I was getting the drive home wrong this whole time.
My kid's 6, been playing about 6 months. Quietly loves it. Not the loudest on the pitch but you can tell it means a lot to him.
Early on I kept doing the thing on the drive home where I'd debrief him. Not harshly just like "you played well today", "next time try to..." thought I was being a good dad honestly.
Then I read something that got me. Kids were asked what they wished parents would say after games and the most common answer was nothing. Just "I loved watching you play."
Now I just wait for him to speak first. If he doesn't I say "I really enjoyed watching you, what was your favourite part?" and then actually shut up.
He talks about it so much more now. Brings it up himself.
Took me way too long to figure out. Anyone else had one of those moments with this stuff?