If it wasn't so bad it would be funny.
I was stood on the sidelines watching my son Callum play a league match for the under 9's this weekend.
The pitch was heavy and muddy, the wind was strong and blustery and the weather had a chill that has been absent all season.
As I stood there with the other parents I turned to one of the other dads and commented that it was the sort of conditions even I would struggle to play my best football in.
The chap came back with the classic line 'Well they need to play in these conditions to learn what the game is all about."
Erm, no they don’t actually. What young people need and deserve is the very best conditions in which to learn about football.
I would have been quite happy if the game had been called off due to the unplayable winds. As it turned out the game was one of kick and rush with each team shooting from almost anywhere hoping to catch the wind and embarrass the opposition keeper.
What exactly did the kids learn about the beautiful game?
Well if we take the advice the same dad was bellowing at his son he will have hopefully learnt to ignore everything his dad was shouting.
“Dig it out!!! DIG IT OUT!!!!”
“Come one, run, run, RUUUUN”
“Get on his shoulder, let him know you’re there.” ( ‘Good afternoon, my name is.....’)
“I want you to mark somebody, come on son mark somebody!”
In any other environment it would surely be considered verbal abuse?
As a qualified football coach I have more to offer the kids on my sons team but I am deliberately silent during games, it is their coaches voice they should be hearing and nobody else's.
At the end of the game the kids were noticeably tired and had put in a fair old shift in those difficult conditions. One of the boys was a good six inches taller with the mud that had accumulated on the soles of his boots.
The result was a narrow one nil defeat but there were some great performances on both sides.
As coach and kids were shaking hands with the other team the dad in question turned to me and complained that ‘we have dropped three places in the league now’.
So even at under 9’s we are teaching kids that its win at all cost are we?
I’m pleased to say that the coach doesn’t work like that and I smiled as I heard him congratulate each child on a great game, and each time he had a personal note on something positive.
“It was great to see you trying to head it at corners.”
“You controlled the ball really well today. And that pitch was difficult for grown ups you know”
“You worked really hard today and you made a real difference.”
“You made so many good tackles.”
“I was pleased that you tried to pass the ball around and not just kick it up the pitch.”
Now I wonder which of the pieces of advice will the kids have heard and listened to?
Thankfully they seem to be listening to Coach and learning how to play football and not just learning how to kick and rush.