Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is now a PG but for a long time, he played a forward. He had to switch many teams to get there. It was a long road.

From what I’ve seen, most coaches in this area will not allow a big kid to play PG. It really stunts their growth in the sport. You basically have to refuse to play a different position and it doesn’t go over well with coaches or the team.

Or when they get rebounds push the ball up the court and make little guys run with him. If the coach complains then there is a problem. Let the coach you don’t want to play in a situation where you are never allowed to play the 1. If the coach doesn’t cooperate, definitely switch teams.

My son told his coach this and that he was willing to come off the bench if he couldn’t start. Coach wanted him to start in the post, claiming he would let him run the point later in the game, but rarely did it, and my son switched teams.

These coaches will use your kid up and too many to care if your kid develops more than a post game. If your son doesn’t have more the a post game and doesn’t grow taller that 6’8”, he won’t play beyond high school, and in many cases won’t play much in high school either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone moved teams because they didn't like the position their child was playing? My kid is disappointed in the position the coach assigned him and wants to find a team that will let him play his desired position. Is that something we should indulge?

It sort of depends what level this is. Is it rec or travel? Are you spending a lot of time and money on the sport? Is there a third party who can objectively say your kid belongs at x position? If so, move teams. We have flat out asked coaches before joining a team if our kid will place x position or compete for said position. Its best if expectations are clear up front by both parties before expending time and money.

Are there options for other clubs? For our sport, no one has asked. The impression has always been we should be happy to just be considered lol. No word of wisdom here because our child is not in their desired position but we don’t feel like we have leverage

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is now a PG but for a long time, he played a forward. He had to switch many teams to get there. It was a long road.

From what I’ve seen, most coaches in this area will not allow a big kid to play PG. It really stunts their growth in the sport. You basically have to refuse to play a different position and it doesn’t go over well with coaches or the team.

At younger ages, it's harder to find a skilled big than a good PG. The kids who are best off are those that start as guards and then grow. A kid who is tall early, but won't end up tall enough to stick as a big is in a really bad position because they never develop the skills they'll need as they have to shift from 4 or 5 to a 3 or even a 2. On the other hand, a kid who starts as a 2 and grows will make a great 4

As a college basketball player not that long ago, I'd also mention that positions (1-5) matter less and less now and there is rarely more than one real post player in the game at a time in most modern offenses. If your child is playing on a competitive team where only one person always brings the ball up and they have two people spending most time on the low block, I'd consider switching teams for reasons beyond assigned position!

My kid was as big as the one true big on his AAU team, but when the coaches saw he could shoot, they made him a 2 and started working with him to develop his ball handling to also play 1. We really appreciated it.

But they weren't good coaches if they also werent trying to develop the shooting and ball handling of the other big kid.

Anonymous wrote:I'd encourage your child to have a discussion with the coach about the position situation before moving teams. Even if you do ultimately switch, it sets up the idea that they need to take some ownership and can't just move or have their parents step in when they don't like something.

Coaches lie. My kid was a goalie and had that conversation and was promised field time. The backup goalie moved clubs and the coach claimed no alternative. We ended up requesting their player card and moving early in the fall season. Her new club put her in goal second half, but let her play attacking mid for the first half. Prior team ended up with no keeper.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always feel slightly badly that 1B are considered slow and the least athletic since I have a 1B kid myself I do agree that OF, especially CF, are super quick and have great arms. That regulation sized field is big.

This has me thinking though. I’ve often wondered if he’s been pigeonholed into 1B but he pitches too so maybe he’s saving wear and tear on his arm.

My son is a long time 1B, and he just loves the position - loves the stretch, being engaged with almost every play, loves chatting with the 1B coach and kids who reach 1st. He is also super tall, as many 1B are, and he began to pitch at 14. He is now in high school and will almost certainly play in college as a pitcher. The other starting pitcher on my son’s high school team also plays 1B and they alternate. No shame to 1B!

And whatever to not being as athletic - just look at the skill and importance to making a nice pick out of the dirt to get an out. A good 1B can win games.

Thanks, PP. You made me smile and I went and hugged my tall (but yeah, slow) 1B.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is now a PG but for a long time, he played a forward. He had to switch many teams to get there. It was a long road.

From what I’ve seen, most coaches in this area will not allow a big kid to play PG. It really stunts their growth in the sport. You basically have to refuse to play a different position and it doesn’t go over well with coaches or the team.

At younger ages, it's harder to find a skilled big than a good PG. The kids who are best off are those that start as guards and then grow. A kid who is tall early, but won't end up tall enough to stick as a big is in a really bad position because they never develop the skills they'll need as they have to shift from 4 or 5 to a 3 or even a 2. On the other hand, a kid who starts as a 2 and grows will make a great 4

As a college basketball player not that long ago, I'd also mention that positions (1-5) matter less and less now and there is rarely more than one real post player in the game at a time in most modern offenses. If your child is playing on a competitive team where only one person always brings the ball up and they have two people spending most time on the low block, I'd consider switching teams for reasons beyond assigned position!

My kid was as big as the one true big on his AAU team, but when the coaches saw he could shoot, they made him a 2 and started working with him to develop his ball handling to also play 1. We really appreciated it.

