When the ball hog gets the ball at practice tell your kid to break his legs. Ball hog should be out for two months, maybe more.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This. It's for the coach to deal with.

And if they don’t deal with it then what? Nothing?

Yes, unless you are the coach. These kids are so young. These things will sort themselves out over the next few years as being a ball hog won't work at 11v11 and when the other players/teams are passing circles around them. You need to adjust your expectations for what 9v9 soccer looks like.

This. Make sure your own kid understands why passing the ball is important. And if his/her coach doesn't start working on that with the team, start looking elsewhere. The ball hog is not your problem.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This. It's for the coach to deal with.

And if they don’t deal with it then what? Nothing?

Yes, unless you are the coach. These kids are so young. These things will sort themselves out over the next few years as being a ball hog won't work at 11v11 and when the other players/teams are passing circles around them. You need to adjust your expectations for what 9v9 soccer looks like.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This. It's for the coach to deal with.

And if they don’t deal with it then what? Nothing?

Is your kid doing the right thing?

Change clubs/coach

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you help your child deal with a teammate who is a ball hog? 9v9

Are you the team coach?

This. It's for the coach to deal with.

No it's not. You just must have had a brain freeze or something or are you really saying that it's up to the coach to deal with ALL THE OTHER KIDS AND TEACH THEM HOW TO BE A GOOD TEAMMATE TO A BALL HOG? Anyway...the OP is asking how can he help his kid when one of his/her teammates is a ball hog...and he got some good advice...your advice not being one of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This. It's for the coach to deal with.

And if they don’t deal with it then what? Nothing?

Not the PP, but yes let coach deal with it. Don't criticize the other players to your kid. But teach your kid how much to dribble and pass. But, I would speak to the Coach and let them know your concerns to get their philosophy on developing dribbling vs passing. Some Coaches really emphasizes passing and get angry with dribbling and some coaches emphasize dribbling do develop ball control skills at that age. Ask the coach and see what their thoughts are.

Agreed, some coaches are ok with over-dribbling at younger ages on the theory that it is easier to learn one-two-touch than learn holding up the ball under pressure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This. It's for the coach to deal with.

And if they don’t deal with it then what? Nothing?

Not the PP, but yes let coach deal with it. Don't criticize the other players to your kid. But teach your kid how much to dribble and pass. But, I would speak to the Coach and let them know your concerns to get their philosophy on developing dribbling vs passing. Some Coaches really emphasizes passing and get angry with dribbling and some coaches emphasize dribbling do develop ball control skills at that age. Ask the coach and see what their thoughts are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you help your child deal with a teammate who is a ball hog? 9v9

Have you kid watch to see if the teammate is looking at their feet when dribbling, many kids can't see the pass or their teammates. Just having your kid take the evaluation perspective gets them thinking more about does and dont's better. A well placed encouraging "look up" from a teammate might be better than an exasperated scream to "pass the ball."

Few coaches seem to try to fix this.

I'd second this. "Look up," "Find Jimmy," "Man on," could all help. As a teammate, you can work on positive on-field communication and seeing more of the field than the ball hog is seeing. Shouting "Pass the ball" could sound very negative and confrontational. Communicating when to look up, or what pass to look for, could also help ensure that there is a viable pass being missed at that moment. If all the teammates are standing around making zero effort to get open or make runs, maybe the ball hog is right to try to dribble the whole team. If that's the case, your kid should also be communicating to other teammates to move ("Joe, move to support," "Roger, make a forward run," "Mike, overlap").

Second this. Great response. We have a similar issue and my player just says, "Pass Im Open!" But the players keep on dribbling. (This is at U11... so 9v9 also.) I'll have to encourage her to offer more specific supporting vocal instructions. But yes, we have players who only dribble and rarely pass. They do False8 dribbling training and like to use their skills on the field instead of passing. The usually loose the ball and have not figured out when to dribble or when to pass yet. The coach encourages the dribbling at this age. I hope that changes, but for now we have 3-4 ball hogs on our team.

Anonymous wrote:

This. It's for the coach to deal with.

And if they don’t deal with it then what? Nothing?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you help your child deal with a teammate who is a ball hog? 9v9

Are you the team coach?

This. It's for the coach to deal with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you help your child deal with a teammate who is a ball hog? 9v9

Have you kid watch to see if the teammate is looking at their feet when dribbling, many kids can't see the pass or their teammates. Just having your kid take the evaluation perspective gets them thinking more about does and dont's better. A well placed encouraging "look up" from a teammate might be better than an exasperated scream to "pass the ball."

Few coaches seem to try to fix this.

I'd second this. "Look up," "Find Jimmy," "Man on," could all help. As a teammate, you can work on positive on-field communication and seeing more of the field than the ball hog is seeing. Shouting "Pass the ball" could sound very negative and confrontational. Communicating when to look up, or what pass to look for, could also help ensure that there is a viable pass being missed at that moment. If all the teammates are standing around making zero effort to get open or make runs, maybe the ball hog is right to try to dribble the whole team. If that's the case, your kid should also be communicating to other teammates to move ("Joe, move to support," "Roger, make a forward run," "Mike, overlap").

Anonymous wrote:How do you help your child deal with a teammate who is a ball hog? 9v9

Are you the team coach?

Anonymous wrote:How do you help your child deal with a teammate who is a ball hog? 9v9

Have you kid watch to see if the teammate is looking at their feet when dribbling, many kids can't see the pass or their teammates. Just having your kid take the evaluation perspective gets them thinking more about does and dont's better. A well placed encouraging "look up" from a teammate might be better than an exasperated scream to "pass the ball."

Few coaches seem to try to fix this.

Tough one. I’d leave the criticism and coaching to the coach. As a parent, don’t criticize your child’s teammates… that’s not your job, it’s the coaches. But let your player know at 9v9 it’s still ok for players to be brave and try dribbling moves during the game. The game and teammates are a good teacher. The kids should talk to to ball hog and ask them to pass more. Peer pressure will work better.

Also, consider the possibility that the kid is a ball hog because their parents are pressuring them to be a ball hog. Kids who do the outside dribbling training are more likely to be a ball hog. It’s terrible for the team, but it’s a process that must play out.


Just have your kid ask the teammate to pass more.

How do you help your child deal with a teammate who is a ball hog? 9v9