For fifteen years, I brought kids from the ages of 5-9 into the world of youth (competitive) academy soccer. 99% of them were playing in their local recreational league before switching over. Playing recreational soccer is a great starter tool, but can be mixed with adventurous experiences.
Let’s learn a bit more about playing recreational soccer.
Recreational soccer is a town or city’s local recreational league, where, for a minimal price usually around $50 your kid can play. Leagues are seasonal Spring and Fall. I did a quick google search for recreational soccer so you can see what information pop’s up. I live in the Dallas area which is why you see the google results.
It’s an absolute wild card what team your kid will play on. Most of the time the league administrators will try and put your team together based on location.
Coaches of the teams are dad’s or mom’s that are pressured into it. Obviously you’ll have a few parent coaches who are absolute lunatics and will be drawing up X’s and O’s in their cubicle at “work.” You have a great chance that the “coach” has no idea what he or she is doing.
Your team will play an 8 game schedule against other recreational teams. There will probably be one practice per week. The league will run for about 3 months.
As a parent, it should only take about 8 games to realize if your kid has interest in playing again when the next season comes around.
Is playing recreational soccer worth it? In the grand scheme of things, yes. It gives you a good opportunity to see if your kid likes soccer for a minimal investment.
If your kid is scoring all of the goals chances are they need a new challenge and that is where youth academy soccer comes into play.
P.S. It costs a lot more money.
