OT: For the soccer Mom's and Dad's

[IcyPatriot]

Well, I'm on my 2nd tour of fun & fright with youth soccer. Started out as a Soccer Dad ... did what many dad's & mom's do and signed up to coach in fall recreation soccer. Never played soccer, when i was young only the rich kids played soccer at the private elite schools in Rhode Island.

Well....then I coached competitive soccer, got on the soccer board in the town. As my son got older I realized how much soccer sucked in our town when we had 2 or 3 kids showing up for practice of the competitive soccer team.

So it was on to the Massachusetts Maple League...Fuller Hamlets...oh so enjoyable...real soccer...loved it. It was english soccer which I'm not to fond of but it was real soccer and every game was like a Tailgate At The Razor. Maple Games were on Sundays and we went as a family...always ate somewhere nice as a family and of course we tailgated with our extended soccer family.

We went to tournaments in Mass, NH, Vt, Maine, NY, NJ, Virginia, and Maryland ... the family together always at the forefront of every soccer game and every extended soccer trip.

Had alot...alot of fun. The winning was nice but it was always secondary to the fun and being together as a family. I also got involved in the Rhode Island ODP soccer and was the Head Coaches Assistant for 4 years...again we always made it a family thing. ODP on Wednesdays followed by supper somewhere.

The moral of the story ... anyone involved in soccer or whatever ... make it a family event and the winning and losing just don't seem to matter anymore...the memories of most of the "trips" bring smiles to our faces.

 

[nhpatsfan]

Ah, the bye week blues....

 

[IcyPatriot]

Ah, the bye week blues....

FAMILY , RAKING LEAFS & CHANNEL SURFING

DID I MISS ANYTHING? :bricks:

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

Having witnessed hundreds of hours of youth soccer I will assert that virtually no team of five year old kids is "good" or "great", nor are they "terrible" or "bad." The variation in attention level from minute to minute, let alone a game to game, is so great that it's basically impossible to tell which team is "better." They pretty much just want to chase the ball around and if somehow the ball goes in the net then it's time for everyone to jump around for a few seconds then wonder what that butterfly is doing over by the dandelions. If they remember two or three days later whether they won or lost is a miracle and usually only happens if the parents keep reminding them how the "won" the game.

Sarge, you must have had mixed feelings to even ask the question here. Before you know it your not so little one will upset for days when they lose a big match, so all I'd say is don't rush it.

 

[JoeSixPat]

FAMILY , RAKING LEAFS & CHANNEL SURFING

DID I MISS ANYTHING? :bricks:

Why rake? If you drive over them with your riding lawnmower enough they get small enough to blow into your neighbor's yard.

 

[gomezcat]

I'm pretty surprised that any five year old kids are playing competitively. In fact, "pretty surprised" is an understatement- "fell of my chair in shock" covers it. At the age of five, I knew so little about soccer that I wanted my hometown team, Manchester United, to score own goals as I thought they would count for us. 29 years later, it could be argued that my soccer knowledge is about the same.

 

[Sunqueen212]

I am glad you enjoyed your daughter's win. One thing though, I think that if you enjoyed it so much as to bring it up all the time, your kid will grow up thinking that winning is the only thing that Dad expects from her. And losing is not acceptable. This could add undue pressure on a young child. My 2 cents.

 

[sarge]

I am glad you enjoyed your daughter's win. One thing though, I think that if you enjoyed it so much as to bring it up all the time, your kid will grow up thinking that winning is the only thing that Dad expects from her. And losing is not acceptable. This could add undue pressure on a young child. My 2 cents.

I certainly agree. And I posted it because I was aware it was petty and figured I would get a few laughs. I was not aware I would be characterized as someone I am not.

I know I used the sentences "we stomped them" and "the other parents were stunned". I truly meant it in jest and to be funny as an over exageration of what was clearly just a fun friendly sporting match between children. In fact the "other parents looked stunned" remark came from the fact that one of the mom's of the other teams walked up to me and said speaking of her son's team "I didn't think we would lose a game". I thought it was obvious in the post. Reading back I can see it was not. I would never in my wildest dreams have thought that it would have been taken literally. Looking at it now and realizing all that was left up to interpretation, it probably wasn't the best choice of words. But I would never apologize for it because I know how I meant it.

