Troubled Tuesday

Troubled Tuesdays is basically my complaint day to complain about all of the troubles I have, which could range from what is happening on TV shows to who knows what.   I feel like I could list a ton of stuff this week, but I will just limit myself to a few.

I could talk about a ton of things but this week I am solely focusing on one problem: the sportsmanship at S’s soccer game on Saturday.   Most of the parents on our team (yellow shirts) were at a loss for words.  The kids are all 4-year olds and the other team (black shirts) was not what we expected.

Let me back up a little. The kids on our team were having a blast at their practices kicking the ball around, playing games, and throwing the ball in bounds.  Since the children were having so much fun we (the parents) thought it was going to be hysterical to watch them play a game.  Boy were we wrong.

When the game started the other team had it together. They were passing the ball and scoring goals like crazy.  Our team really didn’t know what to do so they all ran to the goal to defend it.  At this age there are no goalies.  Our team had no idea what to do (or so it appeared) and they kind of freaked out.  During the first 5 minute quarter (there are 4), I was standing with the other parents and then could not keep my mouth shut any longer.

That is mine in the hood with green sleeves.

I went over to the other side were the team was. I told one of the coaches to have the children play Sharks & Minnows.  They love the game and essentially it is just playing offense and defense. The coach was all for it.  Our team finally started to catch on and then the true colors of the other team came out.

The other team started pushing our team over. For example, if one of our team members had the ball the other team would come up on them and push them out-of-the-way.  Basically our kids kept getting body checked.  Out of the six kids from our team five of them at one point or another got body checked hard enough to start crying.

S was all about playing and he was really trying. He got body checked a few times and I would just tell him to stand up and brush it off.  However, the third time he got body checked so hard he got hit in the nose and fell to the ground.  This took place in the fourth quarter so he was done for the game and refused to go back in.  I did convince him to go out on the field and shake hands with the other team.

Our coach in my opinion did great. We were all at a loss for words when it came to how the other team was behaving.  She would try to spin it positively to the kids.  For example, when one of the kids would say something she would say, “We are going to say nice words no matter what they say.”  If they would get pushed down she would say, “We are going to play nice and keep our hands to ourselves.”  The other coach you ask what did he say?  Nothing he would clap at them and continue to encourage them.

We tried to end the game on a good note with all the kids. They seemed happy and excited to play again this week.  I guess we will have to wait and see.

S making friends.

What is troubling you?