Growingupsoccer

Well I haven’t had much to write lately… or maybe it just is that I haven’t had much time.  The kids have been playing with up to 4 games each over the last few weekends.

 I guess the most striking issue has been on the quality of referees.  Val was in a tournament last weekend.  The teams were relatively evenly matched except of course the one ringer that really should have been somewhere else.  The girls played great but we had one game that got completely out of hand.  There was a young ref on the field.  This happens all the time which is usually ok.  This time though it wasn’t.  The kid came out and was immediately intimidated by the other teams coach.  He did not control the game.  The girls started pushing and shoving and even elbowing and kicking.  It was no longer a soccer match but more along the lines of a rugby match. 

Now honestly it wasn’t that one team was necessarily doing it any more than the other.  Our girls were no angels but the ref was not calling it.  It honestly became dangerous.  Girls were going down left and right.  Parents were becoming more and more irritated and of course vocal. 

By the end of the game parents were actually starting to go out on the field especially when it was there daughter that was being shoved or completely lifted off the ground.  Once the game was over the ref just left the field, which although I don’t think anyone would have really done anything,  I thought it was a pretty good idea. 

 I had hoped the team manager would find out what the procedures were for stoping this type of situation… but he didn’t so I did.  Now we know and believe me we will stop it from happening again. 

Val played great.  She is a bruiser so it was all par for the course for her.  At one point she got the ball away from a girl and when the play was done, whistle blown.  The girl actually tackled her.. like a football player…  and the ref didn’t even blow the whistle.. that was the type of game it was.  Val just got up and told the girl that if she wasn’t up for the game to get off the field..  That’s my girl!!

It was ugly… made me pretty sad because the girls played great but the only thing anyone is really going to remember is how badly the ref handled the game.