Raise your hand and repeat after me...

"I promise to never be one of those parents at my child's sporting events. I will not coach from the sidelines, I will not continually yell at my child to do this or that. I will sit back, take pictures, be supportive and cheer when appropriate."

I had the privilege of taking my favorite 6 year old to soccer practice tonight. It was so much fun watching all of them run around, having such a wonderful time. The under 8 crowd is my crowd, I coached this age for two years and loved every minute of it (well maybe not every minute but pretty darn close). 

Tonight, I was reliving those great memories when this guy started yelling at his kid from the sidelines. Remember this kid is 6 years old, dad is yelling things "like cover your mark, run up field, now down field," my question is three fold. First, do you know how old your child is? Second, are you the coach? And finally, do you realize how big a jerk you are being right now (and that you are ruining for the rest of us)? 

As a coach I have kicked parents off the field (thankfully none of them retaliated violently), but given that it was not my child enrolled in the program I kept my mouth shut. 

But seriously people, IT IS JUST A GAME! 

Once again, raise your hand and repeat after me...