Before I had kids of my own, I knew about AAU and other types of clubs that prolonged sporting seasons past the traditional windows. But I was not expecting to have a 7 year old daughter being asked to make potentially life changing decisions. My daughter in the the stage where she wants to try everything, which I love. She's done basketball, soccer, tumbling, and cheer. 

Going forward, competitive cheer seems to be her fascination. We talked to some parents in the area to get us started on some local clubs, and my god. They are year round. The kid wants to play Soccer and Basketball this fall/winter, but the schedules do not line up with these cheer clubs we were recommended to. When we were talking to some club instructors they essentially said, if she plays those other sports and can't do these few different cheer clubs this year, she is going to be so far behind, it'll be impossible for her to catch up. 

My goodness. When I was 7 we played each sport for a few months, then switched to something else.