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I am writing today
after receiving a phone call last night from Ms. Jones, the assistant XXXXXXXXX for West Lake Soccer. A little background before I
begin.
My kids first started
playing in EGYSL in 2003. I was an assistant coach for a U6 boys team in the
Laguna Creek Soccer Club. My oldest son played on that team at the ripe old age
of 4. His birthday was not until after the season ended and he was in preschool
at the time. We never registered him for Kindergarten at that time. My oldest
son played for several years.
My second son played
for West
Lake West Lake
My third son began
playing soccer in 2007. He, too, was 4. He was a December birthday and never had
any chance of going to Kindergarten during his first season. However, he was
allowed to play without a problem. (By the way, he was allowed to play up 2 age
groups when he was young as well, in 2009.)
Over the years, I have
helped out EGYSL and West Lake West Lake West Lake
When there was a U14
team with no coach, I was asked if I would coach the team. My 11 year old was
playing and should have been playing in U12. However, I agreed to play him up a
year and coach a team, despite not wanting to coach that age or coach my son.
That team, by the way, had 3 11 year olds on it to start the season, 3 kids who
had never played soccer, and never more than 13 at a game, with most games
having 11 or 12 players. Yet, the boys managed to go a respectable 5-5 and
finished 4-1 to end the season.
With that background in
place, I received a call last night from Ms. Jones. My 4 year old daughter, who
has the earliest of any of my children’s birthdays, September 9, is not allowed
to play soccer this year, despite me signing up to coach her team. She is signed
up for Transitional Kindergarten because EGUSD will not let us challenge
kindergarten until we are within 60 days of her birthday. That has been our
plan, with the testing to occur on her birthday. However, I now understand that
my daughter cannot play soccer this year. Honestly, this baffles me.
All 4 of my kids are
fall birthdays. Of my 3 older children, they all played soccer at 4, which is
when I started, even though 2 of them were never going into kindergarten when
they started playing. Those two were both in preschool. However, suddenly the
oldest of my children, the one most prepared to go to kindergarten, the most
mature, and the most ready to play soccer, can’t play. This makes absolutely no
sense. Quite honestly, it seems like adults ruining an opportunity for kids to
play.
My daughter won’t play
this year. You can send a refund check to me. There are two other families who
signed up their kids to play on my team. I have talked to one already and I am
sure they are going to request a refund as well. I believe that the
2nd family will request a refund as well. (Incidentally, Ms. Moser
believes this is a mistake for those families, but if three girls who have been
best friends for 2 years can’t play soccer together when the 3 dads were going
to share coaching, then that is the decision for the families to make, not
anyone else.) She may play next year, but she may not. She wanted to try soccer.
She has other interests and will pursue those other interests. Sadly, while I
believe that soccer does more to teach our youth about sports, sportsmanship,
working with others, etc…
I believe that once
again rules have been made with absolutely no forethought. Are all kinds between
September 1 and December 1, the old cut off date, going to be told that they
can’t play soccer? Will they find other activities and just not play soccer?
Will kids who challenge into kindergarten after August 1 simply be told that
they have to wait another year and miss out on that year of bonding? It is your
league and you can make whatever rules you see fit. However, making it harder
for kids to play soccer seems counterproductive especially in a time when
“soccer fever,” something I have been waiting for since I saw Pele play in the
1970s, is finally taking root in Sacramento and
the US
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Now, let me rant.
What the hell is wrong with people? Ignore for a minute all that I have done for the league over the years. Pretend I am Stern John. I don't know jack. Okay? Ready?
You have a kid who wants to play. And yet you say no. You are turning down a) money and b) kids. Just so we are clear, youth sports are designed for, wait for it..........................................................the youth. Yes, without kids, you have no sports league. No teams. No games. No league. No adults to get in the way. You need the kids. The kids need the adults substantially less.
How do I know this? I grew up playing sports. I played soccer in a league. But I also played basketball at the park. We played football. We played hockey. We played wiffle ball, and for the old timers, we played stoop ball, even if we called it curb ball. There were no leagues for most of this. We just played on the street, in a basement, or wherever we could find space. There were no adults around and we turned out just fine - other than one broken arm.
And you are turning down a volunteer. Every freaking year sports leagues call up parents and say "Hey, we need a coach for this team. Will you volunteer?" They beg and plead for volunteers. Now they have one - Stern John. And they say no. They are turning down a coach. Seriously. For some made up rule that has never applied before. Nonsense.
Now, pretend I am me again. When they had no coach last year, there were 13 kids who could have been told that they can't play. A grand total of ZERO parents stepped up to coach the team. I didn't know these kids from Adam. But I agreed to coach and agreed to move my kid up an age group. And yet the reverse does not apply - they won't let my daughter play now. Seriously, if her birthday were 8 days earlier, we wouldn't be having this discussion. But she can't play because of 8 days. WHEN THEY HAVE A GUY WILLING TO COACH!
And, let's be clear, in addition to having volunteered for these people for years, I am a damn good coach. Yes, I said it. I am a damn good coach. I could put up my team's records. But that isn't the sign of a good coach. My teams have fun. My kids learn the game. And I assure you that I do drills that most of these coaches couldn't figure out if you gave them step by step instructions, but that the kids rock at doing. They are easy - too easy for the coaches who think they know more than I do. See, you can read that here: http://randomrants08.blogspot.com/2009/05/beautiful-game.html
36 years of soccer playing. 20 years of coaching. More than two decades of being a ref. And yet, I can't coach my daughter and 2 of her friends for some made up BS rule.
I will say - I think if I were Stern John and not Jon Stein, this wouldn't have happened. Yes, its freaking politics. Someone was pissed off that I did something and this is a good way of making a point. Great. You win. You are right. My daughter, who has wanted to play soccer since she was a baby, can't play this year. Next year, who knows? Maybe she plays. Maybe she doesn't play. She has other interests.
I sure as hell don't need to coach. You mean spend 4 months playing babysitter because parents can't bother to sit at practice. Do everything because parents don't volunteer. Get yelled at because little Billy is playing the wrong position or didn't play enough of the game or the team lost. Get yelled at because some kid didn't get his medal, but mom and dad refused to help.. Put up nets, take down nets. And do it all with a smile. Yeah, I won't miss that at all.
Sadly, I wonder what parents will get a call asking them to coach their kid when a willing coach was ready for his daughter...............I hope someone steps up. Otherwise, once again, the adults will have ruined it for the kids.
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