To PP: good for your kids. But U13 is different than U10 or U11. Personally I think all kids at that age need to be playing the game. I don’t think all parents expect equal playing time in soccer but I don’t think kids can develop game confidence and skills without sufficient playing time. There are multiple strings on this topic so I will end there.

Anonymous wrote:For those parents who have kids playing the full game, I can see how the above might irk you. But for those parents with 9 year olds or 10 year olds who play maybe 10 minutes a game in the tournament... really? The team clearly has no allegiance in terms of developing them, so I don’t think they should owe the team anything. Surely someone else can manage that 10 minutes. That may not be the scenario for the above situation, but I have seen it.

I will respectfully disagree with you. Our team has a kid who is really small (U13). He is smaller than any player the other team has. He plays 10-15 minutes a game normally. Midfielder. Good ball skills, but just not fast and gets pushed off the ball too easy. Our starting #8 gets injured early in the game this week and this kid has to come in for most of the game. He played fantastic. Played within himself and made very good decisions with the ball. We needed him and he delivered. It's Ok to be on the bench as long as you come in and deliver. You said "maybe 10 minutes a game in the tournament". Guess what? Tournaments are where clubs place the most importance.

By the way those nightmare parents who believe their kids are pro athletes tend to be negligent parents. They provide their kids with their over the counter pain killers. I am talking U15 and younger. This is insane.

Do you know what an over the counter pain medication is (paracetamol, ibuprofen), and that kids 12 and up can take many kinds? Why wouldn't you provide a child with an over the counter pain medication if they were in a level of pain that could be treated by such a medication?