7rd old fucking football

[footballfckers]

I just wrote out a whole post and then accidentally deleted it.

Really pissed off about football for seven-year-olds and really upset. I am not a person who cries but today I cried. I had a cal from a private sports club who run football training once a week. My son who is 7 was having a 3 week taster and they called today to say he isn't good enough abs can't come back. I am so upset for him. He is such a sensitive little boy who just wants to play and learn.

He plays in a small after school club once a week but can't get him into the village football club either. To get in the village club it seems to be either who you know or sending a WhatsApp at the right moment. My husband has offered to do the Coaching qualifications and now I am thinking maybe we need to make a 'donation'.

He was offered a space in November but was having eye surgery so I asked if he could come in Jan. Tbey said yes and then ghosted me in January.

I don't want to be 'that' parent but my 7yr old needs someone to speak for him and sort these things out. He just wants to play football with his friends.

It's fucking ridiculous.

Finding around here all the football clubs are full and a lot less of them than when my ds was small
That said I wouldn't want mine playing for a team that is selecting at age 7
Lack of coaches i think around here as its a much harder task than people think and quite thankless( my dh has coaches for years )

Being involved in both football and rugby over the years volunteers are lacking and this is the issue
No point signing on 20 kids for a footie team if only 7/8 can play , in an ideal world you would set up two teams but you need the coaches and volunteers
My dh has been both a football coach and a rugby coach for ds teams and it really takes up a lot of time, i stand on the sidelines hearing parents Moan about dh as he hasn't prioritised their child( he has to treat them all equally) he has to do several courses , some a few times a year, take calls and messages , arrange fixtures and training plans, its hours of the week taken up , not just the 1:5 hr training session, so I am not surprised there are less volunteers

Unfortunately this means less places available for kids which is a shame
My ds ild football teams used to have a team for all age groups and often two , they now have about 3 teams in total due to no volunteers
Also both rugby and football are lacking referees at grassroot level
Its a real shame

All these people saying how wonderful rugby is , are not much good if your son wants to play football.

I also don't for a minute believe that rugby is just as inclusive as the kids get older and become secondary school age, that's just the way all competitive sport go. As I said earlier football has divisions as they get older and you find your place.

Do rugby instead. Much less politics and everyone gets a chance to play. Much healthier.

@Allandnothing

‘I am going to take him to to try tbe Rugby. They do 3 week taster sessions as well. ‘

Rugby is dangerous. I’m a huge rugby fan but there’s no way I’d let my kids do rugby. The injuries will
Come fast and furious if he stick with it past the age of 10
And you do have to take head injuries into consideration.
Cricket is another good team sport…

Perhaps in the olden days but so much less so now. Safeguarding is massive In rugby and I’d be interested to see the figures comparing injuries amongst school age kids compared to football now. Bloody hell, make sure you don’t ride a bike though, you might fall off!

Rugby v inclusive in younger years. Can be savagely competitive and very expensive as soon as they get to about 12/13. Lots of boarding school places to fight for etc

@Eggsley

Whereabouts are you OP? PM me if you like and I will do what I can to help.

I am youth secretary, registrations officer and club welfare officer for a local football club, we have 17 junior teams and we have no end of children wanting to play, but we just cannot accommodate them all.

The FA rules state that league matches are not competitive until U12. League results cannot be published for U11 and below, if they are then the team responsible for publishing the result can be fined. The teams are split into divisions and the results after each game are fed back to the league, who usually re-jig everything in October, December and February. This is to make sure the teams are playing at about the same ability level. Tournament and trophy competitions are allowed to be competitive and results can be published.

There is a limit to how many children can be signed on and registered with the league for each team - it's double the number per side eg. 5v5 you can have 10 signed on, 7v7 you can have 14 signed on. Most coaches sign on fewer players as they want to give a decent amount of game time per player.

