When or reasons why to switch positions?

[sandshark]

Ya that is a entirely another subject. I hate seeing parents promoting a rude, aggressive, mean behavior on the field and then wondering why their kid doesn't have very many friends in real life. It's a fine line to teach that aggressive behavior and expect a 7-15 year old to turn it off when the game is over.

 

[Grace T.]

Ya that is a entirely another subject. I hate seeing parents promoting a rude, aggressive, mean behavior on the field and then wondering why their kid doesn't have very many friends in real life. It's a fine line to teach that aggressive behavior and expect a 7-15 year old to turn it off when the game is over.

This is definitely true...they aren't lightswitches that can come on and off. A little bit of my son's story: coming out of AYSO he was feeling really confident and was very aggressive on the field...did a couple of preclub scrimmages/tournaments and was absolutely playing way above his level particularly in goal and won a couple ribbons/medals. Then he starts club. Suddenly his shots aren't getting any elevation, his coach is telling him to improve his passing and find a wall and bang on it for several hours a week, and is very timid in goal. The coaches saw he had an interest in goalkeeping and that he had some skills and rather than pick the other top athletes on the team as the starter they went with DS who had a passion for it and was willing to put in the extra training. His confidence starts to build as they take him through each skill, building along the way. Then he has 2 lousy games in the summer which has us (and maybe even his coach) wondering if he's cut out for the 1 particularly given all the work he put into it over the summer and it's not clicking. Then the tournament last weekend, something clicked. Suddenly he's all over the loose balls, he's yelling at his teammates, he's looking for the fast breaks, and he's even charging out the one v ones (on one very pretty one the ref even gives him a high five). But he also becomes very obnoxious (asking his defenders why aren't they slide tackling and yelling at his 6 for letting the opposing 9 get in front of him and into the one v one). He even goes so far as to yell at the ref ("come on ref") for which the ref justifiable stops the game and comes and lectures him (since it's a littles game, he doesn't get carded). I'm sitting there wondering who is this kid and where's he been (he even takes an injury in the 2nd game to the gut and doesn't collapse...no one knows he's been injured because the ref and the coaches were behind the kids and the striker had his back to them...we only figure it out when he collapses on the field afterwards). So sometimes it just takes time for them to develop the confidence and the aggression will come. And if it comes, it's hard for them to switch on and off...I don't think he'll yell at the ref again....he's learned his lesson...but the price of that aggression may be that he's a little obnoxious and the best I can do is to give him some advice and pull back on the reins but not hard enough to stop the progress he's made. Trade offs.

 

[younothat]

My kids will tell you learning and playing every position including keeper is one of the most valuable things for young players.

Over the course of U8/9-U16/17 some kids change a whole lot, growth spurts can see a avg size kid suddenly be on the bigger side, or the formerly taller player becoming avg size. Skills levels can suddenly shoot up or down year to year also. During these transitions primary positions can and do change so best to learn them younger and not try to specialize early on.

When you advance to a certain level, the competition for certain positions get fierce. Forward seems to be the most popular followed by mids, defenders, and keepers.

When you're versatile coaches notice, being able to play forward or defender for example can mean the difference on making a squad or not .

Speed, Stamia, skills are different at different age levels so you always need to work on something to keep developing. With the older kids sometimes that is more strengthening and conditioning certain muscle groups and resting more compared to when they could play back to back, many practices, etc without that much muscle soreness.

YMMV but no one size fits all, some coaches see players in a different light or positions vs the next or previous coach(s) but being flex able and versatile can go a long way.

 

[OCsoccerdad7777]

Thanks. We both love the coach as parent and my DD as a player. But complains after practice about not having fun

I would concentrate way more on your little one having fun and learning to love the game. Any answer depends on your little ones personality and physical development. So fun is #1. You don't want to make it boring and you don't want to make it to over the top stressful. Playing with kids that are more advanced works with some personalities and crushes others. You know what drives your little one.