Grassroots Football

[Guest HTT II]

My boy pretty much learned his skills and tricks using a softball which he once knocked over our expensive TV with and broke so there is no more of that in the house, but it’s a great ball to develop skills as it’s soft to the touch and allows for better dexterity and control. He’s probably a street footballer, his record of kick-ups which he loves is over 200, I’ve got a vid of him doing over 100 with either foot and he loves watching youtube vids of some guy who does free style stuff, especially cross bar challenges. When he first started playing he would smack the crossbar and say dad I hit it 3 times today and I’m like you’re meant to fucking score you daft sod, we lost.
 

He likes to take players on and used to beat 3 players and then go back and try and beat them again, his coaches have worked so hard on his game though and his passing has improved. Positionally though he struggles and has a habit of waiting for the ball rather than reading a pass coming to him to be on his toes so can get intercepted. Very frustrating.

 

He also frustrates the fuck out of me at times because he could get on the ball skip past two players with a team-mate alongside him and he’ll just stop and kind of let them takeover, when he should be the one driving on and them moving for him to get a pass. He also likes to try and walk the ball into the net yet has a cracking shot with either foot.
 

I was shit at footy, but he must get it from his two big cousins, one who is at some German club’s academy and my nephew was at NUFC’s academy years back. Plus we are related to Kenny Wharton on my mum’s side and one of her uncle’s was at NUFC as a school boy just after the second World War.

[Guest HTT II]

5 minutes ago, STM said:

He's a left footer and most of his best games are on the left wing, his style is very much Gareth Bale, pacey running, hard shooting type. They play 231.

 

He crosses the ball like an adult, proper zingers across the box, same with corners but his teammates can't get on the end of them, which is understandable at that age.

 

He's also very good with his right foot. We had a pen shootout comp and he had a fractured left foot (we didn't know at the time), so he took them with his right foot and won it.

 

Well done on the flamingoland tournament. We went in May and got spanked in each game. We got the tournament trophy like, fair play award or whatever. Was a great weekend. 

 

How about your lad?

A left footer is rare, I know a lot of kids are two footed these days, but a genuine left footed is again rare. Keep encouraging him to use bath feet which it sounds like he’s happy to do anyway. We won our group/round or whatever they are for the trophy, but some of the teams were clearly way behind others and our main strength is that the boys have been together for like 3 years and are so tight so we fight and play for each other and to be fair, 4 of the 7 have been or are still at academies and we have a great ‘keeper who has been with us for a year I think now and he makes all the difference. The footy was secondary as they had so much fun on the rides, playing cricket, eating pizzas at ten at night, caravan hopping, little sleep overs while we all got pissed and forgot where our kids were. 

[Shearergol]

27 minutes ago, HTT II said:

Has he just started? They tend to chase after the ball, it’s because they don’t know how to actually play football in a team or structured sense, my boy when we are on the ball attacking will mark the opposition defender, MOVE, FIND SPACE, that’s what I scream. He’s only been playing 3 years which was massively interrupted by covid and doesn’t watch football so he even today struggles to understand certain aspects of it.

Nope, he does the opposite, just stands and watches. Maybe he’s just lazy.

[Guest HTT II]

1 minute ago, Shearergol said:

Nope, he does the opposite, just stands and watches. Maybe he’s just lazy.

Don’t all kids ha ha! The coaches should be spotting that mind and working on things, again our two, they will analyse a game and think so say one kid just waits for the ball then they will do some 1v1 stuff with that kid and try and incorporate it into a full training session for them all. They once did a full month of training to get the ball to my boy and for him to quickly release it to forward runners in 2-v-1 or 1-v-1 situations, repetition, the rest were sick  It’s paid off though, he won top assist for last two cycles running and set up most of the goals over the weekend as well as ending up top scorer in the age group.

[Guest HTT II]

Does any member on here actually play for any teams?

[STM]

13 minutes ago, HTT II said:

A left footer is rare, I know a lot of kids are two footed these days, but a genuine left footed is again rare. Keep encouraging him to use bath feet which it sounds like he’s happy to do anyway. We won our group/round or whatever they are for the trophy, but some of the teams were clearly way behind others and our main strength is that the boys have been together for like 3 years and are so tight so we fight and play for each other and to be fair, 4 of the 7 have been or are still at academies and we have a great ‘keeper who has been with us for a year I think now and he makes all the difference. The footy was secondary as they had so much fun on the rides, playing cricket, eating pizzas at ten at night, caravan hopping, little sleep overs while we all got pissed and forgot where our kids were. 

