Ignorant Fans

[Whitey]

Will the parents that know something about the game of soccer please help the ignorant fans that are sitting in the stands? After years of soccer being played you would think that the knowledge level would have grown and the number of fans that understand the game would have increased in the stands by now. However, I have seen more ignorance of the game this year than I believe I have seen in a long time. No, this is not basketball. Yes, the ball can touch the line and not be out of bounds as long as all the ball does not cross all the line. Yes, a player can be in possession of the ball and step on the line and they are not "out of bounds" as long as the ball stays in play. Yes, in soccer players can push or make contact with another player as long as there is a legitimate play on the ball and the force is not "disporportionate." Oh, and good luck on trying to explain "off sides" to them and no there is no 5 yard penalty for being offsides. Yes, a player can be fouled and the foul not be called as long as the ref believes the player who was fouled still has an advantage by being in possession of the ball. Oh my goodness, and good luck on explaining a "hand ball" actually handling the ball. When it should be called and when the contact is incidental or calling an actual violation would destroy the other team's advantage. Do some of these fans pay the price of admission just for the pleasure of sitting in the stands and yelling at the refs? Is there supposed to be some good result from the excessive abuse of that? Maybe the experience of others has been different than mine this season but I found myself several times this year wondering where has all this ignorance come from after soccer has been in existence for such a long time now in this State. OK, I feel better now that I have gotten that off my chest. Anyway, hope everyone has good luck on the rest of the season.

[mchsgoal21]

This is a huge pet peeve of mine as well. The rules of soccer are much more intricate and open to judgment than any other sport. We encourage our parents during the initial team meeting to learn the rules of the game before voicing their opinion. If not, then only use your voice to simply encourage the team. It is embarrassing for a coach and a program when you have boisterous fans who don't know the rules clearly. In the past, we've even considered having a day-long classroom session for any parents (and players for that matter) that are new to the game.

 

My personal favorite is when one of our girls makes a drop pass only to be chastised by the fans: "You're going the wrong way!!!"

[Whitey]

This is a huge pet peeve of mine as well. The rules of soccer are much more intricate and open to judgment than any other sport. We encourage our parents during the initial team meeting to learn the rules of the game before voicing their opinion. If not, then only use your voice to simply encourage the team. It is embarrassing for a coach and a program when you have boisterous fans who don't know the rules clearly. In the past, we've even considered having a day-long classroom session for any parents (and players for that matter) that are new to the game.

 

My personal favorite is when one of our girls makes a drop pass only to be chastised by the fans: "You're going the wrong way!!!"

 

That is hilarious! I used to hold a meeting with all the parents and players at the beginning of the season and show them a bag of tootsie roll pops. I told the parents that if I caught them lambasting the refs that I would pull their kid from the game, hand them a tootsie roll pop, make them walk around the field with it, hand it to their parent and tell them that the coach said that the only way they could stay at the game was if that stuck the tootsie roll pop in their mouth and kept their mouth shut. The parents knew it would happen too because I did it on two different occasions. I had a strict rule that the refs were my problem to deal with and not the parents and especially not the players. Any player that got in trouble with a ref for mouthing off got in serious trouble and the next day's practice after everyone else had left and gone home was when they would pay for that mistake.

[hillrider]

As long as they pay the price for addmission, I guess they can show their lack of knowledge of the game just like you can show your extensive knowledge of the game. But, if you don't want the money of the ignorant fans, I guess you could give them a quick test to see if they are worthy of addmission. Here at Coffee we don't have much of a problem with that until Cookeville comes to town.

[Whitey]

As long as they pay the price for addmission, I guess they can show their lack of knowledge of the game just like you can show your extensive knowledge of the game. But, if you don't want the money of the ignorant fans, I guess you could give them a quick test to see if they are worthy of addmission. Here at Coffee we don't have much of a problem with that until Cookeville comes to town.

 

 

Sounds like a personal problem. LOL I'll let you take on the folks from Cookeville. Seems like they have dominated Coffee County the last few years but that is probably just my poor memory not serving me too well.

[CougarSally]

Will the parents that know something about the game of soccer please help the ignorant fans that are sitting in the stands? After years of soccer being played you would think that the knowledge level would have grown and the number of fans that understand the game would have increased in the stands by now. However, I have seen more ignorance of the game this year than I believe I have seen in a long time. No, this is not basketball. Yes, the ball can touch the line and not be out of bounds as long as all the ball does not cross all the line. Yes, a player can be in possession of the ball and step on the line and they are not "out of bounds" as long as the ball stays in play. Yes, in soccer players can push or make contact with another player as long as there is a legitimate play on the ball and the force is not "disporportionate." Oh, and good luck on trying to explain "off sides" to them and no there is no 5 yard penalty for being offsides. Yes, a player can be fouled and the foul not be called as long as the ref believes the player who was fouled still has an advantage by being in possession of the ball. Oh my goodness, and good luck on explaining a "hand ball" actually handling the ball. When it should be called and when the contact is incidental or calling an actual violation would destroy the other team's advantage. Do some of these fans pay the price of admission just for the pleasure of sitting in the stands and yelling at the refs? Is there supposed to be some good result from the excessive abuse of that? Maybe the experience of others has been different than mine this season but I found myself several times this year wondering where has all this ignorance come from after soccer has been in existence for such a long time now in this State. OK, I feel better now that I have gotten that off my chest. Anyway, hope everyone has good luck on the rest of the season.

