Anonymous wrote:A parent was highly upset because his kid wasn't starting.
He didn't bother to focus on the fact his son had as much minutes as the starters.

This must be a coach again. Come on, give parents some credit. You don't think we know how to count? Amazing.

A parent was highly upset because his kid wasn't starting.
He didn't bother to focus on the fact his son had as much minutes as the starters.

Anonymous wrote:Is this common for lineups to be established and unchanged the entire season? My kid has been benched first every single game the entire season, even though he has improved a lot and other players have consistently missed practice throughout the season, those kids are still always on the starting lineup. I’ve been told by other parents that once the lineup has been established at the beginning of the season, it usually doesn’t change. This seems really dumb and also unfair considering some kids talent starts falling away and other kids start to improve and really show what they’re made of. This is the A team in the age group.
Thoughts?

Not normal. But it happens. The dirty politics by parents and clubs managers/directors gives room to this type of behavior.

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Anonymous wrote:To clarify, he HAS gotten 50% playing time the majority of games (several games he has gotten less). But he always starts on the bench. I think psychologically it’s messing with him. He works just as hard as the others, attends all practices, plays multiple positions well, he is a good teammate (not ball hog), and he loves the game. My biggest fear is this will demoralize him and change how he feels about playing. Especially since he’s only 10.

Thanks for the feedback. I’m glad so many people agree that the unchanging lineup is inappropriate at this age. We will make a plan to provide feedback to the coach and have a contingency plan if he doesn’t take it well.

-OP

Talk in person and then follow up with an email about the conversation and cc they age group director on the email so they have a record of it and normally makes coaches take you more serious.

I will say, complaining about not starting but playing 50% won't go far even if that's dumb. The coach is doing the bare minimum to not get in trouble. Definitely have a conversation and then start looking at other clubs over winter and make the move mid year or have another team lined up before tryouts.

Or have your kid do extra work at home and improve. He needs a super power. They all have one. Mine was easy. Speed. If he is not a speedster make him the best Passer/best Touch/ best Dribbler on the team by working at home. The answer is not always leaving, complaining about coach to Director etc... sometimes the answer is putting in extra work. Especially when he is young enough (10) to become very very good at this game with just some extra practice on his own. If he were not playing, I agree move... but if he is playing half the game... Work work work. It won't go to waste even if you end up moving down the road he will be a more technical player able to back himself on any team.

Sure, but you're missing the point. The coach is being lazy and whether it's playing op kid or someone what the coach shouldn't be staying injured/under performing players either way.

Really cannot decipher what you are trying to say.
Either way. Forget the coach/forget the club. In 2-3 years none of these kids will be with same Coach/Club.
WhatbI said above "work work work" on your individual technique is what will make the difference. If the coach is playing the kid 50% now... extra work will have him play 80 -90% because improvement cannot be ignored ored and the coach team wants to win.
You have to invest in YOURSELF as a player. The club/ coach is a resource for you to develop... but you the player have to invest in yourself. Whatever you give to football it will give to you. It is the most fair thing in the world, but you have to give it your time and love to be good

Sure, made no sense to no one but you. Why don't you just list the business you work for or 'with' that helped your player SO much. No one is asking for your advice and yet you keep shoving it into comments. So many families listen to people like you and sink thousands into outside training and it makes zero difference at that club/for their coach.

Coaches regularly just pick kids and ignore the rest and it makes no sense. It is not uncommon and for a number of reasons from laziness to momentarily (there are so many threads about coaches/clubs being pay to play.)

Either way, what I said is real advice op was looking for. Bring it up with the club and to their attention. If they don't respond well look elsewhere.

I work for no one. I am not trying g to sell anything... it costs $ 0 dollars to have your child juggle the ball 10 minutes per day. Just him or her and the ball.
It costs $0 to have your kid dribble 10 yards (with their weak foot) and turn with inside of foot twice and outside of foot twice. (About 4 minutes per day).
Go out with your kid and throw (underhand) the ball to their feet and have them try to hit it back to you with right amount of pace in the air. All that costs $0 and will get you some quality time with your kid... but instead you would have someone playing half the game already complain to the coach and club instead of doing what I suggest above?
I'm not arguing with you BtW, just leaving useful information for people who think critically and logically.

Anonymous wrote:OP are you the only parent staying and watching closely. Even if you don’t say a word coaches notice this, and not in a position way.

No, I am not the only parent who stays. I have every right to be at the practice and see what my money is going toward. I never say a word to the coach unless he talks to me first. Why would a coach view a parent watching his child practice negatively?
-OP

Anonymous wrote:I think the coaches make a lot of promises to new players, like you’ll be my starting attacking midfielder and get most of the minutes. Don’t care about returning players.

It's all about bringing in new paying customers and stringing the og families along. Rosters filled with bench players when only the starters get real playtime is just money grabs. Always ID and see how the coach acts in practice towards the current players before believing them when they say they love your player.