The drive and natural talent is impressive. The problem is they'll rapidly discover at that age that an overlap with year round soccer and softball just isn't possible...it will force her to play a level of soccer that is beneath her level starting around this age....even if the Blues are bending over backwards to try to accommodate the schedule. The rationale of doubling up on track and soccer also doesn't make a whole lot of sense if what they are trying to do is injury avoidance...it's cross training. And while at the younger ages soccer is also about athleticism (who can run fastest and who can hit the ball with strength), at middle school ages it starts being about IQ and tactics. She's at the age (maybe a year late) where she has to pick, and given her talent, it would seem to be a natural fit to do soccer with some non-team sport in second (if she really is an all around athlete with that much time available, I'm surprised she didn't pick swimming).
Most of us have had a child play club soccer and there's no "time available" for that. I can't imagine what she's up against but I think you're right... she'll have to choose, and I hope that does give her body the necessary time for rest & recovery. Parents will have to be savvy.
That's the part I really don't get. If you say the reason you are doing multisports is because you want to do injury avoidance, WHY would you chose to put a kid in track and soccer: if anything that makes the injury problem worse since there is complete overlap in the mechanisms used for track and soccer. If you were going to do that, and care about giving the body time for rest & recovery, particularly with a child that is beginning to go into puberty, why wouldn't you do swimming, skating, volleyball or a field event. Softball makes sense from this perspective but is problematic for the schedule.
Bingo!When she plays softball, she is resting her body.I bet you softball gets cut first.
I am just waiting for “No Days Off” to feature a kid with Pickleball as the third sport.That's the part I really don't get. If you say the reason you are doing multisports is because you want to do injury avoidance, WHY would you chose to put a kid in track and soccer: if anything that makes the injury problem worse since there is complete overlap in the mechanisms used for track and soccer. If you were going to do that, and care about giving the body time for rest & recovery, particularly with a child that is beginning to go into puberty, why wouldn't you do swimming, skating, volleyball or a field event. Softball makes sense from this perspective but is problematic for the schedule.
Bingo!
SurfSupDude
SILVER
@Hodari is her parent. Just in case you weren’t aware.
My daughter hated softball. Had come from playing baseball, then basketball, and felt softball was too slow, to emotional (girls crying, chanting and singing) wasn't for her.When she plays softball, she is resting her body.
Makes sense to do track. A lot of soccer players, not goalies, have speed training at least once a week while playing soccer.That's the part I really don't get. If you say the reason you are doing multisports is because you want to do injury avoidance, WHY would you chose to put a kid in track and soccer: if anything that makes the injury problem worse since there is complete overlap in the mechanisms used for track and soccer. If you were going to do that, and care about giving the body time for rest & recovery, particularly with a child that is beginning to go into puberty, why wouldn't you do swimming, skating, volleyball or a field event. Softball makes sense from this perspective but is problematic for the schedule.
Bingo!
Agree. But their stated rationale for it, to minimize injury, is not a valid one when it comes to track. If anything it enhances the risk.
Learning how to run properly, stretching properly and strength training properly is what most players do for track practice. That's really good for minimizing injury.
Yes, but then putting those joints at work in competition, while great cross training, is not injury minimization. It increases the use which increases risk of greater use injury. They aren't showing her in just stretching, running coaching and strength training. They have her running competitions. Again, maybe a great idea for cross training, but the stated rationale of injury minimization is not a valid one.
That is 100% a great kid and player. I think it's amazing she plays so many sports in today's world, where so many are focusing on just one sport. I like her softball skills and soccer skills. Coach Rob is a great man, and he helps the kids with his banter. Cheers to Fifi
rainbow_unicorn
PREMIER
Softball and soccer are two completely different sports where one will impede development for the other. The days of 3-sport athletes are gone. If you look at the top boy soccer prospects none of them are playing baseball.
3 sport athletes are gone because of parents like you Rainbow. I'm not down on you at all, it's because the coaches that sell the travel ball and if you don't focus on one sport, you will fall behind. She's only 12, so time will tell. My buddy has a stud soccer player and he's a real good basketball player. He does both at a very high level and is only 11. My neighbor has a 9-year-old ds that pops swear will be the next Messi and all that kid does is soccer, soccer & soccer, privates and forced to kick against the wall by himself before dinner or no dessert
As a young youth like Fifi, I played soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball in the Spring. This was the must fun in my life and I loved my medals and competing for city championships. I took the summer off on those three sports and played beach volleyball and surfed every day. As I got to high school, I surfed every day and almost went Pro surfer. I then decided to make it a go at Pro baseball, but I couldn't hit that damn curve ball. I guess if I only played travel baseball 24/7, I might have made itYou think running a few short sprint races is going to cause joint injuries when they're running tons of sprints in a soccer game along with full body contact?
I could understand if you're worried they don't modify her track training because she is also soccer training (which every dual athlete must do), but competition race is very short and fast with lots of rest in between.
You've been sold the club kool aid. The best goalies I know play basketball and short distance track too.
I hope she is successful in whatever she pursues. She appears to have the "it" factor athletically. Nothing says she can't excel at all three sports in the future, rare, but possible. Her biggest obstacles will likely be the potential for loss of her own passion, overbearing parents and/or selfish coaches. Best of luck to her.
1. Not all of them are short races. I at least don't know which one she is in.
2. We don't know how many she is running. It may be a few. It maybe more.
3. It's not just meets. And it goes beyond the basic strength training and stretches and technique training you are talking about. They have the equivalent of scrimmages and training against the clock which is repetitive. But you know that.
4. I'm not saying it's going to cause joint injury. I don't have enough facts in evidence to know how much of it she is doing. Frankly I don't care. Wanna go do it with your kid? Like I said it's good cross training. What I question is the stated reason which they gave which was to minimize injury. If we take them at face value and that is their goal, that reason is ludicrous. It enhances the risk (we can argue how much based on her schedule). It does not lower it (which only the basic trainings you first outlined would do). They are likely doing it as a cross training, and the "minimize injury" is just a sales point to make every feels good about it. It's all about the feels these days after all.
Basketball for both goalies and soccer players is a great sport that gives you conditioning, for GKS some cross training, and great spatial awareness. In California it works because the olders go on the high school winter break. For goalkeepers it's great, because if you are at a soccer heavy high school, you aint getting played on varsity until you are a senior anyways. For field players, the price is giving up the high school soccer season. The problem with softball is it is a long game that conflicts with spring and summer club soccer. There's a lot of travel too in both sports at the higher level. Same with gridiron football in the fall (along with the injury concerns) unless you are a kicker and are free to skip practices.