Turns out the top teams in the youth league actually deserve to be there. My 10 and 12 yr old squads faced some of the top teams in the nation in the form of the Chandler Bears (10u) and the AZ Bandits (12u) and were pummeled. It was so bad that both teams claimed a moral victory over scoring at all. These kids we were playing against are squads that have been together for years in some cases and, at the least preparing since long before summer ended. Their goals are to be selected to go to Florida and compete for the national championship. The 10u will probably make it. The 12u has a tougher road. Meanwhile our hopes are more local in nature yet still suffered a serious blow to the confidence. This is really the source of my discontent. Once things got rough for my 10 yr old I watched him shit down. He continued to play, but he was not the same player.
This is not the first time I’ve watched my kid shut down after things got rough. I’ve seen in largely in football, but also in the home. It shows a lack of mental toughness can can only spell disaster for him in his own life. You gotta have some toughness to you, because not everyone is on your side and wants to see you succeed. Not every relationship is simple and goes the way you think it ought to. Neither of these things will go very well for the kid if he doesn’t get tough and fast. He often has to psyche himself up for these bigger stage competitions. If it were just a football thing I’d let it play out and let that life he’s living slip away into nothingness but it is not that way.