Coach held back player from playing in offensive position for 4 years

[Anonymous]

We recently switched teams after 4 years with one coach. Daughter is 8th grader who is very athletic, fast, and agile. Coach ALWAYS played her in defense (and she was strong in that position). I gently asked him a few times to try her in offensive positions, and his answer was always that she wasn't up to it because of her ball handling skills. He did occasionally play her in offense, but it was always for a few minutes in a game (no opportunity to show ability).

Well she has been on her new team for a total of 3 tournament games and one official game and has scored 5 times as a forward already. This is on a team in an older age group mind you. I am so angry that she wasn't able to develop as a forward all those years because I trusted this coach's judgment. But I am grateful that she is now officially a forward and the new coach is very excited to develop her in that position.

Lesson learned to trust your gut about a coach despite others gushing about what a great coach he is.

[Anonymous]

Coaches at that age are typically inexperienced or parents. They are highly susceptible to parental influence or favorites. At least you realized and switched clubs. Always be wary of parent coaches and coaches that have obvious favorites for certain unwarranted kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Coaches at that age are typically inexperienced or parents. They are highly susceptible to parental influence or favorites. At least you realized and switched clubs. Always be wary of parent coaches and coaches that have obvious favorites for certain unwarranted kids

OP here. This coach was a paid professional who has coached high school teams. I was manager of team. Yeah.

[Anonymous]

10-14 years old are prime years. Too bad that you didn't leave sooner but better sooner than later

My DS did a his first year in defense and did a great job but never got to play midfield. This year he is in playing up front and doing great. Ball skills are improving quickly.

This is one reason why coaches should follow the same team over 2 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We recently switched teams after 4 years with one coach. Daughter is 8th grader who is very athletic, fast, and agile. Coach ALWAYS played her in defense (and she was strong in that position). I gently asked him a few times to try her in offensive positions, and his answer was always that she wasn't up to it because of her ball handling skills. He did occasionally play her in offense, but it was always for a few minutes in a game (no opportunity to show ability).

Well she has been on her new team for a total of 3 tournament games and one official game and has scored 5 times as a forward already. This is on a team in an older age group mind you. I am so angry that she wasn't able to develop as a forward all those years because I trusted this coach's judgment. But I am grateful that she is now officially a forward and the new coach is very excited to develop her in that position.

Lesson learned to trust your gut about a coach despite others gushing about what a great coach he is.

Perhaps it is possible that you both were right?

[Anonymous]

We have a similar scenario. DC is a forward and previous coach did not play them much in tournaments. However, as we are stat nerds, noticed the team scored over 90% of the time when DC was on the field in regular games. In some sports, thats a crucial stat. New coach is playing them more and parents commenting how they see a difference. Its a fine line between trusting a coach and not being "that parent".

[Anonymous]

Maybe another lesson learned: try to avoid having the same coach for four years.
In this case, the years between 4th and 8th grades--time of significant change (physical, mental, emotional) for kids. It's ridiculous that a coach wouldn't move the kids around on the field some.

Good news: You might have at least gotten some honest feedback that she needs to work on her technical skills. There's still time to do that. Being athletic, agile, and fast is awesome--but it isn't enough.

Better news: Don't worry about "missing out" on years of development. As long as she's been on the field, it's fine. She'll move again. And again. And it sounds like she'll be prepared to play wherever a team needs her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10-14 years old are prime years. Too bad that you didn't leave sooner but better sooner than later

My DS did a his first year in defense and did a great job but never got to play midfield. This year he is in playing up front and doing great. Ball skills are improving quickly.

This is one reason why coaches should follow the same team over 2 years.

*shouldn't* follow the same team

[Anonymous]

OP- my youngest had the same issue. Only, he had been a high scoring forward, very goal hungry. He's extremely technical/great ball skill. Travel coaches put him at Center back and kept him there from 11-13. Three full years and never pulled him out or gave him a chance elsewhere even in scrimmages or hugely lopsided wins. HE ASKED over and over again for time in other positions. We eventually met with TD and coach and at the start of every year to keep us there, it was the song and dance--of course, of course we will make sure he plays elsewhere blah, blah, blah. Our mistake was committing/paying in the Fall thinking with a new TD,new coaches different years it would be different.

He is on a new team also at U14 and this coach plays him at striker and attacking mid (where I believe)he was a natural. BUT-now after so many years as a defender he's lost a lot of his former finishing skills and plays so defensively instead of pressing. We are heavily working on this now,,, to try to get him back to pressing hard.

