OPINION
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School holidays are nigh and that’s a sigh of relief you can hear coming from the thousands of soccer and footy parents whose weekend mornings are owned by sport.
Our family (voluntarily) cops more than usual. I coach one son’s soccer team and my partner coaches the other’s. This weekend we have games at Helensburgh and Albion Park – each a good drive, in opposite directions. That’s not a complaint. I like nothing more than shaking off Saturday morning cobwebs with a bracing winter breeze at a sports field surrounded by a beautiful escarpment vista and the sounds of play.
It’s testing when kids are more interested in chat than defending. But that’s fine.
What’s not fine is when the attitude outbreaks get too much. And I’m talking about sideline behaviour. Parents.
There’s the “remote control” parents – directing their child when and where to pass, shoot, and move in this direction or that. They can stomp or sulk if it doesn’t happen.
There’s the “waterboard” parents who yell their kids’ names so often even the opposition starts to think their own name might actually be “JORDAN! JORDAN!”
There’s indignation parents, who may confront a (volunteer) referee after little angel Sofiyah was told to stop kicking people.
There’s the mob that bellow joy at their spawn’s way-over-the-line rough play even when other kids lie injured.
Last week I heard about US little league (baseball) parents who took loud hailers to kids’ games lest their wisdom go unheard.
This week chairs were allegedly thrown in an altercation at an Under-7s rugby league game in Oatley. Under-7s.
It happens too often and too easily. Passions already run high because we all care for our kids – then add competitive sport to the mix and some adults act like kids again.
But folks, let’s keep it cool. It’s our job to teach effort, teamwork and being a good sport. Then let them play.