Is my ds the only who doesn,t have a football strip and who doesn,t go to football

[crazyashell]

My ds isn,t absolutely crazy about football but I do think that alot of the influence on this comes from parents.
We as parenst are not big football followers and never go to any matches and it isn,t something I have ever encouraged my ds into.
He is 8 and I have more so encouraged his interest into wildlife by sending him to wildlife clubs and going on wildlife events.
I am aware that on the occasions that I have sent him to football that all of the children have the latest football strip and they all support a team, and that they all play football every week and are in a team.
Am I doing my ds injustice by not making him one of the in crowd.
He of course doesn,t have the same push and enthusiasm and skills as alot of his peers who are fanatic about football and I feel a bit guilty about not encouraging him more.
He has on many occasions gone into a football club only to lose interest.
He also tells me that some of the children at school protest if he wants to play football with them becasue they think he is crap.
Are we as a family odd in that we are not football fanatics and don,t support anyone and take no interest.

[pagwatch]

DS1 is 16, DS2 is 12. They have never owned a football strip, never played local football, do not support a team and don't go to matches.

(DS1 is very sporty though and plays rugby and cricket for his school)

Football is not compulsory ! (and IMHO is a very crap sport, played by morons, supported by twits and run by fuckwits , operating upon the basis that the only thing that matters is who wins and that money is the ultimate achievement.)

It used to be fantastic too, which makes its current state even sadder.

[old git emoticon]

[crazyashell]

Thats how I feel pagwatch didn,t like to say though but thanks for saying it for me.

[courtneylovescox]

whatever pagwatch

imo it's something they get into a bit older than 8.

it's just a game that all the kids seems to play in school. shouldn't be taken too seriously. doesn't matter if they have the kit or not.

[Poshpaws]

I agree with pagwatch.

DS1 (8 next week) has no interest in football, does not even recognise David Beckham let alone any of the others and has never owned a strip. His group of friends at school don't play either, so he is doing fine.

I am glad because I cannot stand football (or many team sports actually ) although DH used to play with the local team and has a minor interest in what is happening in the premiership.

[stealthsquiggle]

DS (6) plays football at school as an after school activity. Almost all his friends have the strips and wear them. DS wears his PE kit. I occasionally feel a little guilty about this, but not guilty enough to buy him overpriced kit for a sport he has only a passing interest in and DH and I have no interest in whatsoever.

I think the ability to have a kick about in the playground is probably a useful life skill. Beyond that I see no obligation to be 'into' football at all. There are plenty of other (team and individual) sports.

[stuffitlllama]

attempted to push a child into football believing he needed to do it and fit in -- and I failed

believe me, if he's interested, you won't need to do anything about it.. he'll do it by himself

if he's not then he's not

the only time it's been an issue for us is when moving schools and football is the "in" for making new friends very quickly and having something to do in the playground

but that's a pretty minor thing, because they all settle down in the end and find their "thing"

wouldn't worry about it -- he would HONESTLY do it himself if he had the interest

[LIZS]

No ds (11)couldn 't care a less and some of his friends are similar. Teamsports like football, rubgy, basketball are a complete nightmare for him to play as he's dyspraxic and he shows little interest in watching sport either(shame as dh loves it). He was vaguely interested in the last European cup as his class had a sweep on the results and he did quite well!

[pagwatch]

ROFL at being 'whatever'ed

[hippipotamiHasLost54lbs]

Ds is 9, nearly 10.
He does not own a football strip. He has never watched a football match. He has never played local football. He does not support a team.

He is however a fab swimmer, keen bike rider, is learning to play tennis and loves all things drama, music and dance.

Football is very overrated and I agree with pag's opinion of it

[stuffitlllama]

football can be so very dull

you are lucky in a way but I know it can feel funny when "everyone else" does it

seriously, this is a non problem

[mollyroger]

2 boys here 8 and 11. Both utterly disinterested in competitive sports. Both very active and enjoy things like swimming,climbing, biking, running. Younger one has really really struggled socially as ALL the other boys are in local teams - and only seem to socialise with each other but he absolutely does not want to participate.
Older boy became 'cool' for not being a footy fan. He has a coterie of musos, creative types, IT freaks and geeks Erm. just like his dad! And, erm, me....

