I have DD guest-playing for a D1 team within the club for that reason. That coach recruited her to play LB (Her position for the club's NL team) for him, and we agreed so long as she could play some Mid as well. He's been very accommodating, and its helped grow her game significantly.
Looks like I am the only one who disagrees. My experience is only with girls -out of the 3 teenage lefties that play at a pretty high level (semi-pro) - I have never, ever seen any of them play on the right side or middle of the pitch because although excellent in their position on left flank they are not ambidextrous or 360 players.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that not all lefties are good with their right foot and a true ambidextrous player is rare. Looks like it's been discussed before: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/left-footed-players-question.1840792/page-2
If somebody said all left footers are good with their right foot that would be an obvious over-stating of the situation. if a team has < 2 left footers then a rightie will play outside on the left side...which should help them develop their left foot.
Maybe not always good with their right (OK, definitely not always good with their right -- mine could stand to work at it a whole lot more). But possibly asked more often to work at the off foot, and more accustomed to being asked/required to adapt generally. I've heard a lot of coaches over the years good-naturedly needle my son about working on his right (and it's welcome -- they're right that he and the other lefties he's played with would be better players if they could use the right foot for more than an occasional trap or pass, and mine even at 14 will still do some impressive dances to get the ball onto his left). But I don't think I hear the righties being pushed to work on their left feet nearly as much. Or maybe I just don't notice it.
Probably because it is much harder to find a left footed player than right, so they get pigeon holed there early. This is mainly for defensive purposes and crossing. You are seeing more and more lefties play on the right and vice versa in offensive positions though.
May I dare to say: isnt your child's position of play largely determined by the teammates surrounding him? If he happens to be the best CB option at the time, most club coaches will play him at CB, period. That's just how youth soccer is in this country right now. Until we get rid of the win-at-all-cost mentality, it is not going to change. As a parent, the only way to resist it and make it work for yourself and your child, is to move your child around different teams every year, getting a variety of exposures to teams/players/coaches. If he/she stands out at a particular position regardless his/her surrounding, that's a good sign he belongs to that position. But most likely he/she will get played on different spots of the field.
Cant tell you how important it is for kids to play EVERYWHERE. Case in point my daughter is a u12. Mainly plays ACM but has played every position except for Center Back at one point in her life. In fact after this game we couldn't recall a time where she ever played there. Anyway, tournament last weekend, they were up 5-1. Coach threw her in at CB for s&g's. Game ended 5-4.......Fish out of water had no idea what to do. Not fun and kind of put a black mark on all the good work she did to get the game to 5-1 but it showed her what she needs to work on.
Hard to find a coach that is actually willing to "develop" your child and let them play several positions. And even more so after U14. If it makes you feel better CB is a hard position and my guess is that the other CB (being only U12) did not have the confidence or experience to guide your daughter. And if it was a full-sized goal - there is no way an U12 keeper could have kept much out. However, every player on the pitch needs to know how to defend/jockey/press regardless of position. What was the issue? didn't know how to jockey? bad timing? sloppy passes? other CB not communicating? speed?
The first goal that i would consider her fault was a situation where she was jockeying defensively, same as she does as ACM. She uses the "bend but dont' break" approach until the 6 or other defensive players step up and assist. Well as the CB you dont have that luxury so she used this same approach all the way (back peddling) until the player was 5 yards in front of our goal. DOH! 2nd and 3rd goals were really a result of the coach having our lower level subs in the game. And i hate to say that but they are really the bottom roster girls who probably should be playing travel soccer. My daughter as CB was put in 3v1 situations repeatedly due them getting beat and not being able to possess the ball. This was an indoor tournament and only 6v6 so she didnt have a lot of help.
Mistakes and failure are our greatest opportunities to learn. If playing CB took your daughter out of her comfort zone, then that's a good thing. In three months time, that game or tournament is forgotten and completely meaningless. The lessons your daughter has learned from the experience will remain for a lot longer. I read an interview with Ronaldo once where he spoke about being part of a youth team that regularly got trounced 7 or 8-1. He said these experiences had a lasting effect on him and helped shape him into the player he finally became. As Henry Hill said, "The way I saw it everybody takes a beating sometime."
My DD is a high level u13 playing state team, and for a top Chicago club. Her first position she played was CB in rec, then long time at AM in 7v7 travel, followed by DM, Wing, Mid in 9v9 travel . Then back to CB, then Mid in 9v9. Finally back to CB in 9v9, and currently 6/8 in 11v11. Point being playing CB was probably the biggest factor in developing field vision, aggression, marking, distribution, shape, and scanning/checking shoulders. She was able to keep people in front of her at u11. Transferable skills to the Midfield and IQ develops quickly out of CB. She is now a bit slender while coaches generally put a bigger kid there initially. But if you have a skilled bigger kid, it's a great role till they mature. From there, it could stick or you move around based on technical and IQ ability. I believe my DD will eventually play CB again in the future.
