Overenthusiastic Parents at Kids Football

My son plays football at school. He isn't the best player, nor the worst.

This is why I haven't done anything about his comments to play on a team. It's one night after school and every Saturday and the parents take it so seriously. It's ridiculous.

His best friend's mum was telling me about a Saturday match her son was in and how he'd mucked up and lead to the train mean losing. She was putting so much emphasis on this. It put me right off as she's usually quite normal!

Ours is all taped off with bright yellow cords so the parents can’t get close - they are huge signs all the way along saying (each sign)


These are children.
The coaches are volunteers and unpaid.
Referres are volunteers and unpaid.
Mistakes will happen.
This is not the World Cup.
It is a game.
Let them play.
Encourage everyone.

these are like huge signs placed every 5m.

holding the parents back is the cord so no one on the sidelines.

perhaps remembering it is run by volunteers some fund raising could be done to purchase sign at your club. Poles and bright yellow cord is easily purchased and the parents can fence off the pitch.

as a parent maybe talk to the club about what the parents can do - maybe one of the parents can point out the situation gently to the other snouty parent about Sen - so it doesn’t fall on the coach

I've watched my boys play grassroots football for 15 years. Ds2 is 17 and in his last season.
What you describe is not uncommon. It usually gets worse year on year, and despite best intentions, by the time the offside rule is introduced you are left with the decent players getting most game time due to pressure from parents and other players.
IME by around 14 the weaker players had all but gone. Even among 'inclusive' clubs.
I've seen referees refusing to continue, parents head butting managers the lot.

Years ago I ran a netball team in a military Primary school, I once had to ban a father, a senior non-commissioned officer, from the side lines because of his shouting. His wife was so grateful as was his daughter, his wife said he couldn't remember he wasn't on the parede ground

It’s ridiculous. Their child is not going to play for bloody England so get the fuck over it and stop shouting.

Oh but they are!!!

I used to live next to a village football pitch. We dreaded most of the ‘fixtures’ for the shouting and swearing, but the children's games were by far the worst, adults losing their brains over a few kids kicking a ball about. It was dire.

that was twenty years ago, and it doesn’t sound as if it has got any better. The cricket club was fine, the odd loud barbecue after a match but so what ( and they were in the final of the League at Lords one year)

From what I hear from my family of rugby players and trainers it's the parents who do least for the club who have the most to say!
There should be a huge notice by the entrance 'PUT UP OR SHUT UP!'

One boy from my old school, in what my grandchildren call the black and white days, had a very supportive, knowledgeable father who supported the team and never put anyone down. That boy went on to be a member of the '66 World Cup winning team!

DH used to ref professionally and would do games for our local teams as a favour. He abandoned several kids games because the spectator's behaviour was so bad - he's had grown men squaring up to him, threatening him with all sorts. He stopped doing it in the end because it was so stressful. He reckons more games should be abandoned for bad spectator behaviour - only way they'll learn.

Remember it well, and a couple of times where parents were facing up to each other, or the ref was being threatened when he halted the game to talk to the other sides coach about the parents behaviour.

Sorry to say, but it only gets worse as they get older, but also once they get older the refs (if competent and brave enough) usually deal with supporters that get out of control. The younger leagues tend to be younger, less experienced refs.

Complain to the school. Many matches round us do not allow parents on the sidelines for this reason. I know it's the coach that was the problem but the complaint should come from your club to their's and specify the behaviour that was unacceptable. Does your club / league have a code of conduct?

FWIW.. mixed teams can be realy difficult, sadly and boys versus girls can result in some terrible behaviour. I see this more in football than in hockey for example but hockey has a long history of mixed sport.