Great message from a friend who admits that he has struggled with controlling his emotions at games… Saturday at my daughter’s soccer game, the referee was somewhat nerdy-looking teenager. His shorts were pulled up too high and he didnt run anywhere. Everything was speed-walking. My wife said he kind of looked like Napoleon Dynamite with shorter hair. He actually reffed a pretty good game, but I wasnt concerned about that so much. I just have a big heart for the underdog (and I was assuming this guy was an underdog). We lost a ridiculous game 0-1. Typical soccer: we dominated and the other team only had one shot. They scored on that one shot. Parents were upset and I even heard one of our parents say that ref is an f*** idiot). Ive never used those words in my life really, but Ive certainly had the sentiments and anger. As we were getting into our car in the parking lot, I saw the ref in the passenger seat pulling out. I gave him a thumbs up and mouthed: good job. The car stopped and he rolled down the window. He looked at me and said: that was an aggressive game. He stuttered as he said it. He could barely get the words out. I told him he reffed a good game and our team should never have lost. We blew it. He said something else and rolled up his window. The car pulled forward a few feet, stopped again, and the window went down. I leaned in and his dad was driving. He said something to me in broken English, but was clearly proud of his son. I told him his son did a great job reffing the game. They both smiled and drove off. I sat down in our car and the emotions really came out. That kid probably gets picked on in school and has lots of struggles. Hes probably not athletic enough to actually play soccer. Yet there he is out reffing (courageous), and his dad is there to watch. Looking into that car made it so human. I felt such strong compassion for that kid but also shame for how Ive treated other referees. It was a big moment in my life (I hope). And I hope I made his day a bit better.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 16:00:00 +0000
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