Boys Clutching and Grabbing

[Unregistered]

yes, this is a key strategy employed by Valeo.

The lesson should be, teach your kids how to do this, unless they only want to watch the games from the bench in high school.

Yes, you're probably right. This occurs at the highest levels.

What's the biggest complaint that most people have about soccer? Not enough goals scored, right? Basketball, hockey and football have taken steps to create more of an offensive flow, soccer should take notice.

[Unregistered]

U12 son and agree. See it all the time. What annoys me (and my son more) is deliberate arm grabbing/pulling. He plays basketball and that's a holding foul.

I believe there are coaches that deliberately teach/coach certain techniques. Whether it's aggressive/dirty play or something else.

We recently played a team I'll call the floppers. Away game, away ref. Flop on every play. And he called every single one in their favor. They even got 2 pks. It appeared to be their strategy and it worked.

[B]At the end of the day, these kids aren't learning real soccer and will be at a disadvantage as they get older.[/
B]

The lesson here is to teach your kid good soccer and to rise above and ignore the rest. It will make him/her a better player long term.

Have you seen a single minute of a single high school game?

If the refs don't call it then the players will use the tactic. I see it used against my son's team all the time. Luckily they know how to move the ball and switch fields so the little hangers on get tired and we end up blowing the team out.

[Unregistered]

Thank you!
That was exactly my point. I believe some coaches are teaching these tactics. When we see our boys do it in practice we tell them not to.
We played a team this w/e and their backs were apparently instructed to hold onto our forward players. I don't think they came up with this on their own and I never heard their coach instruct them not to. They simply made no attempt to win the ball, they just got as close to our player as they could and would grab a handful of shirt.

We make it our policy not to gripe to the refs - ever. They have enough to deal with, but this grabbing and pulling affects the flow of the game. I know the ref sees it, but they don't want to call it.

Soccer is full of rich little snots that get frustrated when they're being outrun by the great unwashed.

[Unregistered]

Soccer is full of rich little snots that get frustrated when they're being outrun by the great unwashed.

My son showers regularly, whether he wants to or not.

[Unregistered]

Sorry, not up on my William Shatner quotes. ;)

"Khaaaaannnn"

[Unregistered]

Soccer is full of rich little snots that get frustrated when they're being outrun by the great unwashed.

Are they fast or skilled?
Rich, little snots are generally neither.

[Unregistered]

U12 son and agree. See it all the time. What annoys me (and my son more) is deliberate arm grabbing/pulling. He plays basketball and that's a holding foul.

I believe there are coaches that deliberately teach/coach certain techniques. Whether it's aggressive/dirty play or something else.

We recently played a team I'll call the floppers. Away game, away ref. Flop on every play. And he called every single one in their favor. They even got 2 pks. It appeared to be their strategy and it worked.

At the end of the day, these kids aren't learning real soccer and will be at a disadvantage as they get older.

The lesson here is to teach your kid good soccer and to rise above and ignore the rest. It will make him/her a better player long term.

Good coaches teach body positioning or angles to gain advantage on receiving or intercepting a ball. Using your body is part of the game, it's physical and some kids will get aggressive and start grabbing.
Don't blame coaching, kids are aggressive or not and they learn from watching others (live or on TV) and trying things on the field.

[Unregistered]

My experience is that as a coach, you have to take more of that out than put it in. Right or wrong its part of the game and girls have sharp elbows too.

[Unregistered]

I thought this thread was going to be about kids needing to p. during matches.

[Unregistered]

Good coaches teach body positioning or angles to gain advantage on receiving or intercepting a ball. Using your body is part of the game, it's physical and some kids will get aggressive and start grabbing.
Don't blame coaching, kids are aggressive or not and they learn from watching others (live or on TV) and trying things on the field.

Completely agree with using your body and being physical.

My U12 son is big for his age and constantly gets called on using his body "correctly" after the teeny tiny kids flop.

Arm grabbing and shirt pulling is usually from behind and after a player gets beat.

Not good soccer.

And unfortunately, some coaches do teach unethical or questionable behavior.

[Unregistered]

I thought this thread was going to be about kids needing to p. during matches.

That's hilarious! My first year coaching in Rec (stopped once my kid went to a club), the biggest problem I had was getting little Johnnie to leave his pekre alone.

[Unregistered]

Completely agree with using your body and being physical.

My U12 son is big for his age and constantly gets called on using his body "correctly" after the teeny tiny kids flop.

Arm grabbing and shirt pulling is usually from behind and after a player gets beat.

Not good soccer.

And unfortunately, some coaches do teach unethical or questionable behavior.

This is part of the game now. What is more interesting is that this type of pulling/holding is called in girls games but not boys. In the girls game body checking is not called but is in the boys games.

[Unregistered]

This is part of the game now. What is more interesting is that this type of pulling/holding is called in girls games but not boys. In the girls game body checking is not called but is in the boys games.

Body checking is only called on the bigger boys. The little kids do it all the time and never get called on it. Perhaps the refs don't see it because they are so little. Or perhaps they think the big boys can handle it.

I don't mind physical play. Just call it fairly.

[Unregistered]

Body checking is only called on the bigger boys. The little kids do it all the time and never get called on it. Perhaps the refs don't see it because they are so little. Or perhaps they think the big boys can handle it.

I don't mind physical play. Just call it fairly.

And most times the bigger kid gets called for a foul whenever the smaller one ends up on the ground. Often times it's more a matter of physics - smaller mass encountering a larger one - not actual illegal contact. Many smaller players know that and try use it to their advantage. We recently had a game where the ref finally had to pull the munchkin aside and tell him to stop

[Unregistered]

And most times the bigger kid gets called for a foul whenever the smaller one ends up on the ground. Often times it's more a matter of physics - smaller mass encountering a larger one - not actual illegal contact. Many smaller players know that and try use it to their advantage. We recently had a game where the ref finally had to pull the munchkin aside and tell him to stop

Valeo teaches this to their players.