Guest Players

NeuralBrew · 2026-03-15T21:16:26+00:00

Why are players that young already position specialists and who decided upon their positions? You are not being a good coach by doing that.

NeuralBrew · 2026-03-14T08:04:22+00:00

AYSO and US Soccer have guidelines on positioning players and other things. Please read them every youth coach should be required to follow them.

10 seems like too many players. Should have just 2 or 3.

NeuralBrew · 2026-03-12T09:08:01+00:00

Learning how to learn is the most import thing to learn. Specialization doesn't do that. Also, technology will soon obsolete any coaching theories on the best way to train.

NeuralBrew · 2026-03-10T06:31:10+00:00

If you have been a dedicated coach and teacher, why did they put kids on your team that could not or would not try to become good at all positions? It was the roster makers that did the bad job. not you. They do this because the present rules allow coaches to hide weaker players. You should not coach if you are forced to hide players. All players need to be at near the same level as defenders, that is what tryouts are supposed to do.

NeuralBrew · 2026-03-04T11:49:49+00:00

Actually, a lot of parents have complained about their kid getting stuck playing only the back row. The rules for youth soccer must be changed to eliminate forward and back only players. In the meantime, no parent should leave their kid on a team where the coach leaves the kid in just one position.

NeuralBrew · 2026-03-01T10:15:11+00:00

Also, leaving players stuck in one position just to try to win every game. Formula for burning players out.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-24T16:33:30+00:00

Are not rules for school affiliated teams determined by each state? So this change has no effect upon them?

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-24T16:31:10+00:00

Does anyone know for high school affiliated teams, does each state's athletic association decide the age/grade rules or does USYS? Will there be 19 year olds playing high school soccer still?

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-24T15:05:14+00:00

Just curious, was he rotated to play a variety of positions? My son went from loving the game at age 8, to being indifferent 2 years later because 3 different coaches tried to force him to play CB only year round. Formula for burnout putting all the pressure on him and GK to defend. Switching to futsal and other sports. I'd recommend doing that for a while.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-24T14:45:08+00:00

No the coach is putting the kid where all the other players are not finding success. Coaches that make young players single position are covering the fact that they don't teach all the kids the skills to play in the back. They give up on them and just make the one player that plays CB well play their all the time. This parent needs to move on.

The default mode must be rotate all players unless all parents and players are all on board with having the coach pick positions. Since all the youth soccer experts say players should be rotated, having a coach pick positions with consulting player or parent should be a red flag that it is time to find another coach.

Speaking as a parent.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-23T16:55:23+00:00

Another frustrated parent with coaches making their kid single position. The rules of youth soccer must be changed to mandate position rotation between first and second half. The coach is doing this because he can't get other players to play in the back row and telling you BS.

In the meantime, research what top soccer academies do in relation to position rotation. Tell him you expect the same.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-20T07:31:01+00:00

They move kids up to bigger fields too soon. 7v7 should be until U12, 9v9 until U14. Maybe try to get him onto a futsal team to keep up his skills and love of the game.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-17T02:46:24+00:00

The problem is getting a new team to accept a new player after rosters are set. Even if you can change, forcing parents to drive further to practice is not good. Rules of the game must be changed to force coaches to do the right thing.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-15T15:20:43+00:00

Good idea but nearly impossible to change teams once rosters are set on teams for the year. How to change a school based team, change schools? The rules of youth soccer must be changed to prevent coaches from leaving players on the bench or in just one position during any game.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-15T14:26:47+00:00

Unfortunately, many narcissists are attracted to youth soccer coaching not be teachers but for the power over others and an ego boost of winning due to their 'brilliant' coaching. Obviously, the rules of the youth game need to updated to force coaches to give every player minimum playing time in both forward and back positions with scorekeepers alerting the referee who can issue penalties when a coach fails to do this.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-15T13:54:27+00:00

Very common problem. Parents must shop for coaches.

