Around the Hood: When the kids are the adults in the stadium

This is my first full year covering prep sports, and it’s certainly had its highs and lows so far. I’ve been surprised by a lot of things I never considered, and I’ve been overwhelmed by the gracious welcome from the Rio Rancho community.

I’ve loved every second of the fall sports season. Well, not every second. ALMOST every second.

Something’s been eating at me.

There are these dark things I see happening at games, incidents born of frustration leading to a loss of perspective.

I want to be clear that this isn’t a “Rio Rancho thing.” This is a “sports thing” and a “humanity thing.”

In fact, I list two examples below; one occurred in Rio Rancho, and the other did not. The trend is also something I’m seeing more and more at my kids’ YAFL games in Albuquerque.

Sometimes there are things I leave out of reporting because they aren’t important to the story and I’m not looking to go out of my way to hurt anyone. But after the most recent incident I witnessed during a game, I’ve decided I need to find a way to get this out.

The thing is, the ugliness I’m seeing, it all comes from the grown-ups. I do hear trash talk and see some dirty play on the field, but once the final whistle blows, the kids just let it all go.

In every game I’ve witnessed, whether it was heated or not, whether there was a fight on the field or not, the athletes shake hands and show respect to the game and to one another. In other words, they act like civilized ADULTS.

The same cannot always be said of the grown-ups at these games.

There are two examples that spring immediately to mind. Just two of several incidents I’ve witnessed this season across many different sports.

I’m going to try to stay pretty vague here, because the specific people aren’t nearly as important as the trend I’m witnessing: grown-ups throwing tantrums like children.

I’m sure people can figure it out if they want to, but it really isn’t important who the individuals involved were. And obviously, none of these things are criminal, just icky.

The first incident was at a