School Boy Football - Manger ego | Vital Football

School Boy Football - Manger ego

L

Lozzy-Hove_Gill

Vital Reserves Team
The manager of my 8 year old football team informed me on Sunday that my son "won't be getting many minutes play because he is not at the same level as some of the better boys, because that is how football works"

Surely this not how kids football should be especially a such a tender age.

These comments have pissed me off since Sunday
 
This is more about a manager's delusions than boys' football. My two lads were keen and clueless at 8. By age 16 one was playing for the county the other head and shoulders above the age group that he'd grown up with.
As for the pro hopefuls ( 'on the books' at Luton and Watford ) they went absolutely nowhere.
Kids grow up , it's a shame some of their managers never do.
 
Lozzy-Hove_Gill said:
The manager of my 8 year old football team informed me on Sunday that my son "won't be getting many minutes play because he is not at the same level as some of the better boys, because that is how football works"

Surely this not how kids football should be especially a such a tender age.

These comments have pissed me off since Sunday
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Geez, I’d be having a word with some of the club officials. That ain’t right at that age and it’s definitely not “how football works”.
 
And further to that, is the system over in UK different to what it is over here?

Here, there are no “competitive” leagues in younger age groups, up until about age 11 iirc. Only then do kids get “graded” at the start of the year and are put into appropriate level teams. And unless they are in the very top rep sides, it’s still the norm to give every kid a fair go.

When my boys were playing football years back, the local club had multiple teams at each age group, especially the real young groups. And the season was basically Intra club friendlies against each other team. And smaller clubs just played all “friendlies” against nearby teams. Didn’t keep scores or report on victories or defeats. The kids often didn’t know or care when they were walking off at the end. So long as they enjoyed it and had a kick with their mates.

And, if there was an obvious mis-match of skills between 2 sides, at some point the players might be swapped around to even things out.

It’s also the norm in the young groups to get the players playing in different positions from game to game or within games. Every one has a go defending, attacking, keeper etc.
 
Do yourself and your kids a favour and get them out of that club and into one that does it properly, should be playing for fun not egos. That sort of delusion is all too rampant in youth football. FA coaching guide is clear players should get equal time and have the chance to play different positions. Plenty of clubs that do it the right way. I’ve coached a few teams from u5 to u15 and it’s often the big and fast players that dominate at u6-u9 when they roam in a pack, but those players often don’t adapt when it becomes more about space and technical ability and get overtaken.
If the club you’re at has its FA affiliation then report them. Bet that club will be holding trial days in the summer (not allowed at that age) and be sharing their results with other managers in WhatsApp in an informal league pissing contest to flout the no published results rules, and also shouting at youth refs on a Sunday morning. Small minded football delusionals living their football fantasy through other peoples children.
 
Unfortunately, sport is about levels, even at that young age.
In my opinion, you’d be better off taking your lad to another team that better suits his ability.
They mature sport wise at different times.
Kids who are match winners at ten or twelve can be very mediocre later on.
I’d recommend, if you have played yourself, that you give him one to one coaching at the local park to improve his basics.
Simple trapping and passing. How to take a throw in.
Bringing down a high ball. Improving movement. You can make it fun and it will make a huge difference if he has any ability.
 
If you have your Coaching badges and are coaching kids of that age the only thing you should be worrying about is that they enjoy it and are all included.

If not he shouldn't be coaching. Plenty of time for the competitive stuff.
 
I was a perennial substitute throughout my footballing 'career' (apart from a weird spell in my mid-20s when I was made captain of the worst side in the Maidstone Leagues for a couple of years) as I was one of the quieter ones in the various sides I played for and wouldn't make a fuss if I was on the bench.

I remember my father properly kicking off at my manager when I was U14/15 sort of age as it had got to about 10 minutes from the end, pissing down and I hadn't come on. We weren't a good side, we were somewhere in the middle of the 3rd division or something, going absolutely nowhere and none of the boys were ever going to kick a ball any higher - yet the manager just played the same boys every week, didn't give a shit about who turned up during the week for training as he claimed to, and of the 14/15 of us, the same ones were always left out of the 11. I wasn't the greatest player but by no means was I anywhere near the worst in that squad, but the manager just had his ways. Soon after Dad 'had a word', I came on and scored twice in the last 8 minutes or so.

I was back on the bench the following Sunday, went home at half-time and found a new club the following week.
 
Back in my day, especally in terms of the under 10s level, you found that the best players in the area (who no doubt had trials with professional clubs) would all make a point of joining the best 3-4 teams in the league and those managers and players would take it all very seriously.

Outside the top few teams, especially if you were outside the highest level league, then the difference in quality of each team's best and worse players weren't so great that even the worse players would get pitch time - even if that meant the weaker players coming off the bench more often than not.

Of course, that doesn't mean the managers didn't have their favourites. My old manager's nephew always played despite being arguably one of the weaker players. And there was a kid who was part of one of the top 3-4 teams the prior year but left as he wasn't good enough and was forced out. He always played because anyone who was originally with a top team must be great. I never rated him but was picked on reputation.
 
At 8 it should be all about fun. The coach is there to teach the boy the proper way to play the game, and how to trap, kick and pass. The result is of minor importance.
 
I think 8 is too young to be playing for a team IMO. I bet they aren't playing organised football at 8 years old in Brazil, they are working on their control. Once it is organised, it is offsides, free kicks, simulating etc etc
 
Baghdad_Rob said:
Of course, that doesn't mean the managers didn't have their favourites. My old manager's nephew always played despite being arguably one of the weaker players.
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Never used to play myself, but I remember in my brother's team, the manager's son was in the team, and with him it was the exact opposite. His son was actually one of the better players, but his dad would nearly always put him on the bench and only give him 10 or 15 minutes at the end. All the other parents used to have to tell him to give his boy more time on the pitch. Guess he didn't want to be accused of favouritism, but took it too far in the opposite direction.
 
jokerman said:
So you’ll start in goal Jo, if that’s ok. Just for now. We’ll see how it goes.
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But I was a big gob and believed myself much better than I was for a while. I'll start on the right wing and drift into the middle if the full back is canny.

Once older there is the option of starting your own club and picking yourself as captain/manager. That way lies much humour of the kes variety. Neill Harvey knows what I'm on about.
 
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