Interested in hearing from others who have experienced this…my 9th grade son is getting burnt out on lacrosse. He is a good to very good player and has success on the field, gets plenty of playing time and has lots of friends on club and HS team. Probably will start varsity as a 10th grader at a very good NY public HS. He says it is stressful especially now that he and his friends are talking about college. I’m telling him it’s too early to stress about college and just have fun. He said it just isn’t that fun for him right now. Part of me wants to tell him to do what he wants and if wants to quit that is fine with me. The other part of me wants to make him play in HS because I think he will regret it in the future if he quits. And also because I don’t think a 14 year old will always make the right decision about his future. He knows that lacrosse will give him more options when it comes to college and he will likely get into a better school than he would without it. I told him we can reevaluate after he finishes his freshman season. Also, he has no other hobbies or extra curricular interests and he recently quit other sports to focus on lacrosse. He is getting into girls and parties and I’m sure that is part of the picture. Would love any input and please try to resist the urge to post troll responses. Thanks!
Been there. I feel your pain. Our situation was a little different, but one of my sons got worn down and learned to dislike playing for several reasons that broke my heart. One of them was suffering a severe injury at 14 caused by a hold back 50 lbs heavier (no people, we don’t need to debate holdbacks now!). We’re a hard core lacrosse family, but I eventually gave him the out and he picked other sports back up and started new interests and seems happier. I don’t think your son is there yet. If he’s successful on the field and has friends on the teams, my guess is he will come around. I recommend telling him he made a commitment to his club team this year and you guys can re evaluate next summer. I’m guessing he turns around before then. Sounds like he’s having an adjustment period - freshman year is tough. He will learn that he can have fun socially and still play lacrosse. You guys got this!
