11yr old wants to quit footie - team top of league!

Find out what he wants to do instead of playing. If he comes up with a good alternative let him quit, if not make him play.

give him the old hairdryer treatment.

a Viz Top Tip might say "force him to play for as long as you can so he resents you and leaves home early hence saving £££££"

dont recommend that

best guess is he is unhappy with the coach or other players, is getting bullied or something like that, find out what it is

then go from there

put him on a strict diet and he may enjoy an outfield position..everyone knows the "fat" kid is the goalie.

Talk to him like an equal and don't try to enforce your view over the top of his. Ask him to be honest with you. Find out what it is that's causing it and then agree a way forward. Perhaps ask him to give it another month or so and if he still feels the same way then agree that's what happens. That way he sees you're a reasonable parent, one to be trusted but that you can't just leave people in the lurch. Have a quiet word with the coach to give him some notice that it may be coming.

All good lessons for his life journey.

If the team is that good he isn't involved is he ,tell to ask to play on pitch for a few games or swap at half time must be another kid who can go in goal for half a game.............speak to the coach/manager..

He has made a commitment and should honour it until they find a replacement.

Make sure he isn't unhappy there for any other reason but if he isn't, it will teach him a lesson about seeing things through, or maybe a Homer Simpson type lesson of 'Son, never commit to anything'.

been there done that and resented my dad all his life for it, let him find his own way

can be quite stressful being goalkeeper, nowhere to hide

Unless you are really thin and then you might be able to hide behind a goalpost.

if he wants to do something else and not sit on his a55 playing fifa then fair enough,if he wants to sit there playing fifa,find him a rugby team and boxing club n all,that'll learn him

Tell him to be resilient and keep going art least until they find another goalkeeper. Have a word with coach and see if he can get the other lads to give him more praise and give him man of the match award.

Eternal optimist's advice is the best, covers all the bases well , imo.

Yup, EO's way is the best way forward, with the proviso that the kid do something else constructive instead.

Worth remembering that a month for an 11 year old kid is pretty much like four months for the average dad of that kid.

In terms of perception. Relative time, and all that.

You could also tell him from me that my cousin played in goal for one of the best local kids teams, and ended up going semi-pro at the age of 16. He was only paid £20 a match, but still, it's better than a kick in the balls, and telling an 11yo that he could get £20 a match would seem like heaven to him.

You need to take it a stage further than this ; pay the kid £20 now, per game. This will boost his status within the team as he will be the only pro...if he wants to chuck it at the end of the season, then fair enough ; just make sure you arrange a testimonial for the kid, preferably against Celtic Boys' Club as they will bring a large travelling support.

Another thing you can do is hire a good looking young girl to cheer him on and scream his name from the touchline.

are you really asking for genuine advice- on here?

Can't believe the rubbish I wrote there...start again ; hire TWO good looking young girls and get them to have a cat fight on the touchline ; "He's my baby...", "No, he's MINE!" etc.

Valasquez. Maybe she could just shout "Come on you Goalie"?

That might be a bit less embarrassing for Montmorency.

Be sure to film it and upload to YouTube...a massive confidence boost for your kid and you make a few bob...what can possibly go wrong...?

Naydam - "Come on you Goalie" ?

Not sure about this...we want to make the kid feel like a PLAYER, not just a goalie...how about, "We ADORE you, most high Gloved One..."

If the team is top of the league and he's goalkeeper he's probably a bit bored!  Who'd want to be a keeper?  Unlike all the other players he's not got the benefit of being active and getting fit.  Having had 8 years of taking my sons to football matches, I cringe at the antics and comments of the coaches and some of the parents.  If he wants to quit you must let him quit, but I personally think it's good to encourage them to participate in sport as it will help them in adulthood.  If you've got sufficient outside space and money you could for example buy an outdoor table tennis table and play against him.  It's cheaper in the long run than paying for clubs.

An 11 year old should be doing what he's told to do.
He refuses? Good! Take anything he likes from him.
The thread is either a wind-up or you're a poor parent.

Good idea from Clydebank...Clydebank, when you say "clubs" are you thinking of GOLF? Table tennis might be cheap and convenient in the short term but there are not many dollar-billionaire table tennis pros...we have to consider the bigger picture here...

I think a third, pregnant 11 year old girl should turn up and lay claim to him too.
Make him look like a real man.

Following on from that and assuming he has refused I'd buy him goalie gloves for his next 5 birthdays and Christmas's and nothing else.

And a social worker...or better yet, some sort of lifestyle guru from Rehab...

fart on his noggin

Maybe it could be raised at the PMs question time in parliament.

erse2, although never made public (yet) an insider told me that a certain Manchester club manager used that method to great effect.

erse2, although never made public (yet) an insider told me that a certain Manchester club manager used that method to great effect.

Offer him a score for a clean sheet.  He will be up at 6am on matchdays warming up.

He can't have a score and a clean sheet, well not in his goal.

clean sheets sound nice...

Yes the ones with the brown motif are soooooo last year.

i'd prefer to term it a winning streak

Hmmmm. Looks like the 'Well of good Advice' has run dry.

No it hasn't.

Boy's obviously gay.

Make him play.

Definitely needs to ditch the goalie spot.

In what other sport can he drama queen and throw himself on the ground, holding a leg, squealing like a girl?

he could see how quick he can get red carded

creatureinthesky 01 Oct 13 19:30 Joined: 24 Oct 10

He has made a commitment and should honour it until they find a replacement.

Make sure he isn't unhappy there for any other reason but if he isn't, it will teach him a lesson about seeing things through, or maybe a Homer Simpson type lesson of 'Son, never commit to anything'.

Seriously, I'm with The Creature. Shroooood

So, who keeps goal if he is sent off? I know it's only a junior league, but the rules are gonna be similar, if not identical.
There must be somebody who COULD take his place. Kids should be enjoying their sport so they should get a turn at different roles. You can't expect all the other kids to support one or two Prima Donnas. The results aren't that important...the enjoyment IS.

Hes clearly owned the sport, like fergie said....how do you motivate 11 millionaires?

Being a football goalie is one of the oddest positions in sport. 19/20 kids that play the position have been coerced,bullied or persuaded into the position.

How tall is the nipper, and you and the missus? Unless he's likely to hit at least 6'2" (or has really long arms), it's actually probably not worth his while. Having said that, aforementioned semi-pro cousin is only 5'10"ish.

Also, tell him to take up rugby. It's more fun!