My 9 yr. old ld son is a super jock he is a great wrestler, soccer player, football player, swimmer, biker, horseback rider, anything sports.
All his coaches for wrestling and ball have been absolutely super. They do not treat him any differently than anyone else on the team. His wrestling coach has been with him since he was 5. The coach is like a big teddy bear he growls and is demanding, can be tough but adores the kids. A couple weeks ago he told my son if he wouldn’t listen he could be on a different team. I was mad my son was sad and by Monday practice my son listened to what he was told and won all 3 of his matches the next week.
I can only speak for myself but I think the more people that treat our kids like everyone else the better off they will be. I don’t like to see my son get hurt feelings but that is real life and sometimes we learn from it.
Re: coaches have been wonderful
Mom from Canada,
My parents were both from Canada and I spent many summers there just a little winter time but do know how seriously hockey is taken.
As mom’s we all want to protect our kids from bad feelings. I think the sports issue comes down to is your son doing his best or is he slacking or have an off time.
I have never encountered a coach that would not give a kid credit if they think they are performing at their personal level of accomplishment. If you think the coach is expecting more than your son can do than it is time for a talk with the coach.
You won’t believe it. Last week at a wrestling tournament my son was wrestling for 1st place and being sloppy I was yelling louder than the coach. My son got 2nd and he was very capable of better wrestling and deserved to loose. He was very bumbed out but it was a learning experience and sometimes the kids learn more from their losses than from getting an easy win.
Congrats on the Canadian hockey team at the Olympics and the skaters too.
I am really glad to read you posting. I have been facing a dilemma with my 11 year old son’s hockey team. Lately, he has been playing poorly, not concentrating, missing easy shots, making bad plays and everyone is getting frustrated with him. The coach is getting really frustrated with him and doing a lot of “directing”. Even though it is very low level house league play they take it very seriously here in Canada. I have not known what to do about it but I see your point and I think I will try your approach.