Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 14:12     Subject: Always favoritism?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So tired of people always crying politics or favoritism when their kids dont get chosen. It bleeds down to the players and creates a culture of excuses as opposed to working harder to be better.


so tired of people who complain that all it takes is to "work harder" when there is clear favoritism at play. It wouldn't be such a trope if it wasn't at least a "bit" true. It sucks, but sometimes a decision is made early on and there is nothing the player can do to overcome it.


That is a poor attitude. There are plenty of ways to overcome it.


Explain. Do you mean by working hard to become so good it's undeniable? Or do you mean by deciding to play the political game too? Often the latter is far easier, imo.


How many times can your kid juggle in a row? Can they keep up the ball 50x in a row with laces, inside foot, outside foot, thighs, chest and head?

Are their 5-10-5 shuttle, 400m, 800m and 1,600m times in the top 10% percentile of your age group.

Can they win 25% of their 1v1’s?

Is your kid scanning at least every 10-15 seconds (which is a slow rate) and able to scan and turn with anticipation?

Are they proficient with shooting, passing and receiving with both their left foot and right foot?

How is their ankle flexion, hip mobility and CofD agility?

After all of that, can they play in a neutral field without their squad or support from Mommy and Daddy?

Everybody wants to talk a great game without acknowledging the work. If you don’t get picked, pick a question above and start doing the work to become undeniable.


Nice list, but funny you start with juggling - that seems to be the most unreliable metric of all the ones you posted. Great list overall!
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 14:00     Subject: Always favoritism?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So tired of people always crying politics or favoritism when their kids dont get chosen. It bleeds down to the players and creates a culture of excuses as opposed to working harder to be better.


so tired of people who complain that all it takes is to "work harder" when there is clear favoritism at play. It wouldn't be such a trope if it wasn't at least a "bit" true. It sucks, but sometimes a decision is made early on and there is nothing the player can do to overcome it.


That is a poor attitude. There are plenty of ways to overcome it.


Explain. Do you mean by working hard to become so good it's undeniable? Or do you mean by deciding to play the political game too? Often the latter is far easier, imo.


How many times can your kid juggle in a row? Can they keep up the ball 50x in a row with laces, inside foot, outside foot, thighs, chest and head?

Are their 5-10-5 shuttle, 400m, 800m and 1,600m times in the top 10% percentile of your age group.

Can they win 25% of their 1v1’s?

Is your kid scanning at least every 10-15 seconds (which is a slow rate) and able to scan and turn with anticipation?

Are they proficient with shooting, passing and receiving with both their left foot and right foot?

How is their ankle flexion, hip mobility and CofD agility?

After all of that, can they play in a neutral field without their squad or support from Mommy and Daddy?

Everybody wants to talk a great game without acknowledging the work. If you don’t get picked, pick a question above and start doing the work to become undeniable.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 13:42     Subject: Always favoritism?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is a dumb thread


of course, but at least I tried to point out a reason why it was dumb instead of this lame crap.


It’s dumb because it’s generic and trite. Name names of clubs and organizations where this happens. Then this thread gets juicy. Otherwise it’s just a bunch of whiney wine moms crying about Johnny not getting a fair shot or a prom date.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 13:41     Subject: Always favoritism?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So tired of people always crying politics or favoritism when their kids dont get chosen. It bleeds down to the players and creates a culture of excuses as opposed to working harder to be better.


so tired of people who complain that all it takes is to "work harder" when there is clear favoritism at play. It wouldn't be such a trope if it wasn't at least a "bit" true. It sucks, but sometimes a decision is made early on and there is nothing the player can do to overcome it.


That is a poor attitude. There are plenty of ways to overcome it.


Explain. Do you mean by working hard to become so good it's undeniable? Or do you mean by deciding to play the political game too? Often the latter is far easier, imo.


Were you the OP? Explain what happened to your child about it being impossible to overcome the favoritism
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 13:37     Subject: Always favoritism?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So tired of people always crying politics or favoritism when their kids dont get chosen. It bleeds down to the players and creates a culture of excuses as opposed to working harder to be better.


so tired of people who complain that all it takes is to "work harder" when there is clear favoritism at play. It wouldn't be such a trope if it wasn't at least a "bit" true. It sucks, but sometimes a decision is made early on and there is nothing the player can do to overcome it.


