WARNING: Long post ahead… This is something that has been weighing heavily on my heart for the last few weeks. A little background about me is that I have spent the last 15 years of my life volunteering as team mom or team manager for my kids’ extra-curricular activities. They have at one point or other danced, cheered, played volleyball, football, basketball, baseball and hockey. My job as a team mom has always been to make the experience for the kids the best it can be. I have planned countless parties, stuffed hundreds of goodie bags, baked tons of cookies and cupcakes, and mixed a bazillion gallons of gatorade. So what happened here goes against every single thing I believe sports should be when kids are young, and I am having a really hard time letting it go… Here is what happened: I am at the hockey rink, waiting for my son’s game to start, and watching the end of the game before ours. The little guys playing are 9-10 year olds (holy cuteness!), and they are ridiculously good. I am waiting for Robbie to come out of the locker room to get his mouthpiece from me, so I’m right behind the player’s benches. I watch this little boy steal away the puck, dangle between 2 defenders, skate it all the way down the ice and shoot. Absolutely incredible! He misses the net wide and I see his angry father pounding on the glass as he skates away. I know dads (and sometimes moms) can be tough on their kids. But something about this just didn’t sit right with me. The little boy skates to the bench with a look of absolute devastation... completely broke my heart. No kid (especially a 9 or 10 year old) should ever feel that devastated because of a missed shot…ever… Here’s where it all gets worse… I see his father pacing back and forth along the glass. He starts to walk towards the benches, right in front of me. He is angry and I think, “he is not coming over here to yell at his kid!”. No…he did not yell at him. He opened the door to the players’ bench, yanks his son by the face mask and starts violently shaking him, pulling him off the bench. The coach pulls him off, shoves him away, screams at him, then slams the door in his face. The coach grabs the boy who is now hysterically crying, sits him on the bench and comforts him the best he can. This has all happened within about 5 feet from me. And I do nothing. I think I am in shock and cannot believe that just happened in front of me. I find my husband, and our other team parents (they are in the other rink) and completely fall apart as I tell them what just happened. I know the coach will address the situation and I know this dad will hear it from others around, but I cannot shake the feeling that I should have done more. I replay the scene in my head all the time and wonder what I could have done differently. I can’t imagine what this boy’s home life is like. If this dad can do this in public, what must it be like for him behind closed doors? Sorry for the long post, but maybe if you think about what you would do in a similar situation, you will be better prepared to handle it. I absolutely was not. What would you have done? Would you have confronted this dad? His mom maybe? I want to know how you would have responded…would you have let the others handle it, or would you have addressed it yourself? My kids are everything to me, and I will protect them with everything I have. I cannot imagine that other parents do not feel the same. The very thought breaks my heart...
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 03:55:39 +0000
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