I'm sorry that you are going through this & I want you to know that its okay to not want to play football anymore whether its because of legit injuries or even just because you don't want to anymore.

I'm also sorry that your parents aren't on speaking terms enough to figure this situation out for you. It might still be worth talking to your Mum/Mom about it and getting her opinion on the situation, maybe even start off with "I think Dad may be disappointed with me for dropping football and I'm worried it's affecting our relationship what can I do?"and hopefully she can give you some advice (as well as all the people on reddit). Even though they may not be talking, I bet she still wants you to have a great relationship with your dad and for him to be in your life.

The way I see it, your dad might be feeling a bit lost. I'm not sure but perhaps football was the thing he felt he could bond with you the most over and perhaps now is feeling clueless as to how to get to know you/feel like a dad. This however isn't something for you to work through or to fix, its something your Dad, as the adult, has to figure out himself.

Him getting up and walking away when you ask a question is wrong and he shouldn't be acting like that towards you & I can only imagine how down you are feeling about his treatment of you. On another note - good on you for having the guts to do what you want (quit football) without worrying what anyone else would think and perhaps even your dad is just in shock and coming to terms with the fact that you quit and didn't say anything to him(?)

If he is still acting like this in another week or 2 maybe write him a letter. Tell him why you wanted to quit, etc - basically write whatever you want to write, tell him if you're angry, sad, etc! And send it to him, because he himself is probably so caught up in his own thoughts and feelings about this that he hasn't stopped to consider how you're doing after all this.

Lastly, I want to tell you that when I was around your age, I had my dad in my life who wasn't there for me, didn't bother getting to know me, etc and I made the choice that I didn't want to wait around for him to love me and be a great dad. I don't think this is your dad at all, but I just want to tell you that if worse comes to worse you don't need his approval or his love to grow up to be an exceptional person. Its not your job to make any of your parents love you okay and if (worst case scenario) they don't, its not because of who you are or anything you did or do - it is because of who THEY are as a person and their own issues.

You sound like a smart, mature kid & I hope your Dad comes around and gets over himself. You can always ring him too and say something like "Hey Dad, I noticed you've been distant lately. Have I done something?" - its hard to do but hopefully that might give you an answer as to why he is acting like that.

Bottom line is you shouldn't have to do those things, it truly should be your parent(s) coming to you to have those talks but in the real world sometimes parents aren't the greatest and sometimes they do this sort of crap and as s kid you're left wondering wtf suddenly happened. Just please know its not you, theres nothing you could've done or said differently okay. Keep your chin up & talk to your Mum/Mom