[mynewwork]

Off-topic to OP, but relevant to your story:

As a child, I was a very competitive soccer player. The only league available for me to play in was the local rec league, where everyone got roughly equal playing time and many referees, coaches and parents had a very indifferent "it's just kids playing a game" attitude.

I was constantly frustrated and frequently felt insulted that something I cared so much about (winning, and playing the game properly) was being held out of reach by the adults in charge. I wanted to play the game right and let the rightful team win, but was forced to lose games by well-meaning parents who apparently didn't believe 9 year olds had the same hopes, dreams and aspirations as everyone else.

So you may regret that the two weakest players on your team didn't get to play as much one game. But somewhere out there is a 10 year old who got to experience playing the game right, and even though his team lost the final 9-1, it was probably the best game of the year to him.

[brudgers]

Locally, there's club ball, and that's where my son has been since that season. It was also the end of my coaching career. But a few months later I took up refereeing.and that experience has radically changed my perspective on the role of adults in youth sports, and in what you say about adult expectations making the game less fun is absolutely true. More typical these days is in the other direction - adults treating U10 game victory as worth a line on the tombstone.

But I see what you are talking about among referees. There's often a lack of presence for the kids. It's an ego thing. We all think we should be working the next level up and that it's ok to phone it in.

Anyway, some great youth sport resources are Bob Bigalow's book Just let the Kids Play, the Responsible Sports podcast and the positive coaching alliance.

http://www.bobbigelow.com/bobs-book-highights/http://www.bob...

https://responsible-sports.libertymutual.com/mediahttps://re...

http://positivecoach.org/http://positivecoach.org/