Kid was paired with a ball hog during travel tryout

[Anonymous]

A lot of kids are ball hogs at tryouts. My oldest has done tryouts for a few years now and I always have to remind him to play more selfishly than usual in the scrimmages because kids aren’t going to pass him the ball. I agree that in second grade the kids who are hungry for the ball are the ones who stand out. Most have no understanding of positions because they have been playing in 4v4 games where everyone crowds around the ball and fights for it.

[Anonymous]

2nd grade… they may not have time to recover. Have you thought about trade school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2nd grade… they may not have time to recover. Have you thought about trade school?

Have you thought about a career as a stand-up comic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 2nd grade DS tried out for a travel select team this week (no longer in DC area), and they rotated a group of about 70 kids (25 make it) from station to station. My kid was paired with a peculiar group - one kid who was a ball hog and never passed, one kid who kept flinging himself on the ground and tantruming and crying, then my DS and one other boy. Tryout was pretty much a washout for my kid. Blah. Feel bad for him.

2nd grade??

This means nothing, absolutely nothing.

If your kid was better they would have taken the ball.

LOL, um - that is not how this works. They are looking for positional awareness, not hyperactive hogging.

In 7 year olds? No, they really aren’t. They’re looking for your kid to be faster and more
Competitive and beat the other kid to the ball

No they aren't. That hasn't been the case for at least 15 years. Have you read the new standards and guidelines?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 2nd grade DS tried out for a travel select team this week (no longer in DC area), and they rotated a group of about 70 kids (25 make it) from station to station. My kid was paired with a peculiar group - one kid who was a ball hog and never passed, one kid who kept flinging himself on the ground and tantruming and crying, then my DS and one other boy. Tryout was pretty much a washout for my kid. Blah. Feel bad for him.

2nd grade??

This means nothing, absolutely nothing.

If your kid was better they would have taken the ball.

LOL, um - that is not how this works. They are looking for positional awareness, not hyperactive hogging.

In 7 year olds? No, they really aren’t. They’re looking for your kid to be faster and more
Competitive and beat the other kid to the ball

No they aren't. That hasn't been the case for at least 15 years. Have you read the new standards and guidelines?

If you honestly think the dads running the “pre travel” teams for U7 or U8 are picking the kids who stay back on defense and wait, or who stand away from the action and wave their arm and say “pass!!!”, over the kid who takes the ball down the field alone and scores, I have a bridge to sell you.

They’re babies. They’re picking the athletic ones at this age. What you’re describing comes later.

[Anonymous]

If your kid can’t stand out in a group of 4, then it’s unlikely he needs a soccer league above rec at his age. Most kids don’t. All this travel soccer for 7 year olds is ridiculous, aside from the top 2% of players maybe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid can’t stand out in a group of 4, then it’s unlikely he needs a soccer league above rec at his age. Most kids don’t. All this travel soccer for 7 year olds is ridiculous, aside from the top 2% of players maybe.

Thank you, a voice of reason! Travel soccer is for the ball hog who cries when his team loses at the end of the scrimmage.

[Anonymous]

Ball hogs tend to burn out. We score based on coach evaluations and teamwork; a kid who is a clueless pain and doesn't pass isn't going to do very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid can’t stand out in a group of 4, then it’s unlikely he needs a soccer league above rec at his age. Most kids don’t. All this travel soccer for 7 year olds is ridiculous, aside from the top 2% of players maybe.

Thank you, a voice of reason! Travel soccer is for the ball hog who cries when his team loses at the end of the scrimmage.

I mean at age 7, it’s for kids who belong on a 10-11rec team in terms of skill and speed, because a rec team of 7 year olds will not be fun for him because his skill and speed are so far beyond his peers. Also, the 7 year old playing 4v4 or 5v5 who needs travel soccer isn’t going to be losing any rec scrimmages because he is going to be scoring 5 + goals per game in a rec league scrimmage

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ball hogs tend to burn out. We score based on coach evaluations and teamwork; a kid who is a clueless pain and doesn't pass isn't going to do very well.

