Reply to U Little boy who is a standout in practice but does nothing in games (literally, sometimes).

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It sounds like he's a defender.  [/quote]

I think the truth behind this is that some kids have an easier time figuring out what the task is defensively than offensively.  Defense feels like something you have to do, forcing them into action.  Offense feels like a choice - do I want to dribble, pass, have the ball more, watch teammates score?  Offense takes more competitiveness, creativity, and confidence.  At U8, the offense might feel overcrowded already to him.  Defense takes more intelligence.  Defense feels like a necessity - even if it's crowded, if your teammates are failing you have to get in there.  Kids who are content being role players will gravitate to defense. Being a defender sucks in youth soccer though, because unless you're very tall, coaches will not promote you to better teams.  You can be your team's best player by a mile, and you won't get recognition unless it's for your size.

My guess is this kid is looking for his task.  As someone else said, watching pro games can help learn what to do off the ball.  Now his task isn't "get in the bunch" but can be positioning and making runs.  No one may pass to those runs though yet at U8.  More likely, a kid will just start positioning outside the bunch defensively if the team sucks, and positioning outside the bunch offensively if the team is good.  At U8 though, realistically not every kid is ready to watch pro games and think about the off-ball tactics.

I'd simplify his tasks for the next game.  Tell him for the first two minutes of the next game, his job is to do everything himself. No passing allowed.  His job is to try to dribble through/past the entire other team, if he loses the ball he recovers it, and he doesn't stop until he has scored a goal.  After two minutes is over, he owns a third of the field.  He can pick which third before the game.  When the play is in that third, he is responsible for it.  Defensively, obviously.  Offensively it's his job to advance it through the third and then pass.  If his team is playing offense outside this third, his job is to talk to them about which way to dribble or who to pass to.  His job is to manage/coach the other thirds.  Defined jobs.  After he's engaged and confident, the challenge will be introducing creativity and knowing when to abandon those jobs.

Just my two cents, but I've seen this work on the girls side for girls who aren't ultra confident or competitive, but otherwise are fearless and talented enough to do more.

[/quote]

Thanks so much for this advice. You’re exactly on the mark that he stands “outside the bunch”. Obviously U8 rec soccer is just 8 boys bunched up around the ball, and he used to be aggressive and totally into that when he was 4 and 5 years old, but now he isn’t. He hangs back, and his current rec team sort of stinks so yes he usually hangs back and then when the other team emerges from the pack with the ball, he goes hard and wins the ball . But then the pack of 8-10 kids including his own teammates descends on him and if he doesn’t sprint past / around the mob before they surround him, he either clears the ball and gives up (there is no one to pass to) or he loses the ball in the pack and gives up. I sense it’s just a frustrating way to play soccer, he even says recently that he likes practices better than games which is mind boggling for a young kid to say. But you’re right that he doesn’t know what to do, I think. And he isn’t quite strong enough of a player to just railroad a pack of 8 kids and his footwork isn’t quite good enough to successfully maneuver around the entire pack on a tiny 4 v 4 or 5v5 field especially when his own teammates are trying to take the ball from him too.

Maybe playing 7v7 with goalies for the first time will actually be helpful for next year especially with the club team coach.

I don’t know if he’ll react well to me telling him to do everhbrjng he can to keep the ball for 2 minutes- he doesn’t like feeling like I’m forcing him to do something and he’ll push back. In all aspects of life not just sports. Like with trying new foods or wearing a certain outfit and other little kid drama stuff. Which is why I hesitate to offer him any feedback at all in sports because he is athletic and loves sports and I don’t want to ruin that for him. But maybe I can ask his coach to tell him that - he takes that sort of direction fine from anyone besides me and his dad. [/quote]

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