Frankly, holding trials for mini soccer teams is utterly ridiculous and speaks volumes about the coaches' egos more than anything else. Up to and including U11, they should be having as close to equal game time as possible, the focus should be on fun and development, learning how to be a team player and enjoying the social aspect of it all. There are too many teams coached by people who have a "win at all costs" mentality and it is so damaging. No club should be telling a child they aren't good enough to play.

However, when it comes to spaces for new players, they are limited as football is such a popular sport. Almost all grassroots football clubs are run entirely by volunteers.
We get several enquiries a week for new players and we hate to turn people away, but we simply don't have the volunteers, the pitch space or the team spaces available for any more, and we are a decent sized club.

It's a big commitment to volunteer - my DH coaches an U11 side, he has 14 players signed on and another 6 training with him. One night a week for training plus a Saturday morning match. Then there's the admin through the week - messages from parents, the club, the league, the opposition, the ref. Sorting out the kick off time and who can play, which pitch, refs fees. Attending managers meetings. Dealing with new enquiries, organising tournament entry, new player registrations and transfers, finding a kit sponsor, ordering kit, getting to the ground early to set the pitches up (goals, respect barrier, technical areas, corner flags, clearing the pitch of rubbish, sticks, dog shit so it's safe for the players) then packing it all away at the end, making sure your players have equal game time, an equal number of starts - it is never-ending.

If your husband is happy to volunteer to coach a side, then look for a local club with a good ethos that encourages equal game time, player development and fun. A good place to start is the FA Playmaker Course - it's free and online and all prospective coaches have to compete it before they can enrol on the Introduction to Coaching Football course (this combines the old level 1, safeguarding and emergency aid course and is now entirely online - it costs £160 but many clubs will cover the cost).

Sorry for the essay, I'm very passionate about grassroots and youth football

This is spot on OP. Im heavily involved in football and as with all activities we eventually hit capacity. Volunteers are in short supply to run more teams. But age7 football is not about winning. That's where adults go so wrong. The few that volunteer don't always understand what the aims are. They are playing their own ego game. And tbh I'm involved in lots of sports and the issues are everywhere

Remember the days when all kids played footy over the rec. If you had a jumper for a goal post you were in. Now everything has to be "organised"
My kids learnt in play ground footy matches who was good enough for the teams. But honestly the parents at the edge of the pitch were bang out of order shouting and screaming and swearing....the kids often got injured and studded... they need to be pretty thick skinned to cope. Only one of my 6 had the ability to cope with all that. One did judo instead and is a black belt who now plays a little Sunday league in his 20s.
I know how horrible it is trying to stick up.for your 7 year old, but time flies so fast. .. its a shame there's no kick around clubs cos the competitive kids will always set the standard

Same with dancing for my girls. All got a bit ugly as they got into double figures.
I think most of us are better off steering away from big team sports

@alrightfella rugby generally is with most teams as they have a half game policy , as in all have to play half a game except in exceptional circumstances
There are a few that get around this but the vast majority don't and most teams don't have loads of players as they get older as kids leave for footie when it starts being same day or its obviously gets more physical etc
My ds play both , I have seen injuries in both but rugby has a better concussion protocol which i see used where as not so much in football in my experience

@April506

Remember the days when all kids played footy over the rec. If you had a jumper for a goal post you were in. Now everything has to be "organised" My kids learnt in play ground footy matches who was good enough for the teams. But honestly the parents at the edge of the pitch were bang out of order shouting and screaming and swearing....the kids often got injured and studded... they need to be pretty thick skinned to cope. Only one of my 6 had the ability to cope with all that. One did judo instead and is a black belt who now plays a little Sunday league in his 20s. I know how horrible it is trying to stick up.for your 7 year old, but time flies so fast. .. its a shame there's no kick around clubs cos the competitive kids will always set the standard Same with dancing for my girls. All got a bit ugly as they got into double figures. I think most of us are better off steering away from big team sports

Still happens plenty round here.