Football is one of the most physical games ever. When my child complained that his opponent hurt him, my brother who played football simply said, ” it’s football, if you don’t want to be hurt, play pingpong“.
During football tournaments, you can see kids rolling in the field, hit by a ball in the chest; young players trying their best not to cry even if it really hurts. I know some kids who don’t want to play football because they are scared of getting hurt or hurting another person. And I often see boys at school with broken arms and legs. I’m kind of preparing myself for such injuries.
But what happens when parents are the violent ones? When the yelling and cheering go beyond the touchline? When it would come to actually hurt another player, your child’s opponent?
My brother tagged me on Facebook about the 18-under division game at the 16th Aboitiz Football Cup in Cebu that went violent. You can read the story here.
Uber supportive parents gone totally overboard with violence is nothing new. Google it and you can see a lot of stories that often lead to arrests. I can’t find any source for the full story about this game between Ateneo de Cebu and Alcoy ( a town in southern Cebu) but I assume based on what I read is the man in gray is the father of the striker from Ateneo de Cebu pinned down by the goalie from Alcoy.
Many commented that the dad was immature and that was my first reaction too. Well, he clearly went overboard causing this injury to the child and talks of suing the dad are circulating.
The dad was of course beaten up online with condemning comments even memes but some also gave their insight justifying the act of the latter.
What if it was your child?
A parent will always defend his child. It’s animal instinct but we are humans and we have conscience.
I will protect my son without hurting another son.
Given all the tension that may occur, I may have screamed or something similar but not to be a war freak mother. As a writer, I can blog if I badly need to vent out.
I threw the question to my own husband and he said that it all depends on the situation but he won’t hurt another child. It’s too childish.
I hope that the dad did what the guy in black sando did. He tried to calm down all three people involved – the goalkeeper, the striker and the dad. That’s what you’re supposed to do. Grab the goalie away from your striker son, and yeah, you can shout or scold at the kid that makes you feel better, but please no violence. Playing at the 18-under division, oh yes, expect brute games.
Lessons learned. I will be more calm and conscious on how I react. I don’t want to be caught in a rage like this. Serves as a good purpose to all “touchdown parents” out there in football and other games to stay in control. As we always tell our kids, ” It’s just a game“.Same goes to the organizers especially when higher age divisions are participating.
And this is my opinion and my take. How about you, if you were in the shoes of the father, would you do the same?
