It's soccer still fun if you are not scoring goals?

I say all this because most self-aware parents on here will attest that we have all been guilty of sitting right where you are now, and either had someone take us aside and give us permission to let off the gas on our kids, or we learned the hard way by having an all- out screaming match with a kid who tells us how much we ruined the sport for them with being so obsessed with them being the best. Take it from all of us… you and your kid will have a much better journey.
 
I know what you are saying about not killing the love for soccer. I don't think what I'm asking him will turn him off. The 3 kids that consistently finish the laps first are forwards anyways. But now with my kid gunning to be the first, the other two kids have been picking up their pace as well. It's healthy competition. Coaches see this.
 
Jamisfoes said:
I know what you are saying about not killing the love for soccer. I don't think what I'm asking him will turn him off. The 3 kids that consistently finish the laps first are forwards anyways. But now with my kid gunning to be the first, the other two kids have been picking up their pace as well. It's healthy competition. Coaches see this.
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Motivation can come in different forms but if you're going to emphasis certain things pick you're battles wisely.

What you do with a ball is far more important vs running laps. I know players who where never first in drills or laps but managed to set records or come up big when the challenge was presented. Speed with a ball can be much different vs just running.

Of course running is a huge part of the game especially on the big field where 8-9 miles a game worth is not uncommon for box to box mids. However, running without a ball might not be the best use of practice time. Fitness and endurance is something that can worked on without a coach and the better use of a coaches times is to focus on teaching skills and other things vs just running around.

I can't every remember many or any coaches that carried where our players placed in drills,. Normally in the middle to first third of the group but yeah always put in the work at practices.
 
Jamisfoes said:
I know what you are saying about not killing the love for soccer. I don't think what I'm asking him will turn him off. The 3 kids that consistently finish the laps first are forwards anyways. But now with my kid gunning to be the first, the other two kids have been picking up their pace as well. It's healthy competition. Coaches see this.
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Speed solves many problems in soccer. Your kid is one of the fast ones now, hence he scores a lot. If he is lucky, he will stay fast compared to his peers, but that does not always happen. I promise you he will run up against defenders that are faster than he is and he better have some tools to deal with that.

Keep the soccer part fun. Your job is to encourage and support. Let the coach be the coach. I've been there with two kids. One that was always fast and is playing D1 soccer now and one that worked his ass off over the years to go from not being good enough to make the team with his buddies to being voted "most improved" by his HS team and "players player" by his HS coaches his senior year. They both put in the hard work on their own because they loved the game.

My advice, buy a camera, shut up on the sidelines, ask your player what they want to do and support them 100%. Let him play futsal or hispanic league soccer to develop some skills. If he is a natural dribbler, make sure he can lift his head and pass. If he relies on speed, make sure he learns some ball skills and can still lift his head and pass. If he still loves soccer in a couple of years, look around for a good trainer that keeps it fun.
 
Jamisfoes said:
My 7 year old kid currently plays forward and scores the majority of goals on his team. He was new to the team and took someone else's forward spot. We are new to club soccer but know that no position assignment is guaranteed. I've been telling him that playing forward means you are the leader of the team and you have to act like one. I told him that in practice he has to be the first one to finish the laps, be the best in doing the drills. He listens to me and goes all out in the practice.

But knowing that kids develope at different rates and club is highly competitive, would soccer cease to be fun if one day he is not playing forward for his team? I just think soccer is not as fun if one is not scoring goals. Am I wrong in thinking this way?
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Two points that are only somewhat related to your questions…

Any coach that is having 7 year olds run laps in practice is almost certainly a bad coach.

Being a forward has zero to do with being a leader of a team. Most captains at any level are the ones who do the dirty work and little things right. Scoring goals has nothing to do with being a leader.
 
Jamisfoes said:
My 7 year old kid currently plays forward and scores the majority of goals on his team. He was new to the team and took someone else's forward spot. We are new to club soccer but know that no position assignment is guaranteed. I've been telling him that playing forward means you are the leader of the team and you have to act like one. I told him that in practice he has to be the first one to finish the laps, be the best in doing the drills. He listens to me and goes all out in the practice.

But knowing that kids develope at different rates and club is highly competitive, would soccer cease to be fun if one day he is not playing forward for his team? I just think soccer is not as fun if one is not scoring goals. Am I wrong in thinking this way?
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Not going to judge the premise of the question but to just answer the question as it is stated: I think it is wrong to think that way because I think it would totally depend on the kid.

I think some kids WILL lose fun in soccer if they no longer score all the time. I think this is a recipe to lose interest early because they won't always get to score all the goals for some of the reasons others have mentioned (your kid may lose the striker position or as he gets older the scores won't be 8-6 anymore but 1-0 or even 0-0).

My kid actually plays mostly striker as well and scores most of the goals on his team but he is having the most fun when he's making great passes or tries a new move on the field and succeeds.

I think other kids can find joy in making a great save as a goalie or a great tackle as a center back as the game progresses to 9v9 and 11v11 and start specializing more in positions as well.

I also don't think a striker/forward is the leader of the team. I think being a leader on the team has more to do with mental maturity than physical skills (but these are not mutually exclusive so a player can be the most skilled, hardest working, and also mature). But I don't think there's anything wrong with telling him that he should act like one and try to do his best. If that makes him go all out in practice, I think that's positive and you should continue to motivate him.

Having said all that.... I play in an adult rec soccer league and yes... it is more fun when I score goals... and I also watch a lot of European soccer... and yes... as a fan, I'd rather have a 5-4 game than a 0-0 game... so yea, there's that. :p
 
Jamisfoes said:
Are your kids getting forward specific attack training or defense specific training in their regular club practice? Or are these skills learned on their own/ private training/ from parents?
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At 7, the only skills worth worrying about are foot speed and touch. Everything else comes from those.
 
focomoso said:
At 7, the only skills worth worrying about are foot speed and touch. Everything else comes from those.
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Yes touch, in particular getting a lot of touches. Dribbling around the house (Mom's love that), rebounding against garage door etc. Wouldn't worry too much about foot speed per se, but pay close attention to proper running form. It's hard to correct bad running forming like floppy or alligator arms as they get older.

focomoso said:
Also, why is this in the boys DA section? It's way too early to worry about that.
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Pfft, we have parents here talking about college scholarships for 6-8 yo. ;)
 
watfly said:
Yes touch, in particular getting a lot of touches. Dribbling around the house (Mom's love that), rebounding against garage door etc. Wouldn't worry too much about foot speed per se, but pay close attention to proper running form. It's hard to correct bad running forming like floppy or alligator arms as they get older.


Pfft, we have parents here talking about college scholarships for 6-8 yo. ;)
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Mom’s best friend for indoor dribbling:

 
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