Kids really need to be rotated through the positions in the younger years. This kid was such a versatile player-- the former Club raved about how versatile he was--and then ruined it.

My older kid played entire seasons at completely different positions and at 16, I see the benefit and the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP- my youngest had the same issue. Only, he had been a high scoring forward, very goal hungry. He's extremely technical/great ball skill. Travel coaches put him at Center back and kept him there from 11-13. Three full years and never pulled him out or gave him a chance elsewhere even in scrimmages or hugely lopsided wins. HE ASKED over and over again for time in other positions. We eventually met with TD and coach and at the start of every year to keep us there, it was the song and dance--of course, of course we will make sure he plays elsewhere blah, blah, blah. Our mistake was committing/paying in the Fall thinking with a new TD,new coaches different years it would be different.

He is on a new team also at U14 and this coach plays him at striker and attacking mid (where I believe)he was a natural. BUT-now after so many years as a defender he's lost a lot of his former finishing skills and plays so defensively instead of pressing. We are heavily working on this now,,, to try to get him back to pressing hard.

Kids really need to be rotated through the positions in the younger years. This kid was such a versatile player-- the former Club raved about how versatile he was--and then ruined it.

My older kid played entire seasons at completely different positions and at 16, I see the benefit and the difference.

Are you saying he was a high scoring forward at 9 and 10 years old?

[Anonymous]

This is a good post. My son is in the same situation. Center back for years on end. After reading this, I am going to talk to the coach. Turning 12 this year, U13. He needs to play in other positions on the field. Plus the other kids need to learn how to play defense. I find it ridiculous that these kids aren't rotated.
On my two other kids teams - younger, but still - kids play all positions including goalie.
He has great technical skills and speed, but because he gets back on defense he gets stuck at center back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a good post. My son is in the same situation. Center back for years on end. After reading this, I am going to talk to the coach. Turning 12 this year, U13. He needs to play in other positions on the field. Plus the other kids need to learn how to play defense. I find it ridiculous that these kids aren't rotated.
On my two other kids teams - younger, but still - kids play all positions including goalie.
He has great technical skills and speed, but because he gets back on defense he gets stuck at center back.

Some of the best players are put at center back because it's a crucial position. You can hide weaknesses in offense, especially as forwards are adjusting to the larger field in U13. It's frustrating as a parent to watch, but as least your son is gaining good experience and seeing the field from a different "position" and increasing his soccer IQ.

[Anonymous]

American youth coaches don't understand the game, nor the ability to teach the game. They often just implement their playing experiences on the players.

Your daughter was fast, so he put her on the backline so she could stop counterattacks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- my youngest had the same issue. Only, he had been a high scoring forward, very goal hungry. He's extremely technical/great ball skill. Travel coaches put him at Center back and kept him there from 11-13. Three full years and never pulled him out or gave him a chance elsewhere even in scrimmages or hugely lopsided wins. HE ASKED over and over again for time in other positions. We eventually met with TD and coach and at the start of every year to keep us there, it was the song and dance--of course, of course we will make sure he plays elsewhere blah, blah, blah. Our mistake was committing/paying in the Fall thinking with a new TD,new coaches different years it would be different.

He is on a new team also at U14 and this coach plays him at striker and attacking mid (where I believe)he was a natural. BUT-now after so many years as a defender he's lost a lot of his former finishing skills and plays so defensively instead of pressing. We are heavily working on this now,,, to try to get him back to pressing hard.

Kids really need to be rotated through the positions in the younger years. This kid was such a versatile player-- the former Club raved about how versatile he was--and then ruined it.

My older kid played entire seasons at completely different positions and at 16, I see the benefit and the difference.

Are you saying he was a high scoring forward at 9 and 10 years old?

The first travel Club played him with kids 2 years older from the time he started showing up at their academies, and his first year of travel. Yes. He would play Futsal with his brother's team 3 years older. And would have the most goals--even 1/4 of the size. But, new club was heavy on possession and considered center back the golden position.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a similar scenario. DC is a forward and previous coach did not play them much in tournaments. However, as we are stat nerds, noticed the team scored over 90% of the time when DC was on the field in regular games. In some sports, thats a crucial stat. New coach is playing them more and parents commenting how they see a difference. Its a fine line between trusting a coach and not being "that parent".

American youth coaches have ZERO interest in statistical analysis, data analysis. They're over two decades behind Europe.

They're still telling kids to play "street football" lol