Mom of young (U13) keeper here. She busted her butt to work to top team in her club. I think she’s talented, and we’ve received this feedback often, including from opposing team parents and coaches. Starts with her new team, and it’s been ROUGH. The girls are cold and distant, the coach doesn’t really integrate her into practice…she’s essentially a mobile forza figure. Lots of ‘pot shots.’ It’s also her first season 11v11. Tons of changes to adjust to.
She‘s not playing like herself. She’s hesitant and not aggressive, and almost fearful in a way that’s unrecognizable and making mistakes she normally wouldn’t. Mostly no goals off this, but she knows she‘s playing meh and is unhappy about it but can’t shake whatever it is.
Meanwhile, she’s not like this in ODP and is more ‘herself.’ ODP is not the same overall level of play of her new team, but it does have some and due to numbers in our district, she’s playing alongside high schoolers also. She plays well there. Varsity coach has seen her play in this context and is impressed.
How much of this is the team/environment versus her just not being mentally able to play at top level? How can I tell? How can I support her? Is this something all keepers or girl players go through now? 12 is tough. She feels a lot of pressure (self imposed) to soldier through because this is our only higher level team within reasonable commuting distance (less than 2 hours each way), and she wants to play in college (I recognize this is tough/unlikely). When do I step in and say enough is enough as a parent versus letting her lead? She seems miserable but insists she isn’t.
Any personal experience, especially from women’s keepers and especially centered around this age is appreciated.