I need to know if anyone else has experienced this and navigated it. Our 8yr old son has played hockey for 3 years.
However, he has NEVER scored a goal in a game. And only a handful of times actually had taken shots on goal. I finally got out of him that he “doesn’t want the attention” but then he lied to one of the coaches when they asked if he got any goals or assists.
Help:
What can I do to support him? What do I say to this? What would you do?
Background:
Skating is one of his loves and he is exceptional at it. He is a natural at playing defense, seeing the whole ice..anticipating and coaches love him for it. He actually plays on 2 teams, his year league and then the next house league year up. He seems to loves everything else about hockey, even getting up early and being the first on the ice.
This year we set a couple of goals for development…getting into gear all by himself and participating in the celebrations when teammates make goals. Even getting him to join the celebration for a hug or fist bump is a lot for him. But he’s been doing it.
I told the coach what he said, that he didn’t want to score a goal. The coaches first reaction was to say that after he scores his first, he’ll be hooked. The coach, even though he is a volunteer because his son plays on the team, was a professional player in NHL, CHL and in Russia. He’s not a typical gruff or scary, coach, he is very patient so I was hoping he had come across this before. But I guess that is unrealistic.
The opportunity for goals was there for him this weekend. The game they played was a blow out something like 20-2.
