Several years ago the Rivers varsity girls' soccer team played against a team not affiliated with the ISL. Throughout the game, two fathers from the other school continuously yelled complaints about the officials and their supposed bias in favor of Rivers. Their comments were loud and heard by others watching the game. For some of us, their behavior was a major distraction, and I remember some of the players looking over toward them during breaks in the action.
After the game, our coach, Susanna Donahue, said something to me that I will never forget:
"When parents act that way, the game isn't fun anymore," she said. "I will never have my team play that school again."
She was right. Competing on the athletic field demands a great deal from our children, and there are wonderful life lessons to be learned. But competing should be fun too. The behavior of the yelling parents, and their willingness to sacrifice sportsmanship and respect for winning sapped the joy from competing.
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