Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Nothing should happen to the kid. He's the client and should do what he wants. In 7th grade the boys are starting to want a little adventure (mostly meet knew kids and DEF try a new coach) and play different teams. I mean our team misses a lot of fall ball players to rec football....what's worse?

A lot of folks would say that missing fall tournament to play for a "better" travel team is worse than missing to play an in-season sport such as football. Teammates and coaches will perceive it as a slap. I can hear it now, "I guess we're good enough for Shane anymore." Shane's parents may get the cold shoulder too the next time he decides to slum it with his run of the mill, ordinary team, that families are paying 4,000 per year to play on.

Oh well. Families are beholden to their children. Clubs have no loyalty. Yet some insist on families being loyal to them. It’s silly.

Now the kid might look silly if he goes and plays for some national team and enjoys the bench and loses his position on his club team - but that’s the risk you run.

Totally agree. But don't underestimate how badly parents want their son's team to be good, and how pissed they will be when they get to a tournament and Dads on the sideline in their quarter zips start asking "wait a minute, where's Shane" and then they figure out that he is off playing for a hot stuff national team, and meanwhile his regular team is losing to MadLax or some other team that the Dads can't stand. If Shane is a dominant goalie, FOGO, or leading scorer (exactly the type of players that the National teams try to pick off) his absence will be noticed and discussed ad nauseum at the tent and the hotel bar. Just saying.