Monday, January 12, 2009

A league of their own

Here's my idea for a kids' soccer league. Each "team" consists of enough players for two teams. The teams get together a couple times a week. Parent-coaches help them learn rules and practice skills at the beginning of the session, then they put mesh jerseys on half the kids and turn 'em loose.

The kids take the field and play soccer, "play" being the operative word.
(Soccer, after all, is a GAME. You PLAY it.)

The parents aren't allowed to speak to their offspring during the playing time. Parents are allowed to drink coffee, discuss grownup stuff, chase toddlers around, read novels, mess with their iPhones, whatever. Anything but talk to the soccer players. When time's up, somebody blows a whistle and the kids stop playing soccer and go home with their parents, who, on the way back to the car, ask them:

"Did you have fun?"

1 comment:

Firefly Mom said...

As far as I'm concerned, that goes for ALL kids sports! My kid has only done things like karate, and (so far) it's been less attracting of crazy parents. It seems that nearly all of the team sports that we've been to have had at least a few nutty parents who appear to think that their child's entire future rides on whether or not they can hit the ball off the tee. Or make that touchdown. And there's always at least one kid who ends up in tears.

Kinda makes you want to smack the parent ;D