Coaching Decision

[Texsox]

One of my soccer players is a very good athlete, perhaps the best athlete on the team, he sucks as a team mate, and can't play his position, instead runs all over the field. As a team mate he lets everyone know with his gestures and words that he could have made that stop, scored that goal, could play their position better than they do. Tonight when we needed a couple guys to put away soccer balls, he wouldn't help, instead I heard him telling one of his team mates to go do it because his mom was waiting for him. Ten minutes later I come around the corner and he's sitting there. I said I thought your mom was here. He said she was on her way. I asked why he couldn't help with the balls and he said because Nathan is the ballboy. (Nathan is a teammate, we have no ballboy). He is always asking to play another position, thinking he can do anything perfectly.

 

After all this I decided to keep him out of tomorrow's game. I have watched the last couple games and scrimmages and my defense is working really well together, my two mids and forward on the other side works well as a team until this guy shows up to hog the ball and bring a defender with. My forwards are playing well together. The kid I'm putting in isn't as big or fast, but I know he'll be in position. I'm thinking it's time for the big we're a team speech. The team has too little passion, too little heart and I really believe keeping this guy at home will help.

 

But damn, he is good. Thoughts?

[bigruss]

One of my soccer players is a very good athlete, perhaps the best athlete on the team, he sucks as a team mate, and can't play his position, instead runs all over the field. As a team mate he lets everyone know with his gestures and words that he could have made that stop, scored that goal, could play their position better than they do. Tonight when we needed a couple guys to put away soccer balls, he wouldn't help, instead I heard him telling one of his team mates to go do it because his mom was waiting for him. Ten minutes later I come around the corner and he's sitting there. I said I thought your mom was here. He said she was on her way. I asked why he couldn't help with the balls and he said because Nathan is the ballboy. (Nathan is a teammate, we have no ballboy). He is always asking to play another position, thinking he can do anything perfectly.

 

After all this I decided to keep him out of tomorrow's game. I have watched the last couple games and scrimmages and my defense is working really well together, my two mids and forward on the other side works well as a team until this guy shows up to hog the ball and bring a defender with. My forwards are playing well together. The kid I'm putting in isn't as big or fast, but I know he'll be in position. I'm thinking it's time for the big we're a team speech. The team has too little passion, too little heart and I really believe keeping this guy at home will help.

 

But damn, he is good. Thoughts?

I think you're handling it fine, hopefully it's a wake up call for the kid.

[Palehosefan]

One of my soccer players is a very good athlete, perhaps the best athlete on the team, he sucks as a team mate, and can't play his position, instead runs all over the field. As a team mate he lets everyone know with his gestures and words that he could have made that stop, scored that goal, could play their position better than they do. Tonight when we needed a couple guys to put away soccer balls, he wouldn't help, instead I heard him telling one of his team mates to go do it because his mom was waiting for him. Ten minutes later I come around the corner and he's sitting there. I said I thought your mom was here. He said she was on her way. I asked why he couldn't help with the balls and he said because Nathan is the ballboy. (Nathan is a teammate, we have no ballboy). He is always asking to play another position, thinking he can do anything perfectly.

 

After all this I decided to keep him out of tomorrow's game. I have watched the last couple games and scrimmages and my defense is working really well together, my two mids and forward on the other side works well as a team until this guy shows up to hog the ball and bring a defender with. My forwards are playing well together. The kid I'm putting in isn't as big or fast, but I know he'll be in position. I'm thinking it's time for the big we're a team speech. The team has too little passion, too little heart and I really believe keeping this guy at home will help.

 

But damn, he is good. Thoughts?

 

Unless you are getting paid to win games, I wouldn't give it a second thought about not playing him. But you need to make sure you sit him down first and give him a chance to be mature about it. There's a small chance that he will see the error in his ways and become a better teammate. However, most likely he has been coddled his entire life and his parents will blame you for their failures.

 

Usually how this goes is the kid ends up on a different team with a dickhead coach and his team will beat yours 7-0, the kid will learn absolutely no lessons from it, and life will go on :-(.