Did they group you and your team together, caravans wise. They did with us and we had a little play park between the caravans, it was great fun for them.

 

Would recommend the whole thing to anybody. Who was the celebrity guest? We had Dominic Matteo. 

[Guest HTT II]

6 minutes ago, STM said:

Did they group you and your team together, caravans wise. They did with us and we had a little play park between the caravans, it was great fun for them.

 

Would recommend the whole thing to anybody. Who was the celebrity guest? We had Dominic Matteo. 

Aye,we had like a field in the middle of our caravans, only one other family was separated which they weren’t understandably happy about, one of the dad’s plays cricket and the boys mainly did that. Turns out my oldest is quite good at it, got six kids out! We nearly had a fight with some scousers last night, one of their kids just kicked one of ours when they were having a kick about so his dad went over had told him off, and a few of their lot come out but said fuck all, they were generally horrible little cunts and that’s just the kids, trying to take our boys’ balls and swearing their heads off. No need. Apparently the whole tournament over the years have had problems with Scouse teams and parents. The bloke that runs it is a Smoggie, BT Promotions I think, he was great and aye it’s a very enjoyable tournament, best I’ve been to easily. Dunno who our celebrity guest was, I was too pissed 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by HTT II

[Guest HTT II]

My boy in the final yesterday, ‘keeper come rushing out, my boy stopped the ball, ‘keeper didn’t anticipate his shimmy, cool left foot finish, Beardsley like. Two in the final. The infuriating thing is he could have smacked it in much earlier, but calm personified. I’m kind of OK that he likes to either walk it in or try different finishes, because it’s kind of easy to just smash it towards goal and score. But as a striker myself when I was a kid, I want him to just hit it/pull the trigger early!

 

[jack j]

Remember as a kid meself playing in a tournament at butlins for west denton. We ended up fighting with a team called Sefton taddies. Absolute scouse rats they were. Typical scouse gobshites. Think that's where my first hatred of them came from. Hated them ever since

[Superior Acuña]

9 hours ago, Infatuation Junkie said:

My lad started training at 6. He's 8 now. Plays for Heaton Hawks. 

 

Absolutely loves it. The games are fantastic to watch. The development in such a short space of time is phenomenal.

 

Fair play to anyone who coaches at this age. These kids are difficult to control at times. 

 

 

 

 

I played for two teams as a kid and Heaton Hawks memorably battered us at both of them  

[jack j]

Walker Central were the kings when I was a youth

31 now, anyone who seemed to have a chance at Newcastle went through Walker at that time

[TheBrownBottle]

9 minutes ago, jack j said:

Walker Central were the kings when I was a youth

31 now, anyone who seemed to have a chance at Newcastle went through Walker at that time

My old man played for centre-half for Walker Central as a young'un.

 

His claim to footballing fame is that he was tasked with marking Peter Beardsley in one schools match.  Beardsley bagged a hattrick after about ten minutes, and his coach moved him to fullback so that my fatha could stop being utterly humiliated  - you can tell the humiliation hasn't quite left him 50 years on ...

[Groundhog63]

7 hours ago, HTT II said:

lus we are related to Kenny Wharton on my mum’s side 

Played against Kenny years ago. Think I was playing for the Westfield in the alphabet. Match up in Fenham off Two Ball Lonnen. I thought "wtf is Kenny Wharton doing playing here?". Knees all strapped up as well. Obvs just loved it and playing with pals. Referee was a (then) current top ref. Can't remember his name. Think it was 'up his own arse cunt' 

3 hours ago, TheBrownBottle said:

 

His claim to footballing fame is that he was tasked with marking Peter Beardsley in one schools match.  Beardsley bagged a hattrick after about ten minutes, and his coach moved him to fullback so that my fatha could stop being utterly humiliated  - you can tell the humiliation hasn't quite left him 50 years on ...

Tbf getting rinsed off of Beardsley's a badge of honour unless you're at Go Ape. 

