Son rubbish at sport

[LittleCarrot12]

9 year loves being active and plays footy, swims and goes to a cycling club. He enjoys all but he’s not great with coordination and it’s starting to show, particularly with footy.

His team are at a stage it’s starting to become quite competitive with league tables etc. He’s been moved to the lowest team “development team” and I’d say he’s still the weakest player.

So far I’ve always went with he’s having fun so it doesn’t matter. However, the gap is getting bigger between him and his peers skills wise. Next year the club move to 2 teams and players have to try. Unless he becomes Messi overnight he’s not getting picked. I don’t know if I should try and move his focus to another sport ? I’m worried he’ll be devastated next year. Part of life I know but still . All his mates from school are in the club. Swimming he’s almost complete his lessons and doesn’t want to move to a club. Cycling runs 4 months per year.
Anyone else been through something similar?

Not necessarily quite the same but I love sport, but definitely not as good as others which was also good for me. My hand eye co-ordination wasn't great, but it really improved with all the different ones I did.

It is different if your son stops enjoying it, but he should let you know. I remember my Dad gently saying I didn't have to do it if I no longer wanted, but I did want to and what stuck with me was the lack of faith in my ability to improve as much as his kindness in giving me a way out. As a parent you can't win!

My son loathed football and was hopeless at it.

He moved to karate and swimming. The karate came in handy when he put the school bully on the floor last year. 🤗 Now he's taken up gym & cycling too. Football becomes less important as they get older.

I think you should try to develop his interests elsewhere.

Agree that they should know they don't have to continue if they're not enjoying it, and that they should have a chance to try other sports. In DS's case, football has become less important (he's 14 now).

Maybe do some research into other options and approach it along the lines of football is fun but it's there anything else you want to try? Would sports clubs during school holidays allow him to have a taster of what it might look like? I got into trampolining after doing a gymnastics club one week in the summer holidays. I got lots of confidence as my mum had lied about my age too get both me and my little sister in the same group. I was small so we were close to the same size. They thought I was pretty good not realising I was 3 years old than the others!

I'm very uncoordinated but loved trampolining and swimming but for swimming I hated lessons but have always enjoyed swimming lengths and letting my mind wander and going at my own pace and not being dictated to.

What about rugby? It’s arguably a much less “technical”
sport than football/ hockey etc. just need to be able to throw/ catch and ideally kick it but not in all positions. However you do sort of need to have the temperament for it- DS is quitting end of this season as he just doesn’t and it’s really showing now. Not everything is for everyone and that’s ok.

Sorry- to add- my experience has been that rugby clubs tend to be pretty inclusive and less selective- generally if you show up to training you get pitch time at matches.

Thanks all. He knows he doesn’t have to play but wants to for now. His team are very competitive and I find it uncomfortable but so far it’s not being picked up by him.

I think having back up is the way to go. It’s so tricky fitting it all in ! I’ve signed him up for athletics this summer rather than footy .

@Trolleytoken I’m a bit scared he’ll get broken ribs or something at rugby. Always thought it was quite rough x

I mean, yeah, it is quite tbh. The people who like it like the physicality of it but it's not for everyone. Broken ribs at some point are a possibility although all my worst injuries have been netball related and that's theoretically non-contact!! The safety has been ramped up in recent years- particularly now they have to tackle lower (excluding professional rugby) and they are strict about minutes of contact per day. You can still end up at the bottom of a ruck though.

I was just thinking if he's sporty but not got the fancy footwork for footie, rugby requires only pretty basic ball skills- a lot of what makes people good is their ability to read the game.

Might be worth just doing a few trial sessions at your local club and see if he likes it.

I'm late to the party, but are there other cycling disciplines you can get him into to extend his involvement? Local to me we have a few MTB series in spring/summer, road from spring to autumn, cyclocross through autumn/winter, all of which have races for your son's age group. Also plenty track events pretty much year round, but mainly attracting slightly older riders. Lots of kids in our area use a cross bike and a spare wheelset with some road tyres to keep busy and competing pretty much year round.

But, more on your main point, we've a non-particularly coordinated kid and have found martial arts have been pretty helpful for their basic physical literacy.

Best of luck with it all, and I hope your son continues to enjoy being active.