We have a kid like this on our team. Absolute standout when he was 7-8, when he was your typical ball hog who would dribble the entire opposing team and score almost every time. Everyone treated him as the superstar and the kid developed into never passing the ball and the defenders eventually figuring him out and his scoring success dropping dramatically. Now whenever he loses the ball, he either fakes a foul or starts crying (usually when we are playing a more competitive team and are falling behind). He still thinks he is much better than everybody else and all the other kids dislike him for that and will always pass to someone else if they have options. The coach does not address it because he is buddies with the dad, who is as popular among the parents as his son among the kids. It is pretty sad because the kid actually seems talented, but there is no effort to develop him into a team player who can do something beyond getting the ball kicked to him from across the field (because he does not really move) to run for the goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ball hogs tend to burn out. We score based on coach evaluations and teamwork; a kid who is a clueless pain and doesn't pass isn't going to do very well.

We have a kid like this on our team. Absolute standout when he was 7-8, when he was your typical ball hog who would dribble the entire opposing team and score almost every time. Everyone treated him as the superstar and the kid developed into never passing the ball and the defenders eventually figuring him out and his scoring success dropping dramatically. Now whenever he loses the ball, he either fakes a foul or starts crying (usually when we are playing a more competitive team and are falling behind). He still thinks he is much better than everybody else and all the other kids dislike him for that and will always pass to someone else if they have options. The coach does not address it because he is buddies with the dad, who is as popular among the parents as his son among the kids. It is pretty sad because the kid actually seems talented, but there is no effort to develop him into a team player who can do something beyond getting the ball kicked to him from across the field (because he does not really move) to run for the goal.

I mean yeah if a kid is still playing this way at age 10/11, it’s a problem. But truly, all little kids in rec at age 6/7 play this way because a kid who is ready to try out for travel soccer at that age, and is playing his last year of rec, isn’t playing with kids who recognize field awareness and stuff. No one is going to go get open in front of the net for him. If they do, they won’t be able to control the ball off of his pass consistently. Because they’re little kids. So they learn if they want to score, they need to do it themselves.

These kids , if they are coached right and coachable, develop the other aspects of the game (like passing!) once they’re on a team of similarly athletic kids who they can trust to receive their passes or get open when needed.

Clearly the kid you’re talking about either wasn’t coached or wasn’t coach able.


But for the first year of travel tryouts, the good kids are ball hogs because that’s the only way they can really play and have fun in ULittle Rec. They can’t pass to little Timmy watching the clouds who is their partner on offense in 4v4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ball hogs tend to burn out. We score based on coach evaluations and teamwork; a kid who is a clueless pain and doesn't pass isn't going to do very well.

We have a kid like this on our team. Absolute standout when he was 7-8, when he was your typical ball hog who would dribble the entire opposing team and score almost every time. Everyone treated him as the superstar and the kid developed into never passing the ball and the defenders eventually figuring him out and his scoring success dropping dramatically. Now whenever he loses the ball, he either fakes a foul or starts crying (usually when we are playing a more competitive team and are falling behind). He still thinks he is much better than everybody else and all the other kids dislike him for that and will always pass to someone else if they have options. The coach does not address it because he is buddies with the dad, who is as popular among the parents as his son among the kids. It is pretty sad because the kid actually seems talented, but there is no effort to develop him into a team player who can do something beyond getting the ball kicked to him from across the field (because he does not really move) to run for the goal.

I mean yeah if a kid is still playing this way at age 10/11, it’s a problem. But truly, all little kids in rec at age 6/7 play this way because a kid who is ready to try out for travel soccer at that age, and is playing his last year of rec, isn’t playing with kids who recognize field awareness and stuff. No one is going to go get open in front of the net for him. If they do, they won’t be able to control the ball off of his pass consistently. Because they’re little kids. So they learn if they want to score, they need to do it themselves.

These kids , if they are coached right and coachable, develop the other aspects of the game (like passing!) once they’re on a team of similarly athletic kids who they can trust to receive their passes or get open when needed.

Clearly the kid you’re talking about either wasn’t coached or wasn’t coach able.


But for the first year of travel tryouts, the good kids are ball hogs because that’s the only way they can really play and have fun in ULittle Rec. They can’t pass to little Timmy watching the clouds who is their partner on offense in 4v4.

I agree with you and I see it mostly as a coaching problem, which is really to the detriment of both, the kid and the team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2nd grade… they may not have time to recover. Have you thought about trade school?

Have you thought about a career as a stand-up comic?

Sure. But I was convinced at 7 years old it was hopeless because my parents were nutters who posted in a forum about a 4v4 try out for 7 year olds like it mattered at all.