Apart from Kenny Wharton my claim to fame is sending Scott Sloan for a Chronicle. He actually said "nice turn, done iz there" ?

 

I'm 58 now and it still rankles that my parents never ever came to watch me. 

School football or weekend 5 a side tournaments. No interest. I was canny as well. Knocked around the same team as Trevor Steven. 

Played football all my life until I hit 40s.

Various standards but found my level and enjoyed every minute. Even went in goal for 4 and 5 a sides. Once, playing for the Fire Service, in Eldon Square, getting a full sine die ban for kicking a door after getting a red. In goal as well man. 

 

Loved watching the bairn play for his teams. 

He became a goalie which, given his parents are midgets, was a suprise. I kna I did but not full size nets ?

Watched him play for his juniors in Crammy then trips down to York when we split up and his Mum went back down there with him. Tried to get to as many games as possible. 

I think it's a great thing for their confidence and I've always said it doesn't matter if they're not world beaters. If they can play and carry on doing so they'll have loads of pals and memories. 

All being well the bairn (27) might be moving back up so, you never know, I might get to watch him again. 

Ive a few pals who's kids play and they're full on soccer Mam's n dad's. Put the miles and time in. 

One couple's laddie, from York as it happens, has just been signed up for a scholarship with Pilkington Town FC. Playing in squad AND linked to college. 

I honestly think refereeing is an avenue some kids should consider, notwithstanding the aggro, obvs. 

 

Kids footy is great tho. One of my nephew's played for a Crammy team and they'd lost every game. Went to watch the last game of season and they got a late equaliser. Honestly it was as if they'd won the a world Cup. Absolute scenes and tears. 

 

 

Enjoying your bairns playing sport is priceless. Enjoy it. 

 

[Dr Venkman]

My boy’s 6 and has just joined Whitley Bay playing in a mixed under 7/8’s team. Doing pretty well so far. He’s a little behind on his dribbling but he’s got a solid strike on him for a little lad. The primary thing he has going for him is he isn’t afraid to use his body which is rare at that age, he’s always fighting for the ball and some other kids just wilt. I’m a qualified coach so I’ll be helping out with the team once I can sort my work pattern out and be available every week. My wife’s company has sponsored the team as well, we like to support him as much as we can.

[jack j]

Anyone remember the referee Mitch. Never left the centre circle. Was as wide as he was tall. Was a class ref though

[Guest HTT II]

2 hours ago, Dr Venkman said:

My boy’s 6 and has just joined Whitley Bay playing in a mixed under 7/8’s team. Doing pretty well so far. He’s a little behind on his dribbling but he’s got a solid strike on him for a little lad. The primary thing he has going for him is he isn’t afraid to use his body which is rare at that age, he’s always fighting for the ball and some other kids just wilt. I’m a qualified coach so I’ll be helping out with the team once I can sort my work pattern out and be available every week. My wife’s company has sponsored the team as well, we like to support him as much as we can.

Whitley Bay are a decent club, we’ve played them a few times, a few years back we drew 4-4 in a great game that was end to end, KK type football. To improve his dribbling it’s simple, just get him out with a ball and running with it slowly with little taps of the feet and he will eventually start dribbling at a quicker pace. None of this dribbling around cones stuff. It’s got to be freestyle.

 

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by HTT II

[Guest HTT II]

My boy is quite the shot stopper and has played in goal loads and wanted to be a ‘keeper once. He did some 1v1 with NUFC’s under 9’s coach and he texted me saying fantastic shot stopper, shit positioning in terms of standing in the goal  I’d encourage any parent to let their kid have a stint in goal because they love to jump around, and it widens their overall game because they get to see a bigger picture. We have a great ‘keeper and NUFC under 9s have one too, who is also a great outfield player. My boy is reserve ‘keeper in emergencies and we once won a tournament because he saved a few pens, even though he missed one himself which he’s not the best at 

[Guest HTT II]

For parents looking to get their kids into playing, girls and boys:

 

Montague North Fenham

Wideopen

Cramlington Juniors

Wallsend

Gosforth Juniors

Newcastle City Juniors

Newcastle West End

Redhugh Juniors

 

Top clubs, top coaches, facilities (Monty not so in terms of facilities as they train on Slaty field) and good organisation.

