I've watched my two sons play football from the age of 4 up to 18 and 16 now. I've seen coaches who are total headcases with no idea how to bring on players, just shouting and launching things at the side of the pitch when they don't win games.
I've seen my son go to pro-youth and been told first night that he wouldn't get kept on unless he was better than they already had (that's from an SPFL team) - same night I saw one boy emptied, almost in front of everyone and walk out in tears - probably lost to football. No thoughts of trying to integrate back into a local boys club, just right out the door!
The problem is not about enough young players, there are plenty out playing every weekend - its about the coaching of these players.
Why do boys at U13 go straight from playing 7-a-side on small pitches, onto full 3G pitches if available and look hopelessly lost on such a large pitch?
Why do coaches not play boys in all positions at 7-a-side development games - what's the point of playing them in same position for 5 years?
Why don't we play much more school football, give the boys a sense of pride at playing for the one team they can play for, obviously they can't play for another school?