[SoxFan1]

One of my soccer players is a very good athlete, perhaps the best athlete on the team, he sucks as a team mate, and can't play his position, instead runs all over the field. As a team mate he lets everyone know with his gestures and words that he could have made that stop, scored that goal, could play their position better than they do. Tonight when we needed a couple guys to put away soccer balls, he wouldn't help, instead I heard him telling one of his team mates to go do it because his mom was waiting for him. Ten minutes later I come around the corner and he's sitting there. I said I thought your mom was here. He said she was on her way. I asked why he couldn't help with the balls and he said because Nathan is the ballboy. (Nathan is a teammate, we have no ballboy). He is always asking to play another position, thinking he can do anything perfectly.

 

After all this I decided to keep him out of tomorrow's game. I have watched the last couple games and scrimmages and my defense is working really well together, my two mids and forward on the other side works well as a team until this guy shows up to hog the ball and bring a defender with. My forwards are playing well together. The kid I'm putting in isn't as big or fast, but I know he'll be in position. I'm thinking it's time for the big we're a team speech. The team has too little passion, too little heart and I really believe keeping this guy at home will help.

 

But damn, he is good. Thoughts?

If you don't think the TEAM will suffer much, then don't think twice about benching him for a game or 2. You have to send him a message somehow. No use being an incredible athlete if you don't have the smarts to play your position.

[Texsox]

This is 7th grade, their first chance and school sports in Texas. The football coach tried to rein him in, but is under more pressure to win and kept playing him while complaining to every adult.

 

The head h.s. soccer coach preaches being a champion 168 hours a week. At home, in school, and on the field. My #1 priority is to fill the funnel for the high school. Teach as many 7th graders as possible our system, how to play within the system, and how to be a team. But of course we want to do that and have a little hardware for the trophy cases.

[Texsox]

I realize I'm old school on some of this, so this really helps. I hope it is a wake up call.

[danman31]

I think that's a good move. I was on a junior high soccer team with a similar player. He was talented and a ball hog, but at least he wasn't a dick to the rest of us like this kid was. I ended up having an argument with him instead of the coach because the coach wouldn't do anything.

 

Usually the best place for the talented ball hogs is forward because most people want to push forward naturally. Put him anywhere else and he'll probably play more out of position. Plus I'd rather have a forward that plays too deep than a defender that goes forward too much. Obviously this part of the issue is less important, but I'll throw my two cents in.

[IlliniKrush]

7th grade is a good time to learn a lesson like this. If you don't take a stab at teaching him something now, no one will, and when he gets to HS, it might be an even bigger problem. In the grand scheme of things, it's a meaningless 7th grade soccer game. Even if he was the whole team and you have zero chance without him (which isn't the case, just saying), it doesn't matter. You're teaching every kid a team on the lesson - I know they aren't the ones at fault, just the one - but things like that go a long way towards helping everyone, hopefully him in particular. It's one thing to hog the ball, I think it's even more of a problem that he thinks he's above helping with things like cleaning up and labeling other, lesser players ballboys.

[Texsox]

Thanks. His play has really come into focus the past week. The rest of my team is starting to gel as units. I have a great kid heading up my defense. He has them moving as a unit, he's helping them out, pointing out what to watch for, encouraging them, and playing his ass off. Up my left side I have two mids and a forward creating all of our opportunities and goals. I see one of them making a move and the other heading for an opening, the second mid trailing and backing up the play. Then I get to my right side and it is a wreck. Good athletes, but it's playground ball. Things will change, we will get that fixed.

 

/practicing for the locker room speech. Once I have these units gelled, I can fit the team together.

[southsider2k5]

The only thing I would add might be talking to the HS coach to make sure that is what he wants if you are basically his feeder program anyway.

[Texsox]

"You're going to lose"

"You're? Are you quitting?"

"What?"

"You didn't see we, you said you're. Sounds like you aren't part of the team anymore."

 

He will learn.

[iamshack]

Tex,

I'd put the kid in goal. If he's a great athlete, let him play goalie. He can't screw up your team chemistry from there.

 

 

[Texsox]

Well, the kid who I put in the line up wound up with an ISS, so I dropped him and put the first kid back in. He whined about not starting and I quickly, in Tex-like fashion, set him straight. By the second half he was doing exactly what I needed him to do, and, thank you Shack, he did play some goalie and did pretty good. My regular keeper played a little defense and looked pretty good.