it’s the last time. So it’s kind of nice that you identified this “last” experience and gave yourself time to reminisce/grieve/appreciate the moment.
LikeLike
Yes, I often think about that whole “there was a last time and I didn’t even know it” thing. It sometimes makes me sad to wonder when those last little moments happened- like when was the last time I rocked the boys to sleep, or when was the last time they called me Mama before switching to Mom? I have no idea! It’s sad. Haha. It was nice to notice and reflect on this ending moment, though it also kind of made me sad, so I don’t know if it’s better the other way?! HAHA. 😅 I guess I’m just a bit of a sap.
LikeLike
Ohhh an end of an era! I would be crying when I am in your place. I get so emotional in spite of the fact that I am Russian 😉 – especially when it comes to my KIDS. Yesterday T put together L’s first bike, and omg, right into the feels… I think it’s wonderful that your boys had such great athletic opportunities.
LikeLike
This is such a lovely thought to read! I hear so much “oh dragging my kids to sports” talk but there is not a lot of this positive reflection what kids sport brings to you! I was a bit sad for my kid to start school because we had such good friends at his nursery and I really miss seeing all my mom friends at Nursery every day. It’s so wonderful to hear you built up both a friend network of your own as well as an amazing relationship with your kids through soccer. Thank you for sharing 🙂
LikeLike