Kids football

go-nads!

Well-known member
So my little boy is 6, I haven’t pushed him into football thinking too many parents do and it just isn’t right.

He has started to show an interest since starting school and we started to play more over the summer.

My local none legal side advertised they were setting up coaching to get an under 7 side so I put his name down for the taster coaching sessions they were putting in. We have attended three sessions.

At the end of today’s session we were told, that they have 21 kids and they were looking for two sides of 8 to enter the junior leagues in December and they would be offering the 16 places to the kids that have shown the most ability.

My little one has had no coaching at all and other than kick abouts in the garden hasn’t played football - but has loved the sessions he has had.

I got a message to say he hasn’t got in. Now I can sort of understand that he wasn’t at the ability of some of the other kids especially as some are a full year older and have had coaching before.

What has really annoyed me is that I am totally against football being competitive at the age, it should be purely about developing skill and enjoyment. If I had been told from the start it was going to be that sort of environment I wouldn’t have put him in.

Ive booked him into Kixx, anyone know if it’s any good?
 
Sounds a bit poor on the football clubs side of things, like you say at that age it's surely about participation not purely ability.

Where maybe I can understand is if they are restricted due to say availability of pitches, funding or even coaches.

If it's due to coach numbers could you get together with one of the other dad's who's kid hadn't been selected and offer the club to take on the coaching for another team? Just an idea as obv it isn't for everyone or even an option due to commitments etc.

Also see where his friends are playing. Don't what ever you do just knock it on the head.
 
I originally saw a post looking for coaches for junior football. I got in touch saying I’d done my sports leader coaching (years ago) and that if my little in enjoyed it, I was more than happy to get involved with helping out and if they wanted me to, to do the FA badges.

I also explained I have my boy on weekends, he lives with his mum in Hartlepool and he hasn’t any friends over this way and I was hoping to connect with kids his age.

hopefully the Kixx thing will be good.
 
You are correct go-nads about competitiveness at the age of 6, though if he got selected you would see so much of it from parents on match day you would shake your head. A friend of mine at work said her grandkid was getting sessions from Mark Proctor and thought they were very good, though I have no experience myself. As traysize said, if he can play with some of his mates during sessions it will help. Good luck.
 
There were already a few there, screaming their kids on in warm up races ffs!

I just think it needs a radical overhaul, for years we having been saying the players we produce aren’t technically gifted but are athletes.

If you want to change that, you need to move away from competitive football, you need to get pushy parents out of the equation. Let the kids enjoy it, let them develop technical and positional skills without the pressure of a league or the sole aim of competition.
 
People just don't get that it doesn't need to be competitive. It should be about fun and making players better.
I hear normally reasonable people banging on at work about their kids teams getting beat because the coach played a kid who wasn't as good as someone else, or criticising substitutions etc. Absolute madness.
 
So my little boy is 6, I haven’t pushed him into football thinking too many parents do and it just isn’t right.

He has started to show an interest since starting school and we started to play more over the summer.

My local none legal side advertised they were setting up coaching to get an under 7 side so I put his name down for the taster coaching sessions they were putting in. We have attended three sessions.

At the end of today’s session we were told, that they have 21 kids and they were looking for two sides of 8 to enter the junior leagues in December and they would be offering the 16 places to the kids that have shown the most ability.

My little one has had no coaching at all and other than kick abouts in the garden hasn’t played football - but has loved the sessions he has had.

I got a message to say he hasn’t got in. Now I can sort of understand that he wasn’t at the ability of some of the other kids especially as some are a full year older and have had coaching before.

What has really annoyed me is that I am totally against football being competitive at the age, it should be purely about developing skill and enjoyment. If I had been told from the start it was going to be that sort of environment I wouldn’t have put him in.

Ive booked him into Kixx, anyone know if it’s any good?
Sounds like you've dodged a bullet. Any coach focussing on selecting only the best kids for that age group is in coaching for all the wrong reasons.
 
I've been there with my son, needless to say after been told at 11 he wasn't good enough I then asked the following question, how many of those kids will play in the PL, probably none, how many in league football, chances are none, how many at a good non league level probably 4 maybe 5, everyone these kids play football on a Saturday morning because they love it
After he left he signed for another team who beat his old in the QF of the cup & later reached the final at Hurworth, losing 2-1 to a good 1st division team
My son went on to play till he was 18 & developed in to a good, very fast, striker
 
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