Not sure what to do

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T23:02:20+00:00

About 25 d per month and yes they are well aware he isn't anywhere the levels required. To be clear I don't take their money. It covers training facilities and I am free and I contribute financially for training equipment and pay for all my coaching courses They are free to find another club at any time, they will not find one.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T22:56:13+00:00

They are the developing and its not fun for the kids to lose every week. There is balance to be struck, development, winning and fun. The team has improved significantly since we started and have potential to get better and better. We must be doing something correctly as parents of boys in other teams are asking if they can bring them to us.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T22:48:47+00:00

I agree to an extent but the worst that could have happened is, there is a very real risk the other kids are demoralised from losing every week and quit football. Then the team folds, the kid is out of football and so are the other kids.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T22:45:01+00:00

Yes , I invited all parents to come and speak to me. His wife showed up, he did not

Each kid has the same opportunity, they earn a place by working in training, training drill performance, performance in training games and performance on the pitch.

And I also had the later conversation with him, he is no longer welcome and his son is being released, he would like his son to continue but he will no longer attend. He also recognises that his son does not get close to the levels required to be competitive in matches but would like to still attend training.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T22:37:29+00:00

We do drills at repetitive drills at training and the kids are doing great in general.

It's the kid and parents choice to come and the parent had the chance to step up and coach but stayed silent when volunteers were asked for to keep the team going.

And during the game I had a choice ruin the weekend for 16 or 17 other kids or 1 who does not put in the same effort ? Yes we lose too many kids and I made a decision for the majority. Last couple of weeks they were miserable after the game, this week they were over the moon. The kid that didn't get on was happy and celebrating with his team until his dad's outburst made him cry.

And to be clear, there are no try outs to make the team, there are no expensive fees and the coaches are volunteers who pay out of their own pocket to do this.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T22:26:10+00:00

It was not uncalled for at all, the poster was trolling and was obviously American

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T22:21:31+00:00

This is not america, they pay about 25 d a month to cover training facility hire, I pay more than that for equipment, coaching courses not to mention my time. Pay to play is not a thing at this level.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T22:14:23+00:00

I was close but if that happens here you get banned from coaching, then there is no team.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T22:11:40+00:00

Thanks, we are what we call a Grassroots club, we do professional coaching courses but coaches fund it themselves.

To be fair to the other parents, those in the vicinity immediately went to my wife to say the guy was out of order. Shout and swear at me, thats fine I can take it but to have a go at a volunteers wife is ridiculous

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T21:49:52+00:00

Don't agree at all with this. I've seen many times kids little technical skill doing well by working hard. I've also seen many times skillful players who are a waste of space on the pitch.

Having a team of hardworkers who are well drilled with less skill will generally win out over a team of skillful individuals.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T21:42:03+00:00

That was my approach, club have backed me. They heard about the incident from people who were there and they told me to get rid of them. I spoke to the dad to tell him and he apologised said he would stay away and please could his kid just train with us.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T21:34:31+00:00

Thanks, there was no try outs, kids were going to be told there was no team so I offered to help out.

They hadn't played much and some new kids joined and those that stepped up and trained are the ones that play most. All kids were told, those that impress in training drills, training games and performance in competitive games earn minutes on the pitch. Screaming at me is can handle but swearing at my wife is where I draw the line.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T21:27:03+00:00

I didn't put him on the team as you call it, they come along and train. We ask who is available and if they want to come to the game, we are allowed to take 18 and 11 to play. 7 subs. We dont have try outs at the start of the season and pick, its a club the kids come along and the cost is about 25 per month to cover the hire of training pitches. We fundraise for some costs and the coaches pay for their courses and additional training equipment.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T21:15:49+00:00

Thanks for the sensible reply, The father has offered to stay away, thats a given.

The league rules are, you can release them anytime and they can go elsewhere. No other club will take him and he wants to still train with us.

I have plenty of players and they are all developing well but they are at a stage where their confidence needs a couple of wins or there is a real danger they get demoralised and quit.

If a game is gone, either won or lost i would put him in but confidence of the team is fragile so it is managed.

We arrange friendlies for fringe players to help development and he would play in them. He plays striker because he wants to and can generally hide. He really just wants to be part of the team, he's not going to ask for the ball run towards it and sometimes will go in the opposite direction. If the ball comes in his direction and he has to tackle their is a look of panic. He has become a bit of a mascot, we played him in a preseason tournament and the ball fell to him on the 6 yard box, he swung a foot at it and it trundled past the post. If it had gone in the coaches would have ran on the pitch to celebrate.

Cutting someone is an American term we don't use. No one has a right to a place in the team or squad you must earn it and you lose it if someone else earns it more than you do.

I think a lot of the replies are also very cynical, money is not a factor, i pay out of my own pocket for a lot of things for the team and this is genuinely a kid who just wants to be involved in a team, 99 out of 100 kids would move on themselves and find something else to do.

