Son experiencing some confidence issues
Background - My 10yo son is a standout ball player and plays up on an 11u select team. He was previously playing 9u rec when we were contacted last fall by our league affiliated club team about trying out for the 11u AA team. He had some extremely successful seasons on his rec team, which was made up of his friends. At that time, he always batted at the top of the lineup, played shortstop regularly, and rarely sat out on that team. Disclaimer: I was not the coach, so no daddy ball favoritism.
He tried out and made the select team last fall. He was very proud of himself, and I was proud of him also, for making the leap as a 9yo up to 11u. He played 3rd base predominately last season on the select team and batted middle of the line up, ending with a rather average season in comparison to his rec performance, which was expected taking quite a step up in competition.
He was very excited going into the spring season with this team, however, over the off-season our head coach made the decision to step away for personal reasons and the team changed hands. Our new coach made some roster changes and brought on some players from his previous team.
My son had to tryout again, and again he made the team with the new coach complimenting his skills. The new coach is a good coach. I'm not upset with him and my son likes him. The new coach has moved him to a 2nd base position when he is placed in the infield but now he plays predominantly outfield. He has also been moved to the end of the batting line up for most games. On a positive note, the coach has given him opportunities to pitch,even more than some of the other players and he has done well on the mound.
I believe this has effected his confidence somewhat, due to his previous rec league experience. In his mind, it was the the lesser skilled players on the team that were usually placed in the outfield and routinely batted at the end of the lineup. I feel he is now questioning himself too much and wondering if maybe he isn't good enough and thats why he has lost some preference. He still makes plays and gets hits but I can tell he is less than thrilled about these changes.
When him and I have talked about it, I told him that someone has to bat at the end of the line up and someone has to play the outfield no matter what. It's not necessarily a bad thing or because he isn't good. I've expressed that in life, you won't always get what you want, you wont always get the position you want, and to be the best you can be where ever you find yourself. I've tried to guide him into a utility player mindset and voiced to him that at higher levels he will have to be prepared play whatever position is available to him, if he wants to be on the team. I've reminded him that he is still playing up and won't always get to be the rockstar on the team. He is a grade younger than all the other players on this team and it's possible this coach feels my son should just be happy to have a spot on this team at all, being younger.
I just don't want him losing some of his enthusiasm for the game. He says that he gets bored in the outfield and wants to contribute more to the team. I don't want to make it seem like my son is spoiled or expecting special treatment. He is still a team player and likes this team of boys, so much so that I don't even want to take him off this team and chance moving to another team where he dislikes the coach or players.
My delimma is, should we stay and play on this team going forward, even if he doesn't get experience at the positions he would like to play? I know that he is not guaranteed to get playing time at those positions elsewhere either. I don't want him to get type-cast, so to speak, in this coaches eyes and only seen as an outfielder or a kid who should settle for whatever slot he gets because he is younger.
Should we stay back and play for another team in his age group to level the playing field and get him more opportunities at the positions he wants? I know success in baseball is greatly impacted by your self confidence and I don't want that to be damaged.
Is there other advice I should give him to help him remain optimistic with these changes?
I haven't told him to speak to the coach directly about it, because I want him to earn his respect on the field rather than seem like he is complaining or expecting something. Is that something he should consider?