Lol…since you mention that…soccer is just his team sport. His competition sport is martial arts.
Given all the concussions in soccer (#2 after football for concussion injuries in youth sports) I joked that a sport that involved getting kicked in the head was safer than soccer.
Got the ol' stink eye from my wife over that one too.
Quote:
The great thing about soccer is that one doesn't have to be big/tall. Leo Messi was a sickly kid, his talents were obvious at a early age but none of the clubs in Argentina were willing to foot the bill for his expensive medical treatment. His parents then took him to Barcelona where the club immediately saw his potential and agreed to pay for his treatments. Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta are all well under 6' tall.
Yah. A sport normal sized humans can play at elite levels is always good. That and weight divisions.
My kid's former rec coach's dad played for Madrid. So of course I have him show up first day of practice in a Messi jersey I got for him on a trip to barcelona...
I tell my kid that Real Madrid signed an 11 year old. He rolls his eyes at me while mom gives me the stink eye.
I'm not sure about the other leagues but in Spain the clubs do have their own 'pee wee' teams. They groom them from very young. Btw that pee wee Madrid team was more exciting to watch than the average MLS game.
I'm not sure about the other leagues but in Spain the clubs do have their own 'pee wee' teams. They groom them from very young. Btw that pee wee Madrid team was more exciting to watch than the average MLS game.
Can't be THAT exciting. Wasn't Madrid's U12 team 25-1 last season?
Stop trying to diss MLS. It's not like Americans know what good football looks like anyway. Besides a bad MLS game is STILL more exciting to watch than a MLB game. And the beer and hot dogs taste (and cost) the same even if the stadiums suck a bit.
And check back in a decade. Soccer is growing every year and there's 300M Americans. The talent pool is pretty deep if it can be tapped.
I've just gotten used to watching Premier League, Champions League, and La Liga games. The Spanish game is more ball controlling, and waiting for the right moment to attack the goal directly, and the English style is more fast paced with scoring attempts coming from the side.
That's pretty good. Thanks for sharing. Soccer or football is one game where the skill level between the pros, and the amateurs is exceedingly obvious. If you're used to watching the Premier League, or La Liga it's almost painful to watch a MLS game.
My kid's former rec coach's dad played for Madrid. So of course I have him show up first day of practice in a Messi jersey I got for him on a trip to barcelona...
I tell my kid that Real Madrid signed an 11 year old. He rolls his eyes at me while mom gives me the stink eye.
What is amazing is the kids that Joshua are waltzing past are other top U12 players that would likely be the star player of a team anywhere but Madrid.
Wow! Those are U12's?
What particularly impresses me is the passing and position -- playing as a team, rather than as individuals
I'm not sure about the other leagues but in Spain the clubs do have their own 'pee wee' teams. They groom them from very young. Btw that pee wee Madrid team was more exciting to watch than the average MLS game.
Can't be THAT exciting. Wasn't Madrid's U12 team 25-1 last season?
Stop trying to diss MLS. It's not like Americans know what good football looks like anyway. Besides a bad MLS game is STILL more exciting to watch than a MLB game. And the beer and hot dogs taste (and cost) the same even if the stadiums suck a bit.
And check back in a decade. Soccer is growing every year and there's 300M Americans. The talent pool is pretty deep if it can be tapped.
Ahh... A while back they held some games at Stanford * for the Olympics or World Cup (can't remember which). What impressed me were the fans of the Italian team -- singing, laughing having a good time -- some even watched the game
* The Stanford stadium seated 100,000 back then -- and it was packed!
What particularly impresses me is the passing and position -- playing as a team, rather than as individuals
Our best US U12s do that too…but the difference between the U12 teams of Madrid and Barcelona and our top travel teams is probably as big as the difference between our top travel teams and a rec team.
