Today was a bit of a weather prediction fail on the part of, well, weather prediction people. Sunny and 70 turned into overcast, windy and cold. My wardrobe choice of Capri pants, Chacos and a tshirt was an unfortunate one, as the temperature did nothing but drop throughout the morning. My boys, having just returned from an overnight camping trip, were tired and exhausted. The hub's back was in excruciating pain and the boy was coughing like the Marlboro man, so naturally we went to make them "do the soccer" all day. Lacking the foresight of a good mom, I did not bring jackets or blankets or any of the warming things...nor did I check the van to see if it contained any of these items. Luckily the hub had a work sweatshirt and his windbreaker. Our friend Greg had towels in the back of his car and swaddled S and the boy during one game. The boy's game was a blowout by the other team. The coach did not understand the rule about "holding back" once you reach a certain lead, which made my husband furious. I mean, lady, what is the point really? Even adult league softball games use the slaughter rule, good grief.
My real shame was during S's game. I am a competitive person, yes, but I really try to control it when my kids are playing. I have seen the crowd of parents part like the Red Sea to get away from obnoxious parents. I do not want to be that "guy". I was already cold, tired and sick from sinuses. I had the wife of S's head coach tell me he had already given the parents a talking to about letting the coaches coach. We as spectators are welcome to shout a "Great pass!" or a "Attagirl!", but leave the coaching to the coaches. After already having been on this coach's team for a year, we knew exactly who he was addressing. So as I approached the sideline today, I did so with dread when I saw the addressees three chairs down from me. I was determined to be mature. Da-- it! These people are teammates. What is their problem? As expected, they did not listen to or adhere to the rules laid out the previous evening. They screamed commands at all the girls, made harsh judgements about abilities within earshot of the child they were critiquing, just cruel. They loudly praised their daughter who, when faced with an opportunity to boot the ball, pinked it all,of a foot. But when they made comments about about my daughter and yelled at her for being in an offsides position and then said they "wished that girl would learn how to play, " I cracked. I turned and yelled at them, "She is a ref...she knows how to play...leave her alone!". No response. No reaction. Then they made similar remarks about our star player who, friends, I expect to see on a national team in the not too distant future. I yelled again, "Just stop ordering her around! Leave her alone and let the coaches coach!". Nothing. Even a few of the parents clapped a bit. Nothing. I then sank into my chair, humiliated that I had stooped so low. I had become just like them. Stellar. Thank goodness the other two were off playing in the mud. What an example I was.
Next week, I will take a Benadryl before I go. And bring a gag. For shame, Jenny. For shaaaammmmme.
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As long as the gag is for the offenders. Honestly, you put up with waaayyy more than I would. You said rules were laid down, were any consequences laid out?
ReplyDeleteA while back, things got so nasty in Little League up here they started having police at the games. That was after a teenaged ump was beaten bloody by a parent. Also heard of a soccer league where the parents have to stay behind the fence, ~ 50 yards from the game. Morals and civility, these are dying arts.
You know there is righteous anger and yours was. The unfortunate thing is that the effect of you standing up for those players probably has an effect that lasted a very short while.
ReplyDeleteThe only tactic I know is to go sit among them and point out who you are cheering for.
Sad that some people can not play nice. I bet it rubs off on their kids too.