Your Child's Coach: Another season ends

JULY 19, 2009

I don't know the name of this dog. It scampers across the soccer field about once a week in the middle of a game. Why do the owners take such a risk? Beats me.

In a way I am happy to see our season end, as we had more trouble with parents than ever before. We actually did have police at the field one night. "The economy, stupid," a lawyer source suggested and yes, come to think of it, one of the parents who gave us agita had a foreclosure on his house. Another had been married a slew of times, and the child's father had a long record of drug arrests.

So to recap: We get all kinds of families, from all kinds of circumstances, some a bit eccentric, some downright scary, and sometimes they don't play nicely. The parents, that is. The kids, they play just fine.

I am very proud of my soccer program. Hard as this season was, it was gratifying to meet the challenges it presented. Seeing the children leap for joy after scoring a goal, or making a save, or coming in as the underdogs to win a championship, made it all worthwhile. They're kids just once. And these are magic moments.

A thing to remember, though, when contemplating the diverse circumstances of our families: Never, ever start an argument at a children's sporting event. You just don't know what might result.

-- Marlene Sokol, Times Coach

Posted by Times Editor at 6:00:00 am on July 19, 2009 in

It came from Little League

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