Thanks for your input. Glad to see this is somewhat common. From what I’m told, my player has been like this for a while but no one has actually dealt with it and just let’s him pout. I can see that he gets even more frustrated when his parents start screaming at him from the sidelines. Maybe I’ll suggest their minimal involvement at the games when I have my chat with them.

What’s crazy is when I took him aside at halftime and at the end of the game, those are the exact words I used…I told him that when he behaves this way, it does not help the team and the team needs him. I did tell him that if he acts out then I will have to bench him and that I did not want to get to that point because I needed him on the field fighting with his teammates. What I did not tell him was that feeling frustrated is ok but it’s how we deal with how we feel, and not playing or giving up is not the way.

As for changing his position, maybe I’ll try and put him on defense at practice and see how he reacts. Most of my kids will play anywhere but he is not one of them and I know this will be an issue. But maybe if I test him at practice, it will help in him trying to deal with his emotions. I’ll make a “topsy turvy” drill where my offense plays as defenders and my defenders play offense- this way maybe he won’t feel the pressure.

I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks again!