[Dr Venkman]

15 minutes ago, HTT II said:

For parents looking to get their kids into playing, girls and boys:

 

Montague North Fenham

Wideopen

Cramlington Juniors

Wallsend

Gosforth Juniors

Newcastle City Juniors

Newcastle West End

Redhugh Juniors

 

Top clubs, top coaches, facilities (Monty not so in terms of facilities as they train on Slaty field) and good organisation.

A list of teams I used to hate playing against when I was a kid 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by Dr Venkman

[Guest HTT II]

2 minutes ago, Dr Venkman said:

A list of teams I used to hate playing against when I was a kid 

 

 

 

Ha ha aye they are all good teams, we hate playing against Wideopen as they usually batter us, but we beat them the other week, albeit their revised team as they lost 5 kids to NUFC’s academy. We have a good relationship with them though, loads of friendlies, use of their facilities etc. during off-season and my boy has went to loads of their footy camps and had a few 1v1 sessions with some of their coaches who are NUFC academy coaches. Great club!

[Guest HTT II]

Add Westerhope to that list. My mate’s club, especially if your kid is a girl, great set up!

[pinkeye]

Goal keeper at kids level is sometimes a tough position to fill - at least with a competent pair of hands.  While my son, let's call him Joseph for the sake of that being his name, was in younger age groups the keeper was always the fat kid (and I say that without being rude or rotten) who wanted to play football but, was just so uncoordinated that it was impossible.  Playing in goal meant he could still be with his mates and not be a hinderance.  

 

Dont get me wrong, it is much better for a kid to be involved in some way regardless of ability than to be excluded and I would welcome all abilities into my team if I had one.  We have been with managers who made the game all about them and winning was the perfect massage for their own ego which meant the kids who needed the most game time in order to develop actually got the least.

 

Joseph played under a manager at the age of 6 who simply wanted all the best kids from the area and ended up with a squad of around 20 for a 5 or 6 a side game.  It was crazy...  Joseph didnt get any game time whatsoever....  I asked the guy one time what was going on and why he kept on bringing in more kids while the ones who were there were not being played and I was blasted by him...  he is not doing this so I could have a go at him, I really wasn't. he does this for the kids, bullshit.....   I realised that we had to leave, the atmosphere was as toxic as hell anyway with the other parents being competitive to try to get their own kid noticed.  Remember this was a 6 years old.  Joseph really suffered from loss of confidence for at least a year after that, this is why I am so supportive of Tyneside Futsal, we took him along to that and the coaches ( I think it was the owner at first whose sessions he went to) were fantastic.  They teach the kids individual and close ball skills.  In futsal it is often more about holding the ball and going past other players using extraordinary skills rather than passing as a team game, that comes later.  We stayed with the futsal for 6 years, while also playing for Felling Magpies on the weekend.  The progression and development was amazing, I watched Joseph become a really strong, quick, two footed player with some really clever tricks that were ahead of his years, in my opinion.

 

Wallsend Boys Club came much later, he just wanted to play on a Sunday as well as a Saturday so I called them and asked if he could join.  He had to trial to be even considered but, they took him after just one session and he played their right until this last season as team Captain. 

 

I just loved watching him and the teams he played for, it is a treat that I will cherish for all of my life.  I have watched pretty troubled kids gain confidence and develop, not only as sportsmen but, also as individuals.  I can think of several team mates of Josephs who would not look me in the eye if I spoke to them and their answers were pretty much grunts turn into confident boys that would start conversations with me and come over to ask me about things.  More so as they reached 15 and 16 we would talk about what they wanted to do next - after school etc. 

 

Great times and I am going to miss it terribly.  Those of you with young ones who have just started or beginning their grassroots journey, please enjoy it, really enjoy it...  it is over so quickly and it is the best chance you will ever have to properly connect with your kids. 

[WarrenBartonCentrePartin]

Are there still coaches offering specialist goalkeeping tuition? I was a keeper as a kid (when everyone was the same height) and went to sessions organised by Simon Smith (late 90s - prior to his NUFC days). Feel like there’s a gap to be filled there. I learned far more than I did at any summer coaching days, where everything was focussed on playing outfield.

