The Dark Side of Football

Hollygirl · Post by **Hollygirl** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 3:26 pm

A fantastic tournament was put on by Adelaide Olympic yesterday but the ending was ordinary thanks to an incident involving a coach marching onto the pitch and abusing a referee infront of young children.....we all need to think about what messages we send to the children and be aware that at the end of the day we are not playing for sheep stations!!!

Nova · Post by **Nova** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 4:59 pm

What age group was this ?

Hollygirl · Post by **Hollygirl** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:21 am

Under 12's

Nova · Post by **Nova** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:40 am

Let me guess, was it the Olympic coach that was making a scene !

Hollygirl · Post by **Hollygirl** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:08 am

No......Olympic ran a great tournament and supplied refs.....no allegience to either team......kids were thrust into a very violent situation which was completely unnecessary.

Nova · Post by **Nova** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:25 am

Unfortunately it's the parents and wannabe coaches that are trying to relive their own failed sporting achievements that continue to put a bad mark on the sport !
Clubs need to clamp down on these people and get rid of them !
They need to understand it's all about developing kids and not the result and teach kids to accept refereeing decissions!
Under 12s cop a lot of this as it's the first year of points for them, so I think it's crittical they stamp this behavior out right here !

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 8:18 am

can we get any results of tournament?

Hollygirl · Post by **Hollygirl** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 9:52 am

Under 10's Cumberland defeated Birkalla 1 - 0
Under 12's Cobras defeated White City (not sure of score but think is was 2 - 1)
I don't know what the other results were.

Hollygirl · Post by **Hollygirl** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 9:56 am

Compleatly agree Nova...A lot of parents need to just get over themselves.....kids need to be set the right example about not back chatting the refs.....doesn't help you in the long run and will never change the score.

I also notice a lot of teams linesmen will call offside at every scoring opportunity.....lets not be about cheating to win....lets be about teaching the kids how to win and lose gracefully!

Nova · Post by **Nova** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 10:16 am

The offside thing is another issue, you'de be surprized how many parents don't understand the rule !
Most of the time its not cheating, it's just people not understanding and it's not an easy job for the uninitiated

Vagrant · Post by **Vagrant** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:51 pm

Not only parents Nova, a lot of coaches also seem to have little understanding of the rule, whether it is ignorance or "the heat of the moment" and when they abuse the Linesman/Referee, so do the kids and the parents. And from there nasty incidents can quickly develop.

Hollygirl · Post by **Hollygirl** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 1:27 pm

You are both right is is frightening how many people dont know the offside rule but are prepaired to make a scene when they think the ref has got it wrong....it seems to be that people make it a lot harder than it really is.....its not rocket science....

Nova · Post by **Nova** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 1:57 pm

It does'nt really matter if they get it wrong occasionally, as long as the kids learn how to accept any decissions, right or wrong !

Hollygirl · Post by **Hollygirl** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:41 pm

Quite right Nova.....I coach a lot of Junior sport (not club level) and teach the kids that it is unacceptable to argue with a ref.....I would drag one of my players for that sort of behaviour!

Vagrant · Post by **Vagrant** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:13 pm

Nova and Hollygirl, I have to agree. No matter what you think of the decision, turn and get on with the game. I too believe in dragging players for dissent.

We all make mistakes whether as a player, coach, official or parent. In my mind the measure of a person is not the mistake they make, but how they recover.

Nova · Post by **Nova** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:37 pm

Well, what's the solution, I think we need more coaches like yourselves !
Get into some club soccer Hollygirl, the hardest thing is to find good coaches, there is a shortage

Who do you coach Vagrant?

Vagrant · Post by **Vagrant** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:56 pm

I think that clubs and schools need to keep a close eye on who does the coaching and not tolerate poor behaviour from either coaches, players or spectators. If coaches are to discipline players, then they need to be supported by the club/school when the parent comes to remonstrate about poor Johny/Jenny sitting on the bench.

At all times club officials need to set a good example.

I'm not coaching at the moment Nova, as I have kids playing different sports and I am kept on the move getting them to games and practices. Coaching properly requires proper dedication, which I can't give at present

I have been qualified in the past and will probably do it again when my kids are out of junior ranks, but possibly a sport other than football.