10/28/2026
In Lewis Carroll’s story, Through the Looking-Glass, Alice finds herself running as fast as she possibly can alongside the Red Queen. But after all that running, Alice finally looks around and realizes they haven’t actually gone anywhere.
The Red Queen interprets:
“It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.”
This has become known as the Red Queen’s Race—the idea that we can become so consumed with keeping up that we mistake constant motion for actual progress!
There is no better analogy for youth sports right now.
There is tremendous pressure on parents and players to keep up.
Another child is doing private lessons, so maybe ours needs private lessons.
Another team is playing three tournaments this month, so maybe we need more tournaments.
Someone made an “elite” roster.
Someone is traveling farther.
Someone got invited somewhere our child didn’t.
U10 players starting recruiting instagram accounts. At age 9. Wait… what? STOP. Look around…what are WE doing?!
And suddenly that little voice creeps in:
Are we doing enough? Are they falling behind? Are they missing out?
That’s FOMO—and youth soccer has become incredibly good at creating it for profit.
But MORE does not automatically equal better development, better players or even better college prospects.
More games don’t necessarily make a better player. More tournaments don’t necessarily create better decision-makers. More miles traveled don’t necessarily mean better competition. And being on the team with the most impressive name at age 10, 11, or 12 tells us very little about the player that child will become at 16 or 17!
Take Harry Kane who just won the prestigious Ballon d’Or award.
Arsenal let Kane go. He was 8.
Their academy boss later said he was "chubby, not very athletic”
Then he failed a trial at the Spurs.
What a club thinks of an 8 year old is a guess.
Coaches would argue that up until a player's mid-teens, most clubs are guessing about who is going to be good and who isn't.
Sometimes everyone is running faster simply because everyone else is running faster.
Our goal at Vitesse is different.
We want to ask the questions:
Are our players actually moving FORWARD?
Are they becoming more technically confident?
Are they learning to solve problems instead of waiting for instructions?
Are they understanding the game?
Are they becoming creative?
Are they learning how to compete, fail, adjust, and try again?
And maybe most importantly—do they still love playing soccer?
Development takes time. There will be periods when another player seems ahead. There will be invitations your child doesn’t receive. There will be teams winning more games and clubs posting things on social media that make you wonder whether your child is missing something.
That’s okay.
We don’t have to enter every race we’re invited to run.
At Vitesse, we believe in being intentional: quality training, meaningful competition, strong fundamentals, character, confidence, and a long-term love of the game.
And when your child gets to the point they need college or greater exposure, rest assured, we can provide paths for that for them also!
So for this season, when soccer FOMO inevitably hits, and it probably will, remember Alice and the Red Queen.
Before we start running faster simply because everyone around us seems to be running, let’s ask a better question:
Are we actually going somewhere?
Because the goal isn’t to win the youth soccer race.
The goal is to develop the player (and the person!) who comes out on the other side.
