Jump to content
Y-coach.com - Forum
jephil0

A Coaching Problem

Recommended Posts

Hello everyone,

I coach my son's U6 soccer team, and we are really struggling this season. To make a long story short, (and hopefully you can forgive some fatherly pride), my son is head and shoulders the best player on the team. To the point that I made a mistake this season by not putting him up in U8.

This has become a problem for the team for a couple of reasons--first, this season we lost our 2nd best player (moved to U8), and one of our other best players switched to flag football. So, basically, my "core" got butchered, leaving me with basically two players who are talented but also experienced. The problem I am having is that my son is too advanced for a "basic skills" kind of practice, but at the same time if we try to scrimmage, etc., he just destroys the other kids on the team. Doesn't matter if we switch it up and have them play 6 v 2, etc. The second problem is that most of the other kids are just kind of trying to let him do everything, whereas I am trying to get him to pass, help them score, etc.

So, what do I do? I need to restructure my practices in some way that includes him, but also doesn't let him outshine the other kids. I also need to break the other players from being so passive. Finally, for some of my newer ones, they are at the younger end of the spectrum, which is causing problems along the lines of them being afraid of the ball, etc.

I realize it's a humble-brag to be all, "my kid is too good for my team," but that's not the spirit of how I mean it. I guess what I'm asking is for advice on how to make sure he learns what he needs to learn while also getting his team to step up and not try to depend on him to win every game.

Thanks for your help!

Jonathan

p.s. My son only plays two quarters of each game, and in practice we do games like Sharks and Minnows, etc., where no one finishes first and is "done." It just doesn't seem to be *enough!*

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hey Jonathan,

If your son is head and shoulders above the rest of the team and he really enjoys soccer then I would take him out of the rec leagues and find a club team for him to play on.

I am usually not a big proponent of select teams at such a young age but it sounds like it is a complete waste of your son's time.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...