And so it begins....

Tomorrow I become a 'soccer dad', as my 4 year old son starts his first organized team sport. For the last 10 years, I've always been on the opposite side of the whistle as I've coached girls youth basketball. In that time, I've run the gamut of experiences with parents both good and bad. Everyone has probably heard or seen some horror story about an overbearing, out of control, or just plain crazy parent shouting, cussing, and generally acting a fool at some youth sporting event. I've certainly seen it, and had to talk to some of those parents in my time as a coach. I would say that I think the majority of the time the parents lose control because they really just have so much passion for their kid, and the desire to want them to do well. That certainly doesn't excuse the boorish behavior, but most of the time I think the intention is pure, but the action is misguided.

Now, I certainly don't think at 4 year old soccer I'll be chasing referees or spitting on little kids, but it has got me to thinking about what the future holds. This will be the first time in my life that I will be so closely involved with a sport, without being a player or coach. I have the internal debate occasionally on whether or not I'll ever coach either my son or my daughter, and if I do, how will I approach that? I was extremely fortunate that growing up my dad was one of my little league coaches and it was the perfect experience. He was neither too hard, or too easy on me, and it was great learning the game from him, exactly the type of experience I would want to provide to my kids if I'm fortunate to coach them. For now though, I get to sit back and watch my little boy starting his journey into athletics. We went out and bought the soccer ball, and the shin guards, and I already drive a mini-van, so I say let's get this soccer party started.