[Guest HTT II]

8 minutes ago, WarrenBartonCentrePartin said:

Are there still coaches offering specialist goalkeeping tuition? I was a keeper as a kid (when everyone was the same height) and went to sessions organised by Simon Smith (late 90s - prior to his NUFC days). Feel like there’s a gap to be filled there. I learned far more than I did at any summer coaching days, where everything was focussed on playing outfield.

Most do these days, but sadly a lot of the coaches have never been ‘keepers themselves. Wideopen are the best for 1v1 goalkeeping sessions. My son’s other Saturday team, we have a great ‘keeper in him, big lad, brave as anything, saves pens for fun!

 

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by HTT II

[Guest HTT II]

16 minutes ago, pinkeye said:

Goal keeper at kids level is sometimes a tough position to fill - at least with a competent pair of hands.  While my son, let's call him Joseph for the sake of that being his name, was in younger age groups the keeper was always the fat kid (and I say that without being rude or rotten) who wanted to play football but, was just so uncoordinated that it was impossible.  Playing in goal meant he could still be with his mates and not be a hinderance.  

 

Dont get me wrong, it is much better for a kid to be involved in some way regardless of ability than to be excluded and I would welcome all abilities into my team if I had one.  We have been with managers who made the game all about them and winning was the perfect massage for their own ego which meant the kids who needed the most game time in order to develop actually got the least.

 

Joseph played under a manager at the age of 6 who simply wanted all the best kids from the area and ended up with a squad of around 20 for a 5 or 6 a side game.  It was crazy...  Joseph didnt get any game time whatsoever....  I asked the guy one time what was going on and why he kept on bringing in more kids while the ones who were there were not being played and I was blasted by him...  he is not doing this so I could have a go at him, I really wasn't. he does this for the kids, bullshit.....   I realised that we had to leave, the atmosphere was as toxic as hell anyway with the other parents being competitive to try to get their own kid noticed.  Remember this was a 6 years old.  Joseph really suffered from loss of confidence for at least a year after that, this is why I am so supportive of Tyneside Futsal, we took him along to that and the coaches ( I think it was the owner at first whose sessions he went to) were fantastic.  They teach the kids individual and close ball skills.  In futsal it is often more about holding the ball and going past other players using extraordinary skills rather than passing as a team game, that comes later.  We stayed with the futsal for 6 years, while also playing for Felling Magpies on the weekend.  The progression and development was amazing, I watched Joseph become a really strong, quick, two footed player with some really clever tricks that were ahead of his years, in my opinion.

 

Wallsend Boys Club came much later, he just wanted to play on a Sunday as well as a Saturday so I called them and asked if he could join.  He had to trial to be even considered but, they took him after just one session and he played their right until this last season as team Captain. 

 

I just loved watching him and the teams he played for, it is a treat that I will cherish for all of my life.  I have watched pretty troubled kids gain confidence and develop, not only as sportsmen but, also as individuals.  I can think of several team mates of Josephs who would not look me in the eye if I spoke to them and their answers were pretty much grunts turn into confident boys that would start conversations with me and come over to ask me about things.  More so as they reached 15 and 16 we would talk about what they wanted to do next - after school etc. 

 

Great times and I am going to miss it terribly.  Those of you with young ones who have just started or beginning their grassroots journey, please enjoy it, really enjoy it...  it is over so quickly and it is the best chance you will ever have to properly connect with your kids. 

Goalkeeping is so specliasied, but a mate of mine who used to coach goalies says if a kid is good at shot stopping which they can’t teach, they have a chance more than other kids outfield because other stuff can be taught like handling, communication, kicking etc. He also said the better more talented kids are likely to make the better ‘keepers because of their agility, dexterity, awareness and focus. But those kind of kids don’t want to go in goal, naturally.

 

Without wanting to sound rude too, my boy guest plays for a team now and then and there is a fat kid in the team who the parents would say stick him in goal no-one will get a shot past him, but the coaches are brilliant, they are like nah. He’s tubby, slow and can’t run, but the kid’s control and passing and reading of the game is unreal. If he lost some weight, he’d be fucking great! Lovely kid too and it pisses me off when parents see him and think he must be shit because of his size, he’s another Targett, 7/8 out of 10 every game. 
 

Kid’s football is for all ages, sexes, size, race, nationality or whatever, just let them play and enjoy what is THEIR game, not ours.

 

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by HTT II