We have had a couple of boys down for trials over the last couple of weeks due to squad shortages in both our teams.

On the first training night one lad looked streets ahead of the other one who was very introverted and seemed to have difficulty understanding basic instructions.  We put this down to nerves and decided to see how they did the following week.

Second training night and the gap definitely closed a bit.  The first lad is still confident, good with the ball and picks up the training drills easily.  The second lad is still a bit quiet but has started to come out of his shell, picked up the drills a lot quicker and showed some nice touches.

The main change came in the small sided games at the end of the session.  The confident lad just wants to shoot when he gets the ball whereas the quiet lad is getting his head up and looking to make a pass.

So, jury still out at the moment.  We have a friendly game arranged this weekend so shall see how they both do then.

What is it with parents ?

You spend the whole season making sure that their kid is ok at training sessions and is getting their fair share of “pitch time” during games. You raise sponsorship monies to ensure that they have training tops, rain jackets, and strips. You chip in your own money to ensure that the players all get a medal to commemorate their efforts over the season.

And what do you get in return ?

Training restarts this week and we eventually had to contact one boy’s mother to get confirmation of the feeling we have had since the previous season ended i.e. the boy isn’t coming back this year.

I don’t want to go into the reasons for this, what annoys me is that the lady in question did not have the common decency to let us know. We have boys on a waiting list to join our team and finding a replacement should not be a problem, however it would have been nice to have had a bit more notice on this front.

There have been plenty of email communications issued to advise people of training sessions, upcoming friendlies etc, so there have been several opportunities to drop a note back or call to say what was happening – or not. It did not happen.

Sometimes this coaching lark feels a little bit like a cheap baby sitting service, and if it wasn’t for the talent and enthusiasm of most of the boys it would be easy to get a bit down about it.

So, we get a few new boys down for trails and see how they get on.

All being well we go into the new season with a full complement of players and a positive attitude restored.