If your child plays sports and keeps going the wrong way, forgetting the play, or getting yelled at for mistakes that do not make sense to anyone watching, this post is for you.
My son was in fourth grade when football taught us something school never had. It also gave us one of the best examples I have ever seen of what happens when an adult is simply willing to adjust.
Dyslexia and Sports: It Is Not What You Think
Most people connect dyslexia to reading. Books, letters, classrooms. What they do not think about is the football field.
But dyslexia and sports run right into each other the moment a coach picks up a whiteboard and starts drawing plays. X’s and O’s. Arrows pointing left and right. Holes numbered one through nine. For a kid whose brain does not hold left and right the way most people do, that whiteboard might as well be written in another language.
That is what we were dealing with. We just did not know it yet.
He Kept Going the Wrong Way
Coach was a friend of ours. All of my son’s older brothers had played for him, so he knew our family well and knew what to expect. When my youngest started playing he figured this one would be a natural too.
Instead my son kept messing up. He would go through the wrong hole. He would cut right when he should have cut left. Over and over. And Coach, who had no idea what was going on, did what a lot of coaches do when a kid keeps making the same mistake. He yelled.
I do not blame him. From where he stood it looked like a kid who was not paying attention or not trying. And he was a little surprised because the rest of our older boys had done just fine when they were in it.
Our son was trying as hard as he could. The playbook was full of X’s and O’s, holes, and lefts and rights. For a kid whose brain does not hold left and right the way most do, that playbook was like trying to read a map upside down while running full speed.
He Tried to Tell Us in His Own Way
Here is something that has stayed with me for years.
Our son did try to tell Coach what was happening. He just did not have the words an adult would use.
He never said the word dyslexia. He would just say, I was thinking the other way.
That is what it felt like from the inside. Not I have a learning disability. Not I am confused about directions. Just I was thinking the other way.
If your child ever says something like that, stop and really listen. They might be telling you exactly what is going on. The words just are not there yet.
The Day We Told the Coach
We finally sat down with Coach and explained that our son had dyslexia, and that left and right were a genuine struggle for him. Not carelessness. Not attitude. Just the way his brain was wired.
It changed everything almost immediately.
Coach set the playbook aside for our son completely. No more diagrams. No more holes and directions to memorize. He kept it simple and used landmarks and names instead. Get the ball and run down the sideline.
And our son did exactly that. Because he was fast. Once he did not have to untangle a diagram in his head before his feet could move he could just play football.
It was shortly after that he was given the ball and he ran right down the sidelines for a TD. It was great!
It was not the NFL and Coach understood that. No awkward conversation about labels. It was a quick adjustment and they moved on. That mattered more than he probably knew.
Should You Tell Your Child’s Coach About Dyslexia?
This is the question I want to answer directly because I know a lot of moms sit on this one for a long time.
In our experience, yes. Here is why and how.
It gives the adults around your child a reason instead of a label.
When you explain dyslexia to a coach you are not handing your child a diagnosis to carry around everywhere. You are giving that adult the information they need to stop reading mistakes as laziness or bad attitude. For a good coach the right information is all they need. It is the moment everything clicks for them too.
Your child may not want it known.
This is real, especially as kids get older. Many do not want to stand out or be treated differently and that is completely understandable. Talk to them first if they are old enough. Ask what they are comfortable with. Keep the conversation with the coach low key and private.
Keep it simple when you do talk.
You do not need a long explanation or a packet of information. Something like this is enough: he has dyslexia so left and right and written plays are hard for him. He does much better when you use landmarks or simple directions instead. A good coach can work with that.
Come in with a fix, not just a problem.
Coaches have a lot of kids and a lot going on. If you hand them one simple adjustment they can actually use they are far more likely to use it. Make it easy for them to help your kid.
I have left/right and crossing the midline activities built into my dyslexia series.
What Dyslexia and Directional Confusion Looks Like on a Field
In case you are wondering whether what you are seeing is connected to dyslexia, here is what it often looks like in sports.
Going the wrong direction repeatedly even after being corrected multiple times.
Struggling to follow plays drawn on a board or written in a playbook.
Confusion about which side is which even when the child clearly knows and loves the sport.
Making the same type of mistake over and over on plays that involve a direction call.
Saying things like I was going the other way or I thought it was that side.
None of these are attitude. None of them are not caring. This is what dyslexia and left right confusion looks like when a kid is playing a sport that requires fast directional decisions in real time.
Not Every Adult Will Respond the Same Way
Coach was great. Some of the adults we dealt with over the years were wonderful and some just were not interested in making any adjustments at all.
I want to be honest about that because I think it matters. If you tell a coach and they brush it off, that says something about them and not about your kid. Keep looking for the adults who will meet your child where he is. There are more of them out there than you would think, and finding one good one can change the whole experience.
What I Want You to Take Away
Your child is not being difficult or careless out there. Dyslexia and sports collide in ways most people never think about, and the kids caught in that collision are often the ones working the hardest and getting yelled at anyway.
Sometimes the fix is as simple as a coach putting the playbook down and saying get the ball and run. Sometimes it is one quiet conversation before practice. Sometimes it is just finding the one adult who is willing to adjust without making it a whole thing.
You do not need a perfect plan. You just need to start the conversation.
Everything I share here came from years of sitting across the table from a kid who learned differently. The printables in the shop are what we actually used. If you are looking for something age appropriate and built for an older struggling reader, start here.
I am a mom sharing our story with dyslexia. This is not professional educational advice. Every child and every family situation is different.
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