Club Soccer + High School Cross Country

So, my son tried out for the XC team at his HS and he got in. Everything was perfect until I realized (yeah, it was dumb of me not to think about this when he told me he wanted both and I said "sure!") some of the meets will be in days where he has Club league game.

Has anybody dealt with this? Any tips (other than cloning him)?
 
Tough to do with the Fri & Sat meets until Nov at least. Silverlakes actually has meets.

Either too tired from the Fri meets or the Saturday invitationals to have good legs for the weekend games. Regular season is pretty short unless you make CIF but there is not alot of events to be missed.

Not sure how serious of a club team your with? but it's difficult to manage but not impossible if your on a regular 2 day a week soccer training schedule and not all about finishing top of table, etc
 
It’s very tough to do. He will be fine for Sunday games and maybe Saturday late afternoon games.
Good news is that not all Cross country races fall on Saturday’s. Some happen during the week. He will probably miss about 6 to 8 soccer games.
 
Maybe he’ll realize he loves Cross Country and will not be too upset if he has to miss a little soccer once in a while.
 
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It’s very tough to do. He will be fine for Sunday games and maybe Saturday late afternoon games.
Good news is that not all Cross country races fall on Saturday’s. Some happen during the week. He will probably miss about 6 to 8 soccer games.


Is there any tolerance by the high school coach to miss any weekend cx-c meets? I’m sure it depends, but curious.
 
Is there any tolerance by the high school coach to miss any weekend cx-c meets? I’m sure it depends, but curious.


Possibly. To be honest if your son can run the 5k at a 17:30 range or below, he is better off doing cross country. My son also played soccer until the beginning of 9th grade. He did very good in XC as a freshman and he has a chance for scholarships if he can get to below 16 minutes on a 5k by his senior year.
 
Did not happen to my son , but one of his teammate.
Club coach gave him heartache over missing league games and benched him. XC coach told him if you miss 3 meets he would fail P.E for unexcused absence.
 
I know at our school, the cross country coach recognizes that soccer is a priority for the freshman and sophomores. But once you are a junior or senior- you need to make a choice.
 
There are rules and then there are injuries.

My son ran XC in middle school and was making good times for his age groups. Problem was he was working his body too hard and pulled a muscle. Groin or abductor or whatever they call it and had to sit out of everything for about 3 months or so.

I wouldn't recommend doing a meet or invitational on the same day. That's when my son pulled his muscle. I know everyone is different, and some kids do it, but it has to be tough on them and their body.

He decided to give up XC, as he didn't want to injure himself again, instead concentrating on soccer and track.

We go to a small school, so we worked it out with the XC coaches to miss XC practice on soccer practice nights. It's too much to do both.

My oldest daughter is running XC this year, her senior year. She's not that serious about it but is enjoying the benefits of the added endurance during her soccer games.
 
Yes, you can manage both if you have a club coach and XC coach who are understanding. But, if you have an asshole coach that sits your kid because they miss a game for running CIF or State then find another
club coach.
 
My incoming Freshman DD spoke with her club soccer coach (prior to me paying registration fees) and had a frank conversation about her desire to run HS XC. He was supportive, asking her to prioritize soccer matches over XC meets whenever possible (League/CIF/State XC meets obvious exceptions). She also spoke with the HS XC coach & had the same conversation. The coaches asked for each other's information so they could collaborate if needed.

With soccer & XC schedules posted last week, I put together a sheet showing all the potential conflicts and she spoke with each coach at practice and talked through which games/meets she could attend & which she would miss.

I think my DD owning those blunt discussions with both coaches early in the season is critical to coming to an agreement. Both coaches have been very supportive so far & are making allowances to training/mileage activities to minimize chance of overuse injuries. I am very impressed with both of them as I can think of many coaches who would not be as supportive or would push her to over-train.

It will be a lot on her plate & I know she will need to pick one or the other by Junior year (if not Sophomore year) but she loves both sports & I am happy she is able to make her own decision on trying to do both for as long as she can.
 
So, my son tried out for the XC team at his HS and he got in. Everything was perfect until I realized (yeah, it was dumb of me not to think about this when he told me he wanted both and I said "sure!") some of the meets will be in days where he has Club league game.

Has anybody dealt with this? Any tips (other than cloning him)?

Not sure this is the answer you want but hear but this was our experience that I wanted to share because most of the responses are focusing on the time commitment and there is another element.

We had two players that were varsity level cross country runners and on a very high level club team. From a physiological perspective, what we noticed was that over time, they actually became slower because their strides were more elongated and they had lost "quick feet". Their bodies also became too lean. They were getting pushed off the ball too easily and their ability to defend was diminished. There is no question they had excellent stamina but that could not compensate for the aforementioned deficits. If we were a mid level team it would not have been as pronounced but we were playing at the highest level.