The tryouts for U10 travel teams for one (dominant) club here had easily 300 kids attending. Even our much smaller club had 30-40 kids come to try out. There are 8 full sized turf fields and they were full of kids trying out. They run a couple dozen rec teams, a dozen or so select teams, a dozen or so premier teams (that's 3 tiers of rec leagues) and THEN 5 travel teams per age division for just boys. About the same number for girls. And the county has a rec league. And there are several other travel clubs.
The county next to ours has a club about as big*. Imagine having the pick of these kinds of tier 1 youth travel club players to field your team because you're Barcelona or Madrid? No kidding they look awesome.
* There are two big youth sports in my state: soccer and lacrosse. Sure, there's a lot of football, basketball and peewee baseball around but the soccer and lacrosse clubs are powerhouses in terms of money and organization. It's a little weird really. On any given afternoon there's soccer or lacrosse practice happening in most of the public school fields.
Comments
Much heart? Consider boxing then.
Lol…since you mention that…soccer is just his team sport. His competition sport is martial arts.
Given all the concussions in soccer (#2 after football for concussion injuries in youth sports) I joked that a sport that involved getting kicked in the head was safer than soccer.
Got the ol' stink eye from my wife over that one too.
Yah. A sport normal sized humans can play at elite levels is always good. That and weight divisions.
I don't know what MILF stands for but the mention of a mini van and some kids' mom made me think she's blowing the soccer team (?)
I'm not sure about the other leagues but in Spain the clubs do have their own 'pee wee' teams. They groom them from very young. Btw that pee wee Madrid team was more exciting to watch than the average MLS game.
I'm 5'9" and I've run into Hector Camacho, and Mike Tyson out in public settings and they were both shorter than me.
I'm not sure about the other leagues but in Spain the clubs do have their own 'pee wee' teams. They groom them from very young. Btw that pee wee Madrid team was more exciting to watch than the average MLS game.
Can't be THAT exciting. Wasn't Madrid's U12 team 25-1 last season?
Stop trying to diss MLS. It's not like Americans know what good football looks like anyway. Besides a bad MLS game is STILL more exciting to watch than a MLB game. And the beer and hot dogs taste (and cost) the same even if the stadiums suck a bit.
And check back in a decade. Soccer is growing every year and there's 300M Americans. The talent pool is pretty deep if it can be tapped.
I've just gotten used to watching Premier League, Champions League, and La Liga games. The Spanish game is more ball controlling, and waiting for the right moment to attack the goal directly, and the English style is more fast paced with scoring attempts coming from the side.
Wow! Those are U12's?
What particularly impresses me is the passing and position -- playing as a team, rather than as individuals
Ahh... A while back they held some games at Stanford * for the Olympics or World Cup (can't remember which). What impressed me were the fans of the Italian team -- singing, laughing having a good time -- some even watched the game
* The Stanford stadium seated 100,000 back then -- and it was packed!
Wow! Those are U12's?
What particularly impresses me is the passing and position -- playing as a team, rather than as individuals
Our best US U12s do that too…but the difference between the U12 teams of Madrid and Barcelona and our top travel teams is probably as big as the difference between our top travel teams and a rec team.
The tryouts for U10 travel teams for one (dominant) club here had easily 300 kids attending. Even our much smaller club had 30-40 kids come to try out. There are 8 full sized turf fields and they were full of kids trying out. They run a couple dozen rec teams, a dozen or so select teams, a dozen or so premier teams (that's 3 tiers of rec leagues) and THEN 5 travel teams per age division for just boys. About the same number for girls. And the county has a rec league. And there are several other travel clubs.
The county next to ours has a club about as big*. Imagine having the pick of these kinds of tier 1 youth travel club players to field your team because you're Barcelona or Madrid? No kidding they look awesome.
* There are two big youth sports in my state: soccer and lacrosse. Sure, there's a lot of football, basketball and peewee baseball around but the soccer and lacrosse clubs are powerhouses in terms of money and organization. It's a little weird really. On any given afternoon there's soccer or lacrosse practice happening in most of the public school fields.