SOMETIMES CANADA IS JUST SO... CANADIAN

Cheering at Aurora, Ont. soccer fields this week has been muted after the town's youth soccer club introduced a "week of silence" to remind parents, coaches and spectators the goal of the game is to let kids have fun.

(Thanks to The Perts)

Comments

[MOTW]

Silence may be golden, but laughter is priceless. -Dove chocolate, Aubrey of Mesa, AZ

[There are Too Darn Many of us Steves Lately]

I just got back from Toronto. Pedestrians actually wait for walk lights. Here in the U.S. they'd be mugged and sold for parts.

Plus they have the world's most beautiful cow, too.

[nursecindy]

As a former cheerleader I'm appalled.

[oneblankspace]

C'mon. It'not like it's Hockey, eh?

[Layzeeboy]

.

[Spiny Norman]

Do they still keep score?

[Ruud Poot]

as a coach (basketball and soccer) i support the idea that parents be encouraged to shout and stomp and generally make a ruckus, but NOT yell instructions to their progeny. this practice (widespread) makes me crazy as they often are telling the kid to do something that is at cross-purpose with what i want him to do.

i also have parents that cross the line yelling things like "that's stupid" or "what's wrong with you" that are extremely counterproductive (to say the least.)

so, not so wacky, the canadians (this time).

[eil]

SNORKAGE @ Lazy... Shhhhh!

[Steve]

It's been a while, but when my oldest daughter was in third grade she played basketball.
All the players had the usual coordination problems and success was rare.
On the occasions when the ball went through the hoop, I cheered for the child, not the team. So I was whooping it up for both teams.
Some of the parents gave me that "look" but I didn't care. Kids should be encouraged and I didn't think it mattered which team they played for.

[ArcticAl]

The real purpose as discussed in other articles about this, was not to stop parents from cheering when the kids score etc. It was to stop the parent coaching of their kid on the field (No Johnny, cover the other kid, not her) and even worse the parents who run down their kid (Johnny you're an idiot! How did you miss that pass?). Having both coached and had my kid play, some parents are completely out of line, even having parent fist fights on the sidelines. We had a publicized case here where a parent threatened violence to his kid for not making a play (johnny I'm going to beat your a$$ when you get home for missing that goal).

Too many parents live out their sports fantasies through their kids. This sort of thing helps to bring it back into proportion.

[nursecindy]

But ArcticAl, what if Johnny really is an idiot?

[Charlotte]

Being a gymnastics coach is also rather interesting. When the child can't get up on the bars or do a handspring because their arm strength is not where it needs to be, a parent telling me that her child is doing too much conditioning is wrong. Instead, they want them to work on the handsprings. They really don't need to do push ups or chin ups.
grrrrrr

[Mocha]

Are vuvuzrlas still ok?

[Just Some Guy]

What Ruud Poot and ArcticAl said. I've coached and parented and seen it all. Parents should start learning control the way children do: by shutting their traps on command. The appropriate time to start coaching the team, screaming at your kid, or criticizing the unpaid referee will never arrive.

I recently heard a soccer mom say something (too soft to hear) to her husband/coach during a game, and he wheeled around and shouted, "Right now, I'm not your husband. I'm the coach. Shut up." I'd like to report that she hit him over the head with her purse, gathered up their son, and marched off the field, but alas, she did not.