Poor dd ignored

[Nomoressmores]

DD 14 is doing a fairly time intensive extra curricular activity.

The group has had a new leader for the past 18 months. At first, DD received lots of positive feedback, she was asked to demonstrate activities and told she set a great example for younger participants. She felt really valued and welcome.

Over the last 6 months, though the leader has more or less ignored her. Aside from a single well done in the autumn, there’s been nothing. It’s not just about praise the leader chats warmly with others but no longer engages with DD at all.

She’s effectively ignored, if not slightly ostracised. DD has plenty of friends, so that’s not the issue, it's that she feels she is no longer good at this activity when she has actually improved.

She told me today she feels the best she can hope for now is just to exist in the group, not thrive. She still loves spending time with her friends from the activity many from her primary school, so nice to still stay in touch.

She’s been made to feel invisible and it is taking a toll, undermining her confidence.

So AIBU to say something to the person running the club? Based on other people's experiences any feedback is pushed back and they act in a defensive way. Or would this be begging for attention which may be used against dd at a later stage?

What’s the best I can hope for when essentially criticising this person for not paying attention? How can I phrase it so dd doesn’t sound needy or loses face?

She will naturally move on from this group in about 10 months time.

YABU - say something

YANBU - Keep calm and carry on don't say anything, only 10 more moths to go.

Essentially if I say something, am I being precious, should dd at 14 just deal with it or does this require parental intervention. She doesn't want to quit.

I have emailed the group leader to clarify a couple of dates next term and casually slipped in that dd is feeling unsure about her progress and could she perhaps be given some pointers so she has something she can work on.

I wonder if the leader regrets her initial attention to DD and has decided to rein it in. While being ignored altogether is too far in the other direction, I'm not sure it's entirely realistic for one child to expect to always be made much of, permitted to hold the floor with their jokes, to thrive on the attention, because it could lead to quieter children being overlooked.
So it's possible the leader is making a clumsy attempt to lower your DDs profile and let other people shine. It's also possible that your DD having been used to being made much of, sees being treated as one of the crowd as a being ignored.
If I were you I'd ask for specific examples from DD and view them through an objective lens. If you feel the leader is doing something wrong then I'd address it with specific examples. Like, DD says that when she asked a question you didn't respond. DD said you gave every other child but her feedback etc.

Are you sure that this is not just a case of your DD not getting as much attention as she has been used to in the past? If so she has to learn to deal with it. She can’t always be the centre of attention.

I can't be sure but there is a spectrum between being in the centre of attention some of the time and being blanked for months on end. A bit of balance would be best.