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, when you sign up for tryouts they ask what positions your kid plays. Just put down the desired positions and leave off the undesired one. It doesn't guarantee that your kid will play that if he/she makes the team but it at least puts it in the coach's mind

+1

Obviously it would be very helpful to know the sport and position but in general, this.

If it is a very specific role- for example if kid has been pigeonholed at catcher, just don’t mention it and don’t bring gear to baseball tryout. Similar for a goalie, I’d think.

Other positions, you can just not mention the usual position and see what happens but IME tryouts are pretty generic at this age and coach will place in whatever position works for the team/kids skills. So, could end up playing the same position anyway…..

I'd encourage your child to have a discussion with the coach about the position situation before moving teams. Even if you do ultimately switch, it sets up the idea that they need to take some ownership and can't just move or have their parents step in when they don't like something.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is now a PG but for a long time, he played a forward. He had to switch many teams to get there. It was a long road.

From what I’ve seen, most coaches in this area will not allow a big kid to play PG. It really stunts their growth in the sport. You basically have to refuse to play a different position and it doesn’t go over well with coaches or the team.

At younger ages, it's harder to find a skilled big than a good PG. The kids who are best off are those that start as guards and then grow. A kid who is tall early, but won't end up tall enough to stick as a big is in a really bad position because they never develop the skills they'll need as they have to shift from 4 or 5 to a 3 or even a 2. On the other hand, a kid who starts as a 2 and grows will make a great 4

As a college basketball player not that long ago, I'd also mention that positions (1-5) matter less and less now and there is rarely more than one real post player in the game at a time in most modern offenses. If your child is playing on a competitive team where only one person always brings the ball up and they have two people spending most time on the low block, I'd consider switching teams for reasons beyond assigned position!

We moved in part because my kid had been pigeon holed as a defender for years on a travel team and couldn't get away from it. My kid played forward at tryouts for new club and indicated a desire to play forward on registration and made the new team as a forward. New team plays in a higher division than old team. It was a great year and he scored a lot. Ironically, new club now wants him to play defense next year because he's so good at it and he's bigger than all but one kid on the team. This is an ongoing discussion, but at least new club will let him play whatever he chooses. So, overall, it was a good move.

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone moved teams because they didn't like the position their child was playing? My kid is disappointed in the position the coach assigned him and wants to find a team that will let him play his desired position. Is that something we should indulge?

It sort of depends what level this is. Is it rec or travel? Are you spending a lot of time and money on the sport? Is there a third party who can objectively say your kid belongs at x position? If so, move teams. We have flat out asked coaches before joining a team if our kid will place x position or compete for said position. Its best if expectations are clear up front by both parties before expending time and money.

In my experience, when you sign up for tryouts they ask what positions your kid plays. Just put down the desired positions and leave off the undesired one. It doesn't guarantee that your kid will play that if he/she makes the team but it at least puts it in the coach's mind

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's reasonable, we had/have a lot of drama on our team (soccer) around who plays center back. It is incredibly critical but most kids (including mine!) hate it. If you told us he'd be
in that spot next season we would have walked.

Why do kids hate it?

They want to score goals.
If you make a mistake as a forward or mid, the backs are there to cover for you and no one criticizes. But when you make a great play. everyone cheers. The defenders are criticized for every mistake but no one gets excited when they do their job well.

Exactly, this was 11v11 and we played 4-3-3 with the left and right backs as wing backs (and thus part of the offense). When we played well the CB's would sit near the mid line most the game with occasional bursts of terror when a long ball or sprinter went past them. Every mistake they made that led to a goal is super obvious whereas our offense never scored and no one said anything as they missed open goals time after time.

Most kids want to be involved in the play at least, even if they aren't scoring. It's also seen as where less skilled but bigger but still athletic kids play.

Anonymous wrote:I always feel slightly badly that 1B are considered slow and the least athletic since I have a 1B kid myself I do agree that OF, especially CF, are super quick and have great arms. That regulation sized field is big.

This has me thinking though. I’ve often wondered if he’s been pigeonholed into 1B but he pitches too so maybe he’s saving wear and tear on his arm.

My son is a long time 1B, and he just loves the position - loves the stretch, being engaged with almost every play, loves chatting with the 1B coach and kids who reach 1st. He is also super tall, as many 1B are, and he began to pitch at 14. He is now in high school and will almost certainly play in college as a pitcher. The other starting pitcher on my son’s high school team also plays 1B and they alternate. No shame to 1B!

And whatever to not being as athletic - just look at the skill and importance to making a nice pick out of the dirt to get an out. A good 1B can win games.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's reasonable, we had/have a lot of drama on our team (soccer) around who plays center back. It is incredibly critical but most kids (including mine!) hate it. If you told us he'd be
in that spot next season we would have walked.

Why do kids hate it?

They want to score goals.
If you make a mistake as a forward or mid, the backs are there to cover for you and no one criticizes. But when you make a great play. everyone cheers. The defenders are criticized for every mistake but no one gets excited when they do their job well.

.

I totally get that kids want to score. But I’ve heard nothing but a lot of positivity for the defenders/keepers on my kids’ teams.