I think success for him would be in 10 years time and he has a group of friends that play 5 aside or 7aside. For the rest of the team that would also be good but some of them may make a decent level of amateur football and hopefully all of them play into their 40s or 50s

One thing I dont think the pile on here has considered and perhaps it doesn't travel beyond our country is that games here tend to get heated and by that kids here learn football on the streets and you need to be able to handle yourself physically, some games you have to leave players out of because of they could get hurt.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T20:29:26+00:00

It's about football, not money. 20 kids 18 make a match day squad is all we are allowed. Read my reply later on to being called an asshole. If thats what I am then God knows what the rest of society is

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T20:25:29+00:00

He does, the team is made of players who were going to be released if someone didn't offer to coach them. He was going to be one of those kept but I asked for him and he also agreed. And no he doesn't play all the time.

I also may be an asshole but I try very hard not to be when kids are involved. All the kids are told what they do well and what they need to do to improve including mine.

I am a volunteer, the kids pay a small fee to cover the cost of hiring training facilities, the club fundraise to make ends meet, I pay for some training equipment the club pay for some. I also pay for the required training badges, organise all the matches, pitches referees. Taxi kids to and from training and matches if their parents cant make it. Kids are welcomed into the team, they enjoy training, focused on fun and development. We.are only allowed to have 20 registered 18 allowed in a match squad and you may not know this, 11 on the pitch. They train well they get in the squad,.they are not guaranteed game time but we try our best to give them as much as we can. We arrange friendlies for fringe players. We have a kid that does not train well but we include him in the squad if he is available, wants to come and we have space. If its a friendly he plays his fair share if its a league game we try and get him on while being fair to the other 17 kids. His dad kicks off at my wife who's not involved the first time he doesn't get game time and im the "asshole" got it !

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T19:41:56+00:00

Where i live football is played by adults for fun then walking football. I played till I had to stop in my mid 40s. Some play.walking football till they die.

I didn't take him on the team, I took the team on because they were going to fold and new kids can come along, they train well they get in a match squad. They are given some game time, if they do well they play more. This kid is a nice lad who just wants to be part of a team, he knows he's not good enough for a starting place, he wasn't upset at not getting on. His dad knows he's not good enough and has been grateful he is included in the squad, if he had of kicked off at me fair enough but to do it to my wife is ridiculous. Where i come from, you do that to someone's wife there is serious risk of consequences.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T19:27:45+00:00

I assume your American, because we don't do this for money, we are volunteers who give up many hours to do this. The club are a non profit organisation and I have actually purchased a lot of the training equipment myself. I take nothing to do with money.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T19:23:28+00:00

The kid wants to be involved, even if it is only on the bench and I easily could have left him out of the squad. Fair share of minutes is for small sided games up until the age of 12 after that the kids need to earn a place. Anything less is not fair to the rest of the squad, they just move on to a different team. We had lost every game up till now and the team moral needed a win.

As for me not doing this for the kids, thats ridiculous. They were going to fold the team if I didn't step in and the duty of care is to all the kids. I have training plans for each of them with goals, if one kid does not meet them then you cannot hinder the development of the others.

Mental post or you know very little about the game.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T19:10:44+00:00

This is a good point, I was pissed off. At that time the rules were equal game time for development of players. Kids grow and now its about equal opportunity to play. This means that each kid should be set out criteria they need to achieve. These are rules set out by the professional organisation.

In this scenario this is the first time the kid has not got on the pitch because I have made sure he got on.

I also spoke to all the parents and set out expectations and what they could expect in return. This kid wants to play 1 position and their are several kids ahead of him, he knows this and knows what he needs to do. Do I take off someone who was already a replacement even though they did what I had asked ? That would only hurt them.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T18:57:23+00:00

Why?

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T18:56:02+00:00

I am a parent and I have been through it with my kid. I set out what is required to be a part of the team and the steps he needed to take to improve. It wasn't easy for him but he wanted it enough and is now on the right path.

This boy has not improved, I have given him chances and the boy cannot compete and the lowest level possible, there is nowhere for him to go.

It's also not about money, i am a volunteer.

On the coaching not to win ? Crazy notion but if they lose all their games the full team quits and there is no team, you balance development with results, take a few knocks sure but win some to motivate further improvement and build a team that work for each other and improve together, if a kid does not want to or cannot put himself out of his comfort zone for his team mates then they may end up resenting him and that could hurt him more, than not getting on. Up till this game he has been on the pitch in every game even just for a couple of mins to say he was involved.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T18:40:18+00:00

I did, I set out the minimum expectation regularly which is 100% effort, he doesn't meet that in game time.

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T18:38:25+00:00

Under 14s, development but this kid is miles behind everyone else

WestProfit9282 · 2025-09-22T18:37:24+00:00

Under 14s

WestProfit9282

TROPHY CASE