That is a poor attitude. There are plenty of ways to overcome it.


Explain. Do you mean by working hard to become so good it's undeniable? Or do you mean by deciding to play the political game too? Often the latter is far easier, imo.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 13:36     Subject: Always favoritism?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is a dumb thread


of course, but at least I tried to point out a reason why it was dumb instead of this lame crap.


You must be one of those Nepo babies who get things done by their parents in the background (National ID camps, play time, moving clubs without even trying out…etc). Yes, favoritism is flagrant in youth soccer to the point coaches and clubs don’t hide it anymore. Not complaining but at least if you are a nepo, keep it quiet and don’t pretend you are working harder because people know and they don’t care because nepotism is a real thing in life. Discussion over. Now close this dumb thread down.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 13:36     Subject: Always favoritism?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So tired of people always crying politics or favoritism when their kids dont get chosen. It bleeds down to the players and creates a culture of excuses as opposed to working harder to be better.


so tired of people who complain that all it takes is to "work harder" when there is clear favoritism at play. It wouldn't be such a trope if it wasn't at least a "bit" true. It sucks, but sometimes a decision is made early on and there is nothing the player can do to overcome it.


You do understand that is called “learned helplessness” and is translates to much more outside of the soccer pitch.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 13:31     Subject: Always favoritism?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So tired of people always crying politics or favoritism when their kids dont get chosen. It bleeds down to the players and creates a culture of excuses as opposed to working harder to be better.


so tired of people who complain that all it takes is to "work harder" when there is clear favoritism at play. It wouldn't be such a trope if it wasn't at least a "bit" true. It sucks, but sometimes a decision is made early on and there is nothing the player can do to overcome it.


Yes, everyone should avoid just wallowing in excuses, but landing in the bottom half of A or the top half of B is largely politics. Top half of A and bottom half of B may not even notice. What's extra annoying is when a multi-year beneficiary of politics finally gets moved down off A and then complains about it being "political." Yeah, but hanging on to bottom of A for 2-3 years, when B teamers were better, wasn't? I've heard this multiple times and double-taked at the lack of self-awareness when a political parent first experiences the wrong side of it.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 13:30     Subject: Always favoritism?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So tired of people always crying politics or favoritism when their kids dont get chosen. It bleeds down to the players and creates a culture of excuses as opposed to working harder to be better.


so tired of people who complain that all it takes is to "work harder" when there is clear favoritism at play. It wouldn't be such a trope if it wasn't at least a "bit" true. It sucks, but sometimes a decision is made early on and there is nothing the player can do to overcome it.


That is a poor attitude. There are plenty of ways to overcome it.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 13:29     Subject: Always favoritism?
Anonymous wrote:This is a dumb thread


of course, but at least I tried to point out a reason why it was dumb instead of this lame crap.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 13:28     Subject: Always favoritism?
Favoritism is a part of life. Club sports players learn this lesson early. We tell our kids to keep working hard and make the best of the situation. Once they were teens, they got comfortable asking the coach for meetings 1-on-1 (we coached them on what to say, but they never attended). They thanked the coach for the opportunity to play on their team and asked them what they needed to work on to get more playing time or play whatever position they wanted. Both times, this worked.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 13:27     Subject: Always favoritism?
This is a dumb thread
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 13:25     Subject: Always favoritism?
Such is life, let them learn it now in a meaningless sports evironemnt so they are equipped for all the parking cone personalities that you are confronted by in life
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 13:13     Subject: Always favoritism?
Anonymous wrote:So tired of people always crying politics or favoritism when their kids dont get chosen. It bleeds down to the players and creates a culture of excuses as opposed to working harder to be better.


so tired of people who complain that all it takes is to "work harder" when there is clear favoritism at play. It wouldn't be such a trope if it wasn't at least a "bit" true. It sucks, but sometimes a decision is made early on and there is nothing the player can do to overcome it.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2026 13:07     Subject: Always favoritism?
So tired of people always crying politics or favoritism when their kids dont get chosen. It bleeds down to the players and creates a culture of excuses as opposed to working harder to be better.