Go Huskies!

Last week was an interesting one for me in the world of sports out on the soccer field.  The middle school team that Thomas plays on participated in a round robin tournament with the 3 other middle schools in town.  One of the teams carries some heavy attitude to each game and are the cross town rival for all 3 of the other middle schools.  We played them in our second game and things got off to a rocky start when one of their parents was coaching in a very loud voice from the sidelines, close to the goalie’s box.  Of course, each team is allowed only one coach and he is supposed to stand inside the coach’s box.  So when our coach complained to the referee and he talked to the other team – they were incensed.  But rather than obey the rules, this parent continued to coach from the sidelines and cause problems with the referee and their coach did nothing to stop it.  Near the end of the game, we were winning and tension was high and unfortunately the ref made a poor call.  The kid that received the penalty was so ticked off that he spewed the mother of all bad words into the ref’s face.  RED CARD.  The opposite sidelines went crazy.  The game ended and the referee got out of there quickly.  So the next day, we are playing another team and my back is to field with the “hot-headed” team, so I’m not an exact witness to everything that happened.  But the story goes that the kid that earned the red card started the game.  Well, the rule is that if you get a red card you cannot play in the next game.  So when the opposing team complained, the accused team burst into a yelling match with the ref and then pulled the kid from the game.  But here’s the kicker – they took off his jersey and put a new one on him (different #) and tried to sneak him back into the game.  Can you believe that for a middle school game?  What are the adults teaching the children?

Last week I also heard on the radio that a Pee Wee Little League Football coach was suspended for putting a bounty on the opposing players.  Really?  How old are Pee Wee football players?  8, 9, 10?

The sad part is that when Thomas got in the car he said he knew that neither the coach, the parent or the student would do this.  He has played with this boy on a competitive travel team for two years and been coached by both of these men.  In fact, when Thomas chose not to play in a championship soccer game because it was on a Sunday, this was the parent who told Tom how much he respected him.

Heartbreak.

By the way - we won the tournament.

 

This is Thomas with his city league team.  He's the blonde one. 

El es el chico rubio.