Why did your son expect to be moved up mid year? Most clubs don't make roster changes between the fall and spring seasons. It does make sense to ask whether your son can practice with the higher team one day per week, but understandable that they don't want to move him up mid year.

You should talk to the coach first and/or the tech director. Don't make demands or accusations. Explain how your son is feeling and ask them if they have ideas how to help him. Most people would want to help a 9 year old. If it goes nowhere you can always then start to look at other clubs. Give people a chance to do the right thing first

Anonymous wrote:OMG he is 9 stop just stop.

Take him off of travel now. Why is he doing daily training? Injury and growth come on you are absud.

He is depressed because you put too much pressure on him

I guarantee this kid will never be scholarship you will be lucky if he makes HS.

Change clubs. That is the only answer if you think he is so hot try him out. I doubt he will make the other elite team.

Signed mother of more than one Divsion 1 player in college.

Cringe. For your kids' sake, please stop.

Anonymous wrote:Contact some other clubs nearby and see if they will let him try out for their spring teams.

I hear AC Milan Virginia is running tryouts for this Spring in EDP

yeah I don't think the coach will care whether or not hes at practice. knows hes going to leave after this season anyway

Anonymous wrote:OMG he is 9 stop just stop.

Take him off of travel now. Why is he doing daily training? Injury and growth come on you are absud.

He is depressed because you put too much pressure on him

I guarantee this kid will never be scholarship you will be lucky if he makes HS.

Change clubs. That is the only answer if you think he is so hot try him out. I doubt he will make the other elite team.

Signed mother of more than one Divsion 1 player in college.

This is a horrible reply. You should be ashamed of yourself. First, if the kid is good enough to move up he should be moved up. Second, you don't know anything about the kid or his parents. You don't know if his parents are pushing him or if he's pushing himself. Both my kids play sports and they rather play sports since age 7-8 than play on the iPad! So, get off your high horse and give some real feedback not some BS response with assumptions.

OP: Go speak with the coach. As a parent of kids who play sports at times we need to step in for the betterment of the kids. I played sports through college and I can say there are many bad coaches in this world. Step in for your kid and at least have a conversation.

He is complaining that other 9 year olds aren’t practicing except at practice? Or that they sometimes miss practice?

Why don't you have him train with the top team during the week and play games with his current team. Obviously, current coach only cares about winning, which is why he is acting like a baby. To me that is a nice compromise that is easy on everyone.

OMG he is 9 stop just stop.

Take him off of travel now. Why is he doing daily training? Injury and growth come on you are absud.

He is depressed because you put too much pressure on him

I guarantee this kid will never be scholarship you will be lucky if he makes HS.

Change clubs. That is the only answer if you think he is so hot try him out. I doubt he will make the other elite team.

Signed mother of more than one Divsion 1 player in college.

by the way, rosters increase from 12 to 16 at U11. so they need more players for the top team next year and won't want to lose you

you should ask to talk to the technical director about this issue. If your son is good enough to move to a higher team, there is no reason to keep him on the lower one "just because".

You have to let them know that if they want to keep him on the lower team for no reason this spring, you will likely change clubs. Its up to your son if he wants to try out for the higher team again during the spring tryout season.

This is BS and don't fall for it.

Anonymous wrote:Contact some other clubs nearby and see if they will let him try out for their spring teams.

Is it normal for teams to add players out of the club just for spring season? I thought it wasn't done often since spring season is only eight weeks long.

Agree, if you know you are going to switch clubs than find another club and take him to a couple practices a month. It will cheer him up to have a change of scenery.

Contact some other clubs nearby and see if they will let him try out for their spring teams.

My son is on a U10 travel team and he's been training almost daily along with having a personal coach since summer. He was suppose to move up to the higher level U10 team this spring, but a day ago we heard from the high tier coach his current coach was very unhappy to hear he wanted to leave and made a fuss about it. So, they are going to leave him on the current team which is well below is skill level.

I've never seen my son so unhappy. It's borderline depression. I'm all for facing real life and realizing life isn't fair. In fact, I'm the parent who makes sure he realizes it. But, this really hit him hard. He trains so much with the hopes of getting moved up because his current team has horrible chemistry and they don't even practice outside of team practice (they don't care). A portion of the players don't even show up to practice or games and the coach doesn't do anything. It's a mess.

As a parent, even though this is good for him overall growing up it sucks to see him so sad. Normally, he's always upbeat and now he doesn't even smile. It's like someone sucked the life out of him. I am proud he's trained so hard. Even during winter break he didn't want to go on a trip. Instead he went to soccer camp. Now, he has to deal with a team he hates for another 3-4 months. I just feel sad for him. I'm tempted to speak with his current coach about this, but really 50/50 on getting too involved.

Talent and skill wise he 100% is able to perform well if moved up. But, he's the best player on his current team so his coach doesn't want to lose him. I think that's selfish (and I used to coach high school sports along with 3 youth sports). Should I speak with the coach or leave it alone?