Soccer, Perfect:
I Assistant Coached U17G and U19G Soccer for 3 years, Head Coached U5Mixed, 7Mixed, 9G, 11G, 13G (two teams), 15G, 17G and, would be doing U19G this year but we have a Miserable Female Dog as President.
As a result our organization is shut down because of
lack of Volunteers ( "getting woke, going broke"), our new President is a real politically correct piece of work. Everyone else in our District is full speed ahead. I have been serving as District Head Soccer Coach for 2 years, and have 13 total years of Coaching as of now.
"I can't [censored] stand these youth sports coaches who enable and encourage dirty play. "
I agree with you 110%, and truly wish I was there for your team. I always taught my Girls to know the rules, play clean, respect the Ref and the other Parents. I was asked to be District Head Coach for this reason. We have problems in our District with Coaches, everyone does. Coaching is an art, but many sign up just so they can Boss someone around even if it's Children. The main thing I see in Coaches is this bitter dislike for opponents, a "We are in a war" mentality, and deliberately letting their Players get away with things. This starts right in the practice level by excluding ("weeding out") or roughing up weaker Players and they wind up quitting. It transfers into games. It's completely unacceptable as I work more with the weaker Players and that builds a very powerful team out of completely average Players. We've won League Playdowns 4 times and went on to represent our District with 2nd, 3rd and 4th (twice) in State finals all without yelling, making kids do laps or any of that nonsense you see at practice. I joke around with the Kids, ask them how school is going, what their Dog is up to, etc. While I'm doing this, I make sure they have a ball at their feet. They think We are talking about the weather, but they are actually getting better foot skills.
However, You and I are the minority when it comes to disliking dirty coaches. The Parents encourage this and the ones that don't either bandwagon with the rest or quit. It's sad. They want you to be hard on the their kids. For what? We're winning every game and Tournament we go to! We had two undefeated regular seasons. Kids have their whole life of good/bad careers, good/bad friends and unfairness in life to deal with, why punish them in U13 Soccer? Coaching with kindness works: I get 99% practice attendance, and have grown our Female Player base by a significant amount because of it. I always show the Girls sportsmanship by going and talking to the Coach we are about to play. As a result, my Players and our Competition are Friends on social media. Sadly, I have at least two Parents that this friendliness drives them up the wall. They really believe that everyone else is the enemy. I tell my Girls that our Opponents all have to write exams, have a favorite Teacher, and have chores at home to do just like they have to. We're all equal on the Pitch. We have clean matches, and our Competition respects us and they play clean too. I will say this: beating a dirty Coach cleanly and watching them blowing blood vessels in the Technical Area is a real treat. The Kids get a kick out of it and learn a lot too.
Playing an un-beaten team and having the score in your favor is a shock to the other team. The Coach does not know what it feels like to lose, They were panicking and he was riding those Kids, it's the usual reaction. The no call was, as you mentioned, unintentional, so no card. This is fine, they are 12 year olds Girls. Intent does not usually show up until U15 or U17. Blame is certainly on the Coach and that Player for restarting without regard for another Players' safety. Number one rule in our Coaches' Course is Player safety is above all. A good Coach would have told that Player to hold off on the indirect kick or throw-in. Your team should have had possession and a free kick anyway because it was Your Team that was fouled, I'm not sure why the other team had possession? It sounds like this Ref can't control a game very well, I'd hate to see Him try to control a bunch of U17 Boys.
Sorry for the long-winded response, I have definitely seen what you just saw. All in all, your assessment is bang on and as a District Head Coach I agree with you completely. I get a clear picture of what happened out there.
With 2 wins you should be in medals today, so best of luck! I mainly hope your Daughter gets to be a part of that and is back on the Pitch healthy.
