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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My U12 son has been working really hard, and putting in tons of time outside of practice, but it just doesn't seem that he has what it takes.  He's improved a bit, but the problem is, although he is in good shape and has good technical skills, he just doesn't have the right aggression level.  He's too nice and doesn't like to get physical with opponets at all (if it can be avoided, if it is unavoidable he will take contact, push off etc.).  I know it isn't the end of the world, I just feel bad for him because this is important to him and he has put so much time in.  I'm also down because he has a non-soccer or physical fitness related disability that we recently learned is getting worse, and he is going to have to start wearing an adaptive device at school, which he does not want to do.  I'm not sure what I'm looking for here - I'd like to cheer him up, but I don't know what to suggest except to focus on having fun with his friends from his current low-level travel soccer team.[/quote]

I’m sorry you all are struggling with this. My son also had problems with understanding how to use appropriate levels of aggression while still being naturally shy or reserved. One thing that helped was private training. His coach realized that ds had a solid technical foundation and needed to work on speed of play and the intangibles. Private coach put him against kids 2-4 years older and my ds hated it at first. He would literally cry before practice because he was so scared of them. I forced him to do it. While I don’t know if I’d recommend that to everyone, I knew my son’s live for the game would prevent him from quitting. Very slowly, but surely, he has developed into a “brave” player. I use brave because some kids are scared of being aggressive. Sometimes kids respond better to brave — kinda like a hero.

My son is still not the type of player that is looking to throttle or rip another kids head off on the field. But he’s very smart on how he uses his body and shields the ball. He probably won’t ever be like “Pepe” or “Materazzi “ or “Gatusso”. Never give up on your child and perhaps invest in a private trainer who is understanding. It makes a difference. Btw, my son plays for Virginia Tech[/quote]

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