I'm speaking as a parent, not a coach.
Background: daughter plays U13 soccer (advanced level, not yet travel) and, per her coach, is the most athletic girl on the team. She's got some size (height, not weight), she can run, and she has some skill. In practice she can run faster than most, masters the drills the coach shows them, and can shoot just as hard as any other player on the team, understands the basic objectives, etc.. When the club's travel team (which is U14, a year older) needed guest players, the coach recommended her, although she couldn't play that weekend.
In the games however, she can be timid. Not all the time, but she sometimes shies away from contact (and I'm not speaking here of wanting her to play rough, just normal contact), won't "run through" a play, etc. The coach has talked to her, I've talked to her, he's chatted with me. It's cost her a bit of PT as he's trying to get her to understand that this is the missing link to her game.
Has anyone, either through their daughter, or coaching girls, dealt with this? Is this something that she's just going to have to master naturally if she wants to continue to play and improve. Are there ways to talk about this that I haven't thought of? Even with her timid play she's one of the best players on the team, but there seems like there could be more there if we can unlock that.
Gracias
Background: daughter plays U13 soccer (advanced level, not yet travel) and, per her coach, is the most athletic girl on the team. She's got some size (height, not weight), she can run, and she has some skill. In practice she can run faster than most, masters the drills the coach shows them, and can shoot just as hard as any other player on the team, understands the basic objectives, etc.. When the club's travel team (which is U14, a year older) needed guest players, the coach recommended her, although she couldn't play that weekend.
In the games however, she can be timid. Not all the time, but she sometimes shies away from contact (and I'm not speaking here of wanting her to play rough, just normal contact), won't "run through" a play, etc. The coach has talked to her, I've talked to her, he's chatted with me. It's cost her a bit of PT as he's trying to get her to understand that this is the missing link to her game.
Has anyone, either through their daughter, or coaching girls, dealt with this? Is this something that she's just going to have to master naturally if she wants to continue to play and improve. Are there ways to talk about this that I haven't thought of? Even with her timid play she's one of the best players on the team, but there seems like there could be more there if we can unlock that.
Gracias