[scoutandjem]

My DS1 only one in his class to not do football after school - he couldn't give a monkeys! Has two hours of rugby on Sunday - my DH is the coach - feels v proud he's doing something different. My DS2 aged four is starting rugby training this September

Both swim, ride bikes and see their friends regularly.

DH and I have absolutely no interest in football.

[Bunch]

I have a 9 yr old nephew who is completely obsessed with football and totally pushed by both parents who are under the illusion he is going to be the next Beckham. They spend their whole lives revolving around his football games. I have a 5 yr old DS who will play if he wants to but it certainly won't intrude on our lives. I will watch with interest how my nephew gets on!!

[flashharriet]

Not too many sweeping generalisations on this thread then .

[Buda]

I think if they are interested they are interested and if not, not!

My DS loves football. Has done since he was 4. No idea where he got it as DH is into rugby and cricket. But DS loves football. I blame my Dad. He held him as a baby and said "we have to get you into football before your Daddy get's you into rugby and cricket" - and it appears to have worked!

A boy in DS's class is not interested particularly and has had to force himself a bit to be one of the gang as for some reason 70% of DS's year group are football mad. His mum is not overly happy and keeps saying he doesn't like football but I think he has become more interested in it through playing.

[kittybrown]

I'm with pagwitch on this one.

Unfortunately in our school it's not just a game it's much much more.
Our DS it not into football at all and gets teased and called all sorts of names for not playing football like "gay retard" "pussy" etc etc. He tried, when he was younger, to like football but just couldn't.

Hopefully your ds will find the friends who like him for who he is not which team he supports, which ball he has or which seasons kit he has.

[pagwatch]

kitty

Bloody nora. I hope that he stays well away from those kids whatever activity they are doing.

[hippipotamiHasLost54lbs]

Flipping heck kitty What horrid boys...
Ds's school does seem to contain a large number of 'football heros' who all play together for the school and for the local team *and for district.
And ds was teased a wee bit. Words like gay (for liking drama, dance and music?) and wimp (for having two left feet?) were banded around. But ds then went and took on the part of ugly sister in the school panto at Christmas (pics on profile, be warned 'tis scary ), brought the house down and now has a bizarre sort of 'cool' status and is pretty much left alone re the football.

[hippipotamiHasLost54lbs]

and!

[oftenpurple]

DS (6) does football as an after school activity during the week. He doesn't own a strip, just wears shorts and a t-shirt and is not remotely bothered by this as he goes to kick a ball about for an hour and do a few skills.

He knows a little about the premiership from his uncle. He loves it though and wants to continue with it next school year. He also does karate, which he thoroughly enjoys.

[flashharriet]

That is horrendous kitty, your poor ds

[MANATEEequineOHARA]

I am another one who is totally with Pagwatch on this! I know that is a pretty huge generalisation, but, well, it is what I think!
My 7 yr old ds does not play football. At holiday club he sometimes does, but he doesn't care for it, it is not his kind of thing.
At his school lots of his class stay and play after school. There is pretty much a half/half divide among the boys - those that play football, and those that play climbing the trees and hiding in dens - I feel pleased (YES DAMMIT AND SMUG!) that ds is in the latter half!

[flashharriet]

I just don't like grown adults resorting to the kind of name calling and posturing that they are criticising these children for. DS loves football, supports a team and plays for a local team. But he also loves wildlife, is always glued to Springwatch etc and likes birdwatching, is in the drama group at school etc etc. It's one of his interests. Surely the issue is obsession, rather than any activity in particular?

[flashharriet]

Oh fgs, and he climbs trees and builds dens too. Kids who do too much of anything are a bit dull, don't you think?