Disruptive player in u13s netball team

Lee-annes NetballCoach, Australia

Thats a tricky one in todays age as being honest with a parent or child does not seem to be a thing these days. A lot of parents seem to think their baby is never at fault, so funnily enough neither does the child. Im assuming you have tried all the basic stuff as asking her not to be disruptive, asking her to leave her attitude on the side of the court to pick after training, asking her if everything is ok as she seems to be mucking up at training a lot more lately, so personally i would ask the parent down and have a conversation with the child and parent together and let them both know what the behaviour is that you don`t want at training, that it has to stop as its affecting training of the other players who are here to learn and play netball. That you would hope that she can understand that her behaviour is not ok, (give a couple of examples of what is not ok) and then tell her what you want to change. Im assuming that you have the backing of your club so would add that if her attitude doesn`t improve then this isn`t the right team for her to play in as respect and positive attitudes are a must. I guess depending on how bad her behaviour is then depends on how far you want to take it with your ...if things don`t change part...it may be just that you say you will only get half a game, or that you will be asked to sit on the sidelines while training until you are ready to show a positive behaviour. I would speak to your club about making sure they are going to back you, as the parent, if unhappy with this, will prob take it higher and if they don`t back you, then you are then in all sorts of fun when she rejoins the team.

if you haven`t tried the easy stuff first start there.

Lee-annes NetballCoach, Australia

have you spoken to your team as a whole about what you expect behaviour wise within your team? if not let them know as a group about what your expectations are and what the consequences are for not meeting them (sitting off, not playing the game or only part, talking to parents ect) and explain why poor behaviour affects others and training.

if it continues you can ask her privately if everything is ok as you`ve noticed that she`s seems quite (you insert word) at training of late and you are concerned that something is affecting your training. that way you are coming from an angle of compassion and understanding. If she doesn`t want to talk then you can just let her know that she doesn`t have to talk to you, but her attitude needs to change while at training, and that its hard to understand why she is behaving in that manner if you don`t know why it is.

No change then follow through on your consequences. I prob would send a letter home to the kids outlining what is expected of everyone and what the outcome will be, in a general letter to the parents so they are know what will happen if their child is disruptive. id hand out those directly to the parent so they can`t say they didn`t get it. you can also outline what you expect of your parents as well if you like.

If nothing changes talk to your club and see if they will back any decision you make in regard to this and if they have any ideas on how to deal with it. at the end of the day you have more than one child to be concerned with here so you need to consider what is best for the whole team. but i would start with a place of understanding first as there may be something upsetting this child and she is just lashing out hoping someone will notice her.