Anyone who truly sits there and believes that I am the type of person that puts any pressure on my child to win in sports does not have the slightest clue about me.

And I probably should not be as offended as I am because I don't know any of you. But I really do enjoy posting about football here. I live in NC and I don't have any Pats fans to talk football with, so I do it here. But I can see I brought this on my self, and have no one to blame but myself. I really did not believe all of you would take this so seriously when it was never meant that way. I understand that you are totally unfamilier with the context, and as such have supplied your own. Maybe I would have done the same. I certainly have fought back and not done it in the classiest of ways, but I think if you look closely you will see those remarks were made in response to personal insult was made against me. Certainly by know means an excuse.

Maybe you have seen parents who put unfair presure on there kids to win. I AM NOT THAT GUY!

I am very much against a parenting style that presures kids in sports.

If there is any presure in this world I put on my daughter, it is that she do her best. And I can tell you sports fall last in the list of catogories where my concerns lie. The entire reason we encourage our child to participate in sports is for the social interaction, and the health benifits to remaining physically fit, as well as learning to work as a team. My wife and I also enjoy the social interaction with the other parents on out team, and the oposing teams.

I enjoyed it because it was against a very competitive coach who's actions on the field seemed very agressive and competitive. And to be honest, I have a competitive bone or two in my body as well. At times it may be a detriment to me, but it has also helped me to be moderately succesfull in life and in my career.

But I can tell you this. Not a single kid on either team yesterday probably had a clue what the score was. And that includes my child

So as far as this being competitive league for 5 year olds, it's not. There are no playoffs, no chamionships. And if I'm not mistaken, everyone gets the same trophy.

So anyone who has come up with these notions of this being some competitive league for 5 years olds, it's not. It is the same as any other sports league for 5 year olds.

As far as bringing it up, I brought it up here. My daughter was unaware this game was any different then any other game. And aside from me getting some extra enjoyment out of seeing who I felt was an uber competitve coach judging by his actions on the field losing probably the only game he has in the past three ofr for years, it wasn't any different.

And as far as only enjoying wins, that is also not true. We enjoyed it when her team lost as well. And to be honest, I'm not even sure we have ever discussed the fact that they have won or lost.

Anyway, I am done defending myself. If you have made up your mind about me, there is little I can do to change it.

In hindsight I regret the post. I do enjoy posting football here and rarely ever post anything off topic.

I hope I can continue to post here. But if I see it become a problem, I will certainly leave.

 

[gomezcat]

Nice response, sarge. It's worth remembering how easy it is for people to get the wrong end of the stick when you post. I post stuff a lot that gets a reaction that really surprises me and I have to clarify what I wrote, especially when I try to be humorous. That's the way it is. No one wants you to leave.

 

[Patjew]

Nice response, sarge. It's worth remembering how easy it is for people to get the wrong end of the stick when you post. I post stuff a lot that gets a reaction that really surprises me and I have to clarify what I wrote, especially when I try to be humorous. That's the way it is. No one wants you to leave.

The things about emails and posts, often times the meaning of messages is lost because there's no tone of voice or body language to clarify the intention. You really have to be careful if you don't want to be misunderstood.

 

[gomezcat]

The things about emails and posts, often times the meaning of messages is lost because there's no tone of voice or body language to clarify the intention. You really have to be careful if you don't want to be misunderstood.

Exactly. I use dry humour and sarcasm a lot, which makes some people think, "huh?".

 

[mcbee]

I think the OP's point was totally lost by the idiots lambasting him.

The OTHER team had parents and a coach who were jerks. They deliberately stocked their team with giant ringers who were probably almost 6. That's how they got to be such giants. Then the coach is somehow a stickler (which means that HE is taking it too seriously) on some kind of throw in thing, not that I have any idea what that is.

So it is a case of some ADULTS getting their comeupance. The fact that it was at a 5 year olds' soccer game is irrelevent except that it illustrates what a bunch of jerks THEY (the adults, not the 5 year olds, OK) were. Everyone loves to see the big shots get taken down.

As for the 5 year olds, I'm sure they don't know or care, that wasn't really his point.

Some people are just amazing. They just love to get on the moral high horse and preach to people..."well you shouldn't blah blah or your daughter will blah blah", like he's the bad guy. And the OP did label it off track.