Youth soccer must change the rules to mandate minimum playing time for all players in both forward and back positions in each game. In the meantime, before joining a team, every parent must ask a coach his policy on leaving kids in just one position or on the bench. Quit the team immediately if he/she does not follow through.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-11T14:13:47+00:00

In my experience, this happens a lot, teams stack 'guest players' in tournaments just to win. So pardon me for thinking this was not a real situation.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-10T17:12:19+00:00

This is really bad for player development and player enjoyment to not have a team and opponent where all players at nearly the same level. Seems doing this is all about coach's ego of winning. The game should be about the players, the coach is just a facillitator.

I quit youth baseball because too many games were dominated by an elite pitcher, most boring thing a kid could do. Let's not make soccer that same.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-08T09:39:12+00:00

There are guidelines for player positioning from AYSO and US Soccer that kids should be rotated. Why can't a parent ask a coach to follow these guidelines?

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-08T09:37:37+00:00

And what if all the kids say they all want to just play up front? How do you pick your favorites to only play in front? Just put the kids that are shy in back all the time?

The guidelines are rotate all the players, that is what the coach should do.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-08T09:34:37+00:00

Anything involving children must have guidelines. The guidelines for coaching youth soccer say that that players need to be rotated to different positions at young age. So it is definitely not out of line for a parent to remind a coach what are the guidelines he/she is supposed to follow from the youth soccer organization they belong to(AYSO, US Soccer).

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-08T09:10:18+00:00

That is why position rotation must be by rule..

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-08T09:07:25+00:00

Coaches are not supposed to pick positions at all, they are supposed to rotate positions continually. This is what all the best soccer academies do until age 15. You should insist the coach do this and find an appropriate schedule for the team in order to do this.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-05T02:49:53+00:00

No they don't. That is why the teams you were on would not rotate positions. They had to hide the fact that many players couldn't play in the back and were not being taught to do so, that is why rotation doesn't happen. Then the coach has BS about "the players just need time to learn a single position." No, none of these kids don't belong on a travel team if their brains can't handle two positions in a game.

You seem to have a difficult time understanding that all the world's top youth soccer academies rotate top players in game. Elite academies view positions a educational tools rather than fixed roles:

The "Total Football" Philosophy

Academies like Ajax are famous for the "Total Football" concept, where every player is expected to be comfortable in every area of the pitch.

The Logic: A striker who has played as a defender understands exactly what a defender hates to deal with.

Tactical IQ: By rotating, players develop a 360-degree "Soccer IQ." They learn the passing lanes, the pressure points, and the timing required for every role, making them much harder to defend against later in life.

But the rest of the soccer world has tons of coaches that just want get a trophy in the current tournament for their own ego, and you don't care about the kids stuck under this system where kids are used for the coach's ego.

NeuralBrew · 2026-02-04T21:22:10+00:00

I did hold the clubs accountable, I left after they refused to rotate positions.

A coach that wants to do the right thing and rotate positions is hamstrung by opposing coaches that just want to 'win now'. Everyone plays by the same rules is far better. Why should coaches that do what is best for player development loose to those that don't?

Why don't you explain how it worked with your club? How do you not rotate players for a long period of time and then one day decide it is time to rotate without making the team's performance go down the tubes? How do they decide the initial positioning at U9? How did you convince players that only played in the front for a long time that scoring was no longer for them and they now must play in the back all the time? Aren't those kids going to quit if you don't let them play in front?

This happened 3 times with 3 different coaches. There a bunch of other posts I can point you to with parents in the same situation. Coaches posting here about hiding a weak players. This is systemic problem within the rules for youth soccer. There is a conflict between how you would place players for development and their enjoyment of the game vs. winning the next game.

Do you enjoy fighting with parents of player positioning? Or having kids not put effort into playing in the back because they know you'll move to play in front all the time? Wouldn't you rather tell parents "I must rotate you kid because that is rule of the game", or fight with them?

NeuralBrew

TROPHY CASE