 

Whitey, what were you doing over at Briarcrest? Aren't you from Eastern TN?

[Whitey]

Whitey, what were you doing over at Briarcrest? Aren't you from Eastern TN?

 

No, I get around quite a bit but have not made it to Briarcrest. Sounds like another personal problem. LOL For me the straw that broke the camel's back is what happened twice last week. I told my wife about it and said that it had been since the 2002 girl's season that I had a fan tossed from a game but I had to get the game administrator and the school's SRO to go after fan's twice last week. The first time the fans were going after the players calling out their numbers and saying sexually suggestive remarks to them in an effort to get into their heads and throw them off their games. Disgusting and I was not going to tolerate that. Cheer for your team or challenge the ref's calls -- ok, I understand that and with the price of admission I can accept that. However, paying for that ticket does not give a person the right to show their rear end and go after the players on the other team with such degrading attacks on them. For that, I will toss a fan.

[CHAMPDDS]

No, I get around quite a bit but have not made it to Briarcrest. Sounds like another personal problem. LOL For me the straw that broke the camel's back is what happened twice last week. I told my wife about it and said that it had been since the 2002 girl's season that I had a fan tossed from a game but I had to get the game administrator and the school's SRO to go after fan's twice last week. The first time the fans were going after the players calling out their numbers and saying sexually suggestive remarks to them in an effort to get into their heads and throw them off their games. Disgusting and I was not going to tolerate that. Cheer for your team or challenge the ref's calls -- ok, I understand that and with the price of admission I can accept that. However, paying for that ticket does not give a person the right to show their rear end and go after the players on the other team with such degrading attacks on them. For that, I will toss a fan.

 

Ignorance of the rules is one thing, but personal attacks on young ladies is a whole other level of problems....Unbelievable...What school are we talking about?

 

D

Edited October 3, 2011 by CHAMPDDS

[Whitey]

Ignorance of the rules is one thing, but personal attacks on young ladies is a whole other level of problems....Unbelievable...What school are we talking about?

 

D

 

 

Rather not name the school. The AD was upset, embarassed, and came over to apologize after the game. Said that he did not appreciate that people could do something like that and give them and their town a bad rep. I talked with him and said that most of the fans had been gracious but its that 1% that makes it look bad for everyone else. That is why I am asking the other fans to help out. I could not identify the fans who were doing this as I had my back to the crowd when it was happening but they took off running when the SRO went their way. One ran to his parents up in the stands and they took him to the car and left (at least that is what I was told after the game).

[CHAMPDDS]

Rather not name the school. The AD was upset, embarassed, and came over to apologize after the game. Said that he did not appreciate that people could do something like that and give them and their town a bad rep. I talked with him and said that most of the fans had been gracious but its that 1% that makes it look bad for everyone else. That is why I am asking the other fans to help out. I could not identify the fans who were doing this as I had my back to the crowd when it was happening but they took off running when the SRO went their way. One ran to his parents up in the stands and they took him to the car and left (at least that is what I was told after the game).

 

So it was students versus adults/parents doing the improper yelling....maybe makes it a little more understood ? I may be confused as to what you originally posted versus what has been posted afterwards...Soccer rule misunderstanding versus inappropriate yelling?

 

 

 

D

[Whitey]

So it was students versus adults/parents doing the improper yelling....maybe makes it a little more understood ? I may be confused as to what you originally posted versus what has been posted afterwards...Soccer rule misunderstanding versus inappropriate yelling?

 

 

 

D

 

So it was students versus adults/parents doing the improper yelling....maybe makes it a little more understood ? I may be confused as to what you originally posted versus what has been posted afterwards...Soccer rule misunderstanding versus inappropriate yelling?

 

 

 

D

 

 

I can understand the confusion. The one is what lead to the other. The inappropriate yelling was what got me to thinking about things that have transpired over time and that thinking got me to post the first thought that was on my mind at the time which was the ignorance of the rules. Actually, some of the folks (or at least one) involved in the inappropriate yelling was an adult and he was not as smart as the others that ran off and was the only one to actually get tossed.

[CHAMPDDS]

I can understand the confusion. The one is what lead to the other. The inappropriate yelling was what got me to thinking about things that have transpired over time and that thinking got me to post the first thought that was on my mind at the time which was the ignorance of the rules. Actually, some of the folks (or at least one) involved in the inappropriate yelling was an adult and he was not as smart as the others that ran off and was the only one to actually get tossed.

 

Interesting, I posted this a few weeks ago after returning from Collierville for the Rivals Tournament:

 

A bunch of ND parents had the priviledge of witnessing some of the worst soccer parents I have seen in quite some time watching the Jackson Prep (MS) v Arlington game, before Notre Dame played St George, on Saturday afternoon at Collierville HS. Granted,the officiating may have been a little off, but the constant verbal assaults on the linesman (standing right in front of them) by two JACKSON PREP dads and the personal attacks on the refs was well beyond acceptable...."You are an IDIOT!", etc.etc.....over and over again... So bad, that the another group of Jackson Prep parents yelled at them to basically shutup, and the verbal battle back and forth between the two same team parent groups was very tense, and seemed to almost want to go to a physical encounter,if the groups had been closer, but was somewhat comical from a bystanders point of view...there was no love between these two dads and the rest of the team parents that day....I seriously doubt anyone from Jackson Prep reads these posts, but if you do...these two 'Soccer Dads' are a disgrace and embarassment to your school and you all had every right to ask them to 'zip it', as was so eloquently stated...