Girls football coach wants to drop players

[Joselyn1976]

My daughter plays football recently the coaches have been putting in group chats messages about children being dropped cause they not good enough WOW what happened about it taking part that matters my child trys her best since when has football become so bad my son was a player 10years ago they lose most games he played for district his team never dropped the players I'm shocked any team would do this

Happens all the time.
I understand why a lot of children don't do sports at all.

I’ll get flamed for this but I’m a big advocate for streaming - there’s a place for everyone in sport but it works best if you play in a group at a similar level. Huge difference in abilities is so hard to coach. My DC are low level but they enjoy it which is all that matters. Our local football club had 4 teams per age group and vaguely sorts on ability which is regularly reviewed.

Also at grassroots football we need more coaches- I’m too sick to carry on coaching but none of the other 7 families are stepping up to take over so the team is folding.

I’m just a mum who stepped up but it’s been utterly thankless and I’m not good enough to coach a mixed ability team (and now too sick anyway).

What age?
Age 6 not good, age 15 then understandable.

Honestly I think it depends on the level of the team.

My DD plays, she’s never going to be amazing but enjoys it and turns up week in week out. We specifically looked for a low division team that was all about having fun when we signed her up.

Her best friend plays for a team that has trials and is very selective, they play in a much higher skilled league, I would very much expect then to drop players if they are not performing.

If the kids are 5/6/7 then YNBU, if they are 11+ playing in a competitive league then YBU.

They usually play football in leagues which are obviously based on ability. If they want to be a competitive team there isn't anything wrong with that. It may not be the best team for your daughter though in which case find a different team either in a lower league or that plays for fun on a less competitive basis.

Possibly better to be formally dropped and have the option to play for another team than to do all the practices and never get match time? This certainly happens in cricket teams…

I thought sport was competitive?

Isn't the whole point to win?

I mean, obviously there will be teams where it's just for fun but, generally speaking, you play these games to win.

(I'm shit at all sport!)

Sport isn't for the likes of people who aren't good at it unfortunately.

I think that your son’s team was unusual because from what I’ve heard it’s normal for matches to become more serious around age 7 and for weaker players to move to less skilled teams. Football’s popularity makes it easier to do stuff like that.

I totally understand why some parents at my kids primaries encouraged them to do solo or niche sports - the kids continued into secondary unlike football.

The teams play in leagues that are organised by ability/ team performance.

No one's saying the kids can't play football- they just need to be in a team & league that matches their ability.

My son's football club have 3 teams at his age group in divisions 1, 2 & 4 of a 5 division league. Kids are placed where they fit best in terms of ability and get moved around as they develop.

I don't agree with coaches posting about 'dropping' individuals on a group chat though- that is cruel.

Depends on the age of the kids and the nature of the club. But if it’s a competitive team then only 11 + subs can actually play in a match so it makes sense that they might want to cap the numbers and hold trials. Your son’s team sounds like it was a non serious ‘just for fun’ type club or they were short on numbers.

And then you wonder why adults just don’t donnant sport at all…

Way to ensure they’ll never do it if the only thing that is ever emphasised is winning and being good at it.
Nothing about being in a team (or alone), enjoying the sport, improving yourself etc…

Sport isn’t mean to be ALWAYS competitive. It can be. It doesn’t have to.

To add, I don’t agree with posting a group chat about not being good enough but our coaches do publish a team each week.
I’d be interested in what the actual statement was or whether it’s been interpreted to be they are not good enough.

Your son’s team sounds like it was a non serious ‘just for fun’ type club

So you can’t seriously do a sport if it’s ’just fur fun p’ aka a bit of play around??

Like if I go and run the distance of a marathon but it’s not a competition or with the aim of being good and competitive, it’s not a serious sport practice?

Yabu. There will be just as many kids, if not more, who would want to play with and against players of equal ability as them. They enjoy it more then, they perhaps want to reach a higher level and their needs are just as valid as the playing for fun people.

Both would be catered for with streaming, which I think should be happening from early on.

Definitely depends on the age and level of the team. My husband managed my son's team U12's and they are mid ability, he has a variety of different skill level in his team and everyone gets equal game time. It's a lovely team, they all get on well and have a great time.
In the higher leagues it is brutal, if you are not at the same level as others in your team you are out and you join a lower ability team.

How to put kids off sport for life.

By all means put them into groups by ability but dropping players is appalling- at any age.

I thought football was still supposed to be non competitive until Under 11s, they shouldn't be publishing results at her age group, although naturally from this age they will start to play competitively and often split into "A" and "B" teams.

A bit of a play around is the exact opposite of serious isn’t it? Or at least that’s what I meant, that sport generally falls in 2 camps with kids- either taking it very seriously and doing competitive matches wanting to win or the emphasis is on play and fun more than the sport itself. Both are exist and are equally valid. It sounds like the son’s team was latter and the daughter’s the former. The adult going for a serious yet non competitive run isn’t really relevant to kids I don’t think, or at least I’m yet to meet a kid that just goes jogging for the sake of jogging!

Look for a development team. Best thing we did!

DS9 plays for a team & DP coaches & they are about to drop some players. They have 2 teams, one a high level and one a development. Unfortunately alot of the boys aren't good enough. This isn't just people joining, they've played in the team for over a year and haven't approved. When they start to play 7v7 it gets more serious & the boys take it more seriously.

What age??
At age 6 that’s really not on.
At 12 then that’s much more to be expected.
By that point you’ll have some girls who are really very skilled and serious about their training and games. Losing all the time because some of your team mates don’t take it as seriously can be very frustrating. My DD is in this position. Her team is very inclusive. They all get game time no matter what. This means that they’re not as successful as they might be.
My Dd is one of the better players. She has to accept it as it is or she’d have to move teams. She chooses to stay and supports all the girls getting a go.

Agree with this. Ideally there should be opportunities for children to participate in sport, music, performing arts etc at every level from completely inclusive to elite.

My 9 and 11yo both play football. The league they played in has 8 different divisions, which are ranked by ability.

People always get precious about being asked to drop down and play in lower division, but from what I've seen it always works out for the best.

Who wants to play on a team where everyone else is better than you and you can't keep up? It also means the team can never progress and the other players get frustrated.