Soccer coaches, God love ‘em and they devote their lives to these kids at very little pay, are the worst communicators ever. A parent has to be adept at reading the tea leaves and ask the kid if s/he wants to keep fighting for the spot, just be happy to be there or to move on. Never easy and the coach never provides clear guidance.That's a great way to describe it. IMO the no-reentry does not serve the domestiques very well. My concern is they don't get in until late in the game and possibly only get garbage minutes. I feel like no-entry in the same half is way better than no-reentry the remainder of the game.
Clubs need to be more upfront with parents and kids about what they can expect in terms of playing time and where their kids are in the pecking order (since parents are incapable of seeing that for themselves). Our coach was very upfront in our first parent meeting that there were 5-6 players that were identified as players that are going to be groomed to play with the club long term and that the others would have to show significant development to be part of that group. I'm not sure that the parents of the non-anointed fully comprehended what that meant and the coach didn't go into any real detail.