When teammates fight each other, everyone loses. I’ve had to think about that a lot over the last few weeks as my kid is the target of a lot (if not all) of the violence happening between players. He got into his 3rd scuffle this week and each with a different player. I’d be a fool to think he isn’t part of the problem. He has an ego and really believes in himself. Unfortunately there are several kids on the high school team that don’t believe in him and want to ‘put him in his place.’
None of this–nothing in his ego-driven attitude should lead to violence. Yet here we are in a situation where he will probably need to transfer to another school–throwing his younger brother’s future into disarray–in order to have a chance to avoid teammates stepping to him constantly as is happening now. To make matters worse, the social media is expansive and toxic and includes one of the fights, which is only making him more of a target for players who want to make a name stepping to a starter. None of this is good for him as a young man trying to find his way. It is worse for him as a player trying to give his all. Why would he want to and how could he if he’s concerned about being hit by a fellow player or robbed again while his teammates watch the robber and laugh it off like it doesn’t matter.
He’s in a toxic situation. Unfortunately, there is no clear way forward beyond leaving. So what happens after that?