Why do your kids play soccer?
Is it fun?
Is it a great way to stay active and healthy?
Or is there something more sinister going on around the green pastures of the world.
Soccer in the last decade has proved to be the world game and a force to be reckoned with amongst all other codes. Soccer has become big business and has infected the world of kid’s soccer.
Stop scratching your head and don’t worry, it’s not contagious.
Kids soccer has become the battlefield for parents. Crazed zombie like parents with dollar signs in their eyes act possessed and put integrity, ethics, fun and love on the back burner in that elusive pursuit for money.
The pursuit for money can make the most righteous man stumble to his knees. The dynamics of kid’s soccer has changed significantly from the days when I graced the holy turf. Back in the days, soccer was about the grass stains, the bruises, the wind through the long flock of hair and the friendships. Not to forget the orange wedges at half time and the trip home with your best mate.
What has happened?
Don’t be alarmed the game has definitely not changed and still involves 11 players chasing the ball with the intention to score goals. The referee is still with us, and still has the taste for authority and control. The linesmen still run the flanks and do a great job for 89 minutes but tend to miss the most important and match deciding moment.
The coach continues to prey on the sidelines and is perplexed by the amount of errors his players are making. He feels the need to yell at his players and coach every single play. Pass the ball, no, not there!
Sound familiar?
What about the zombie like parents who will prey on the children at every opportunity? Luckily for the players they are protected by the chalked perimeters that prevents the drama from spilling onto the ground.
Kids soccer has a new objective, money, money, and money. You can clearly see it in parents like their possessed by some evil spirit and their eyes have transformed to dollar signs. What ever happened to fun?
Fun, enjoyment and friendships have been replaced with pressure, yelling and to some extent abuse. Dreaming of lifting the World Cup has been replaced by angst and resentment to the game that has been cultivated by theses zombies. No kid should be subjected to this horror.
The following match is rated Horror.
Warning, the following scenes will contain coarse language, violence and adult themes. All children must be accompanied by a parent (not zombie) or an adult guardian (zombie slayer).
The status quo suggests that you, the parent, will convert to a zombie and infect your child with the same poison that has eliminated 80% of the soccer population.
Don’t succumb to a zombie mentality and stay away from the mob.
Go against the tide.
Start your own mob and become the zombie slayers. Bring back the good old days where the only intervention was a parent throwing the ball back in play and the occasional glance from your mum as she continued to read in the shade.
“May the winds of destiny blow you to the stars.”
Love this vision, when we have a latino family come to the park in our neighborhood occasionally my son immediately runs out to join the soccer game. this is exactly what he wants, just to play pick up all day. Wish somebody like AYSO would just have a designated pick up game spot and time- I’d volunteer to just watch and do some grading, make sure no fights break out.
I love this article! I have 3 kids that play competitive soccer for our local club and the parents from our club and other clubs never cease to disgust me with their behavior on the sidelines. My oldest plays on a U12 boys team and just this past weekend they played 3 games in their end of season festival. We were on game 3 and towards the end of the game and kids from both teams were going shoulder to shoulder to get the ball. A parent from the other team started cursing and going off on our player. I was so disgusted! How insecure does this guy have to be to go off on a 12 year old like that? These kids were out there having fun, playing a good game of soccer and he acts like it’s the World Cup and his son is THE best out there. C’mon. Some parents need to get a grip!
Thanks for the feedback Kim.
Unfortunately some parents are zombie like when it comes to kids soccer. Not only do they need to get a grip, they need a serious dose of reality. Like you said, it’s not the World Cup.