The game didn’t go quite as well as we’d hoped. Keaton’s team lost 6-3. But they still played a really good game. Considering it was freezing out and their fingers and toes were numb, they played awesome. And, although coming in first feels better, coming in second is nothing to squak at. They made it to the championship game. And there are some teams who can’t say the same. All in all they had a great year.

Unfortunately, their second place awards were overshadowed by the juvenile actions of the…parents. Yes, once again we have run in to parents who have forgotten that this is meant to be fun for these 9, 10, 11 and 12 year olds. Parents who have forgotten that, although this is a competitive league, it is still important to be gracious winners and good sports.

Let’s start from the beginning. First the other team was very aggressive. They have at least four club players¹ on their team and more sixth graders then any other team. To be fair, our team was fairly aggressive today too. Including Keaton who got a yellow card [penalty]. The kid he was blocking [who plays in soccer club] also got a yellow card. The kids were pushing and tripping and kicking. And the ref called very few penalties for this behaviour. One time a kid was tripping Keaton and Keaton pushed him. The parents of the other team were yelling, but there was no penalty that time. Then that same kid and Keaton ended up on the ground battling over the ball and as Keaton was getting up the kid swung his leg to kick Keaton. He missed, but if he had made contact he would have kicked Keaton right in the head. Still no penalty. So the parents were hollering out at the ref. Parents from both sides were hollering.

During half time the young ref went crying to talk to the coaches about the yelling. Both coaches came over together to both sides and asked the parents to please respect the ref and not holler out at him. They explained that he’s young and doing the best he can. As Lee pointed out [and many of us agreed] they should have had a much more experienced coach for a championship game. But we had to make due with what we had.

So the second half started. Kids continued to be aggressive and the ref continued to not call penalties. Then shortly before the end of the game a big kid on the other team pushed one of our kids…and the ball wasn’t even close to them. So the ref actually called a penalty kick. One of our parents, Kevin, said “Wow. Did the ref actually call a penalty?” He did say it fairly loud and pretty sarcastic, but he did not holler it out to the ref or anything. However, this parent on the other team starts freaking out. And I mean freaking. She was losing it. She’s all “we’ve already been warned about yelling at the ref and your kids are pushing too and that is so disrespectful” and blah, blah, blah…won’t shut up…making a complete ass of herself. Then she stood up and practically kicked her chair. She starts telling this other parent about how uncalled for that was. And then she starts yelling at us again. I go, “Hey, your made your point. It’s over. Now your just making it worse. STOP!” And, to my amazement, she actually stopped. I turned around and looked at the guys behind me, including Kevin, and they were standing there looking at her like “what in the hell is wrong with that lady.”

A couple of minutes later the game was over. That lady went rushing over to their coach and you could tell she was just telling him all about how disrespectful we were to the ref even though we’ve already been warned. Seriously people. Were the kids playing on the field? Or were the real kids sitting on the sidelines?

But it gets better.

So all the boys were supposed to meet over at the concession stand to get their medals and the teams were going to clap for each other. This was the other coaches idea [who happens to be the commissioner, but I'll get to that in a minute]. As I was walking up to the boys, our team was walking away and I heard the other coach say “I was just kidding.” And our coach goes, “well it didn’t sound like you were kidding. And I’m sick of it. We’ll just hand out our medals over here.” Turns out the other coach said “our hands are to cold so we can’t clap for you.” Not only did he say this, but he said it in front of his whole team and all of our boys too. Here is a man who is in a position to be a role model and he opens his mouth to spew this bullshit. I am really proud of the way our coach taught our boys to be good sports. They didn’t always listen, but they at least tried.

After all of this, one of our parents asked me what happened. I explained the whole thing to her. She told me that the other coach is the commissioner and he stocked his team with the best players. She also told me that the woman who freaked on us was the coaches wife. Ironically, the woman who was telling me all of this was the commissioner for the baseball leagues Justis played in last year. So apparently she can do those same things, but she doesn’t like it when it’s done to her boy. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then read my post from last year. However, they are making some much needed changes in the baseball league this year, so I do need to give her props for that.

When Keaton and I got back in the car I told him he needs to be a good sport, even when the other team is not. I told him the little league sports are run by parents who sometimes go a little overboard. But when they get in to the middle school and high school, the school pays for good refs and coaches. And kids who act like some of the kids did today would be out of the game and back in the locker room. I told him, even though it’s awesome to win, it’s better to be a good and respectful player. I think he understood. At least I hope he understood. And I hope he takes my advice to heart.

So, all in all, little league sports has become a contact sport…for the parents. I’ve heard about this on the news, but now I’ve also seen it with my own two eyes. It’s too bad we can’t just let kids enjoy the love of the game.

¹Club players are members of the competive soccer club that plays other area schools throughout the years. Keaton is going to be in soccer club next year.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 1st, 2005 at 8:38 pm and is filed under A day in our life. Comments are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.