My DS is 7yo. For the first time they’ve had school football teams to play other schools. DS was selected for a lower team than his 5 closest friends in the “best” team. This has caused a lot of disappointment for my DS and has meant he’s “not allowed” to play football in the playground and has come home quite upset.
I know disappointment is something he’ll have to deal with but it’s so hard to watch. We had an inter house football game in school and one of his previous friends came over to him after he’d scored (the winning) goal and called him useless, awful at everything and a waste of space right in front of me on the sidelines and said they’d only let him score it to shut him up. Which clearly wasn’t true - as even as mum speaking it was a great goal - but of course hurt my son.
I’ve been trying play dates with other kids to expand his circle of friends. I also see that he rises to the bait and gets upset and of course when some children see weakness they go even harder.
What would be some good things to do? Any good advice out there appreciated as I keep worrying about how to help and it’s awful to see him so unhappy.