Sydney Leroux: Stop Thinking Your Child is The Best
Sydney Leroux is an awesome role model. One of the United States’ most visible female athletes, this Canadian American professional soccer player cares deeply about the sport she plays. As a new parent — and even before she give birth — Leroux felt strongly about parents needing to chill out on the sidelines.
Leroux wants to remind parents that youth soccer players should be self-motivated, not pushed by their parents and dragged to practice.
As a forward on the U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team, Leroux has reached the pinnacle of her career. An Olympic gold medalist, Leroux also plays for the FC Kansas City in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). A May baby born in 1990, Leroux has won gold in the 2012 London Olympics and enjoyed victory in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Playing with Passion is Super Important,” says Leroux. “Sometimes it’s very hard for parents to hear, but ninety-five percent of the time your kid is not going to be on the National Team.”
Now a new mom herself, Leroux understands that parents can become to involved in their kid’s soccer. Parents Chill Out is a quick video that speaks directly to the heart of the matter – over anxious and eager parents who push their kids too much.
I didn’t grow up with a lot of money to go into all these camps and do all these crazy things that that parents have their kids doing now. I was playing in my backyard with with passion and love for the game — and, I think that that’s super important.
Determined to be successful from a young age, Leroux moved from Canada to Arizona at the age of 15 to follow her desire to play soccer for the USA. Although both her parents understood the desire for a career in pro sports — her mother played for the Canadian National Softball Team and her father was a pro baseball player — it was a tough choice to leave her family behind and venture out on her own to peruse her dream of playing for U.S. Soccer Women’s Team.
Leroux played collegiate soccer for UCLA from 2008 to 2011, under head coaches Jill Ellis (2008–10) and B. J. Snow (2011). Married to English-born MLS player Dom Dwyer, the couple is expecting their first child next month. According to early reports, it is going to be a boy! The only question really remains, will he grow up to play for the U.S. Men’s National Team?
Thanks US Youth Soccer for the great video!
Updated 11/1/16
