Anyone Put Their Older Child in Soccer with No Experience?

Sign her up and immediately go out and get her a the right size soccer ball and soccer cleats.

Then have her google soccer skills and get on it....go the park every day and practice.

She'll be just fine!!!

I noticed most of your responses so far are from people outside Texas; soccer in Texas is a huge deal, almost as big as football, so just be prepared.
By all means put her in a rec league, just be prepared for the other kids to be quite a bit ahead of her. Of course at age 11 her peers who are serious about soccer are probably already on select teams, so that means you have a greater possibility of having newer kids in the rec league since kids don't typically play select and rec (rec & academy yes, rec & select no). There are lots of good footskill programs out there, heck I would recommend just finding some basic footskill videos on youtube for her to watch (coerver does a good job). No reason to hold off rec just to get the footskills, she can work on those at home. If she decides she loves it and wants to continue you might look into a formal skill program, but I would save your money for now. The absolute best thing you can do for her is to get her foot on the ball as much as possible. Pass in the yard, dribble around the house, have friendly mom/kid games (great workout for you too!).
I am passionate about soccer, both kids play academy and hubby and I play too. It pains me that we are forced to go uber competitive so young her in N. Tx, I wish the kids had more time to just enjoy the game. Good luck, and have fun!

I haven't done it with my kids, but I played one season of soccer when I was 13 just to be with my friends. I joined our church team which were the returning champions and everyone on the team was really good, we repeated as champs. I didn't like soccer very much, but I had a great time with my friends, despite my inexperience. No one on the team made me feel bad for not being as good as they were and the really tried to help me, especially the coach. Even though I didn't like soccer, I would do it again for the experience.

If it is a recreational league then definitely go for it! If it is a competitive/travel league then you might want to wait until she plays on a rec league. My kids have played for years and when on a rec league the experience of players is really varied! Eleven is a great age to start. My son who plays rec and travel had a brand new kid on his rec team last year (under 18's) who ended up being an awesome goalie! Oh, and for the record there are kids who have played for years and aren't much good but they love the game so kudos to them! Just remind your daughter to be easy on herself with it being her first season! I think it is great that your daughter wants to try a new sport, go for it!

Is your daughter naturally, athletically inclined? If she is a natural athlete than I think she will do well. If she is naturally aggressive and will go after the ball than she will be fine.

My daugher has been playing since 6 and although her foot skills are better than average she is not the star player. There are a lot of other kids with less than average foot skills that are simply more aggressive players. It seems that aggressive wins the game.

Do you have any idea if this is a competitive or recreational league? That might factor into your decision as well.

That's my opinion for what it is worth.

I started playing soccer my junior year of high school--I wasn't great, but I was athletic and learned quickly. Within a few weeks I was playing on the JV team (SMALL school with a fledgling soccer program.)

I'd think that it depends on how serious the program is.

I think as long as you go rec ball she will be fine. Most likely not the only first timer in rec ball.

Competitive teams probably wouldn't take her just due to the lack of knowledge/skills.

But certainly rec ball! Go for it.

I would totally start my child at 11 in soccer, just make sure it's a rec league like AYSO or something like that where everyone has to play. If she is interested in starting any sport, I would absolutely encourage that. A ton of those girls will have been playing all their lives so I would let her know that in advance, and practice the basics of dribbling and passing the ball.

Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of soccer!!!!

I say go for it!

Granted she will probably be on a team w/other girls who have been playing since they were 4...but ya gotta start somewhere and if she is into it let her have a go for it.

What's the worst that can happen? She is not that great? No biggie! It's her first year!

~You can always call the organization and ask if she can enroll even though she has never played?

My daughter didn't begin soccer until 5th grade. On the application they ask for previous years or seasons of soccer play. Obviously we entered zero. She was put on a team that had consistently won 1st place in the league for years and the league was tyring to break up the dynasty to make it more fun for the other teams. It was a recreational league - not a competitive travel league. They spread many of the kids around that year through out the teams and my daughter was treated really well considering she was clueless. In the 5 years following while she played there were almost always new-to-soccer kids who came on the team. They were universally recognized as the kids who didn't know what they were doing - but generally were always treated well by the other kids. Give her props for trying at "this late age". My son tried lacrosse in 4th grade and was discouraged becuase there were kids who had played since they were 5 and he felt he was "too old" to begin playing lacrosse at age 9. (?!?!?) It was the only time we didn't make one of our kids finish out the season - ultiamtely he chose baseball over lacrosse.

Yes. Our team last fall had a variety of kids with different levels of experience and talent. We had a couple new kids, the coach was wonderful at teaching them the basics. THe most experienced kids were enlisted to "help" the newer ones so there was no griping or teasing. Our kids were 10 and 11.
I say go for it.

Hmmm..I have no experience with this but I do imagine most kids at age 11 have been playing for quite some years. I personally would probably do the class to work on basic skills if available first.

I'm sure it's fine if it's a recreational league. They are there to play and LEARN... they super competitive (er... good) kids are already on "select" and "competitive" teams by that age. If it's a league you can just sign up for, I'd say she's good to go. The kids (and families) will be mostly just there to have fun.

Sign her up. If she likes it, then do a camp or class this summer and she'll be more competitive next fall.

Hope this helps.

T.