As far as time commitment, it finally took it's toll. We were very flexible with them as was their cross country coach. On game days in the fall we had a big roster and allowed them to go to meets because they were varsity runners and bench players for us. Ultimately, the CC coach told them they had to pick because he was demanding a lot of hours from them training. I think it was getting to the point that they would have gotten injured; there was just too much combined training. I believe they made the right choice of choosing the sport their bodies were better suited for, that they had more success in, and I believe made them happier. They are probably bummed on some level but life is about tough choices and prioritizing.

I'm sure some make it work but with our experience, they are not compatible if you want to do both at a high level.
 
Not sure this is the answer you want but hear but this was our experience that I wanted to share because most of the responses are focusing on the time commitment and there is another element.

We had two players that were varsity level cross country runners and on a very high level club team. From a physiological perspective, what we noticed was that over time, they actually became slower because their strides were more elongated and they had lost "quick feet". Their bodies also became too lean. They were getting pushed off the ball too easily and their ability to defend was diminished. There is no question they had excellent stamina but that could not compensate for the aforementioned deficits. If we were a mid level team it would not have been as pronounced but we were playing at the highest level.

As far as time commitment, it finally took it's toll. We were very flexible with them as was their cross country coach. On game days in the fall we had a big roster and allowed them to go to meets because they were varsity runners and bench players for us. Ultimately, the CC coach told them they had to pick because he was demanding a lot of hours from them training. I think it was getting to the point that they would have gotten injured; there was just too much combined training. I believe they made the right choice of choosing the sport their bodies were better suited for, that they had more success in, and I believe made them happier. They are probably bummed on some level but life is about tough choices and prioritizing.

I'm sure some make it work but with our experience, they are not compatible if you want to do both at a high level.

HS cross country for most athletes should be treated as an amateur 5k road race. Truly serious CC runners should treat it as their only sport (or combined with HS track) since hard-core distance training will cause physical changes - loss of body fat, changes in lung and heart function, etc. HS athletes hoping to compete in other sports in other seasons should realize those changes will occur and take that into consideration.
 
My son goes to Great Oak, which in the world of High School X-Country is like being on the Patriots (currently ranked No.1 in Nation). He does not run cross-country, but some of his friends did and if you make the Varisty XC team you give up everything else given the high profile of the team. One of my daughters friends got a scholarship to a school up north because she was a XC runner at Great Oak (wasn't even in the top 6 runners based on time).

All I know is every morning these XC runners are all over the place before school, during the weekends, etc. They eat and breath XC. I suppose, as another person mentioned that if he is on the JV team, no big deal, but if he is in the top 6 to 9 on the team, he needs to pick one.
 
My son goes to Great Oak, which in the world of High School X-Country is like being on the Patriots (currently ranked No.1 in Nation). He does not run cross-country, but some of his friends did and if you make the Varisty XC team you give up everything else given the high profile of the team. One of my daughters friends got a scholarship to a school up north because she was a XC runner at Great Oak (wasn't even in the top 6 runners based on time).

All I know is every morning these XC runners are all over the place before school, during the weekends, etc. They eat and breath XC. I suppose, as another person mentioned that if he is on the JV team, no big deal, but if he is in the top 6 to 9 on the team, he needs to pick one.

When my oldest started HS, one of the opportunities at the first parent night was to speak with the CC coach. His program awarded a varsity letter to anyone who stuck with the program for all four years, no matter if they ever competed at a high enough level to win a varsity CC letter by one of the usual ways, such as finishing well enough to affect the scoring in a varsity meet. I think that means the first 5 (or in some cases the first 7) in a meet. You could tell the really serious runners - bones sticking out everywhere.
 
My son goes to Great Oak, which in the world of High School X-Country is like being on the Patriots (currently ranked No.1 in Nation). He does not run cross-country, but some of his friends did and if you make the Varisty XC team you give up everything else given the high profile of the team. One of my daughters friends got a scholarship to a school up north because she was a XC runner at Great Oak (wasn't even in the top 6 runners based on time).

All I know is every morning these XC runners are all over the place before school, during the weekends, etc. They eat and breath XC. I suppose, as another person mentioned that if he is on the JV team, no big deal, but if he is in the top 6 to 9 on the team, he needs to pick one.

My dd just joined the XC team at Great Oak. I agree with you, those kids are insanely dedicated to their sport. She's using XC to stay fit for T&F(sprints) and plays on a high level 05 team with club soccer, so won't be on the Varsity team. Like @espola said, will just stick with the 5K's.
 
If you are on a highly competitive, top soccer team I don't think you can do both.

If you are on a top tier x-country team and want to be varsity I don't think you can do both.

If you are rec level in both then you probably can.

But running 30-60 miles a week (60-90 for top runners) and trying to do practice soccer a 2-3 times and play games every weekend is not for everyone.

All 3 of my kids wanted to both but I had one son do just soccer, my daughter did just x-country and my other son tried to do both his freshman year and ended up getting hurt and not doing well in either sport.

You can do both recreationally but it is extremely difficult to do both competitively.
 
Thanks everyone for the insights. There's a lot of info to chew on. I guess he will have to make a decision; I'll guide him with the pros, cons, etc.
 
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