The dilemma

It is the night before the final. You sit at the kitchen table with the lineup sheet. Start Deniz, sit your own kid, and the team has its best shot: you know it. Your kid is in the next room, quiet. They used to tell you every detail after every game. Lately, nothing. Your phone buzzes. Nadia, your assistant coach: 'The parents are talking, {{NAME}}. Whatever you pick, pick it for the right reason.'

Your options

1. Decide it the way you would for any other kid on the team. Same bar for your own child, no exceptions.
2. Keep your kid starting. They are twelve, it is their team, and you will not break your own child's heart for a trophy.
3. Don't lock it tonight. Run the two of them head to head in warmups and start whoever looks sharper.