Am very late to this discussion, but since these comments are relevant to my daughter's experience, I'll enter the fray. At the 9v9 U11 level, my right-footed daughter was cast as an LB & occasional LW by her club coach, who grew up in England. The idea was, of course, to help her develop that off foot. He also encouraged that development in his futsal sessions. Fast-forward three years to the U14 ECRL level, and she still tends to gravitate towards that left side (LCB in a 3-5-2). Why? She has become so solid with that left foot that she's often a better option on the left side than actual lefties. Versatility matters (she also plays DM and RCB for her ECRL squad), although I now wonder if coaches forget that she's a natural righty---I suppose that's not a bad problem to have.
I'm so glad I found this thread. It is very relevant as I have a son who has played RB or CB for the last 3 years (he is currently u12). His coach is a very disciplined German former pro. I know why my son was put in the back when he started soccer--other players had started much earlier and were more skilled on the ball and it took my son a long time to learn how to shoot properly. Now, my son is one of the more skilled players on the team. He was the top scorer in his winter league (he played RB and CM in that league and scored equally from both positions). I am quite certain that this coach will not move him and I think we will be seeking out other teams due to my son wanting experience in other positions.
As the parent of a child who has played CB 95% of his career, it is an EXTREMELY key position. If the coach is keeping him back there, there's a reason for it, and it's probably a good reason. Your son (or you and your son) should talk to the coach after a practice and find out what he sees in your son. When my son started playing, a coach told him "you can score from defense". And it's true. You can have a good run, you can put one in from a corner, or you can take a long distance FK. My son has also told me that every ball he keeps out of the net is a "win". If you don't let the other team score, you can't lose.
I agree (as another parent of a CB). Most CB's are capable of playing other positions - my son has spent some time at CM and Striker as well, but is almost exclusively a CB now), but not a lot of players want to play CB. While my son would like to play more midfield or forward (he hates the wing positions, though), he's become too valuable in the CB role so he's rarely moved out of the position, unless they are blowing a team out. But like you said, he's been capable of being involved in the offense, on free kicks and corners. He's one of the bigger kids on his club team, so his coach likes him in the box on corners or crashing the goal on free kicks. His main frustration as of late has been in HS season, because he sees a lack of creativity and finishing on the offensive half and unfortunately, is usually left watching what he thinks he could improve upon. But again, he's too valuable in the CB role to get moved into another position right now.
No doubt! She was very fortunate to be placed on this coach's 9v9 team for the U11 & U12 years. Sans his influence, and the influence of the possession-based game that he taught, there is no way that she would've been motivated to work as hard as she did on her footwork and technical skills. The coach in sam_gordon's recent post who expressed the notion that, yes, defenders can score sounds like a good one for young players. Indeed, my daughter learned to do exactly that from the LB position w/overlap runs (she is not the most explosive, nimble runner---quick, darting moves are not her thing---out there, but once she builds up steam, with or without the ball, she is very dangerous because of her strength, technical skills, and long legs) and the like during the spring of her U12 year (leading the team in goals and assists that season). Skilled OBs (and CBs) who can expertly defend, elude defenders w/skills, make long runs, pass, and finish, and who're able to able to transition quickly from offense back to defense, don't appear to grow on trees, but the demand for them---from what I see---has never been higher. I'm hoping that she will continue to develop as a "two way" OB---the problem is that many U.S. coaches don't encourage their OBs to play in this manner. I have to wonder if this mentality is due to the subtle influence of American football...D is D (aside from the once-in-a-generation Deion Sanders types) ...O is O. Her U13 coach clashed with her repeatedly, especially when she would elect to turn on the offense based on intuition. She had numerous assists for this low-scoring team last year, but the coach would critique her crosses (successful ones, I might add, so the critical comments had more to do with minute details that shouldn't be at the top of the list for a developing U13 player) and attempt to sow doubt about her decision-making skills w/r/t where, when, and how to turn on the offense. Since she was the lynchpin of a fairly stingy defense, and had no problem handling those responsibilities, I was not amused at his attempts to short-circuit her thinking processes about where/when to rev up the offense.
Has he ever tried the DM position? My daughter, who has typically shied away from the middle of the field in the past (she has always balked at being a straight-up CB, which is often where coaches try to place her because of size and strength), has really enjoyed the minutes that she's played at the DM position for her ECRL squad this season. Her team uses a 3-5-2 formation, so the DM seems to have a fair amount of flexibility where intervening on offense is concerned. It's also a spot that demands some CB field-vision skills and intelligence.
That's the position he would prefer. He's somewhat hoping this fall in HS he'll have the chance to play there, as long as he can help groom another kid for his CB position (he's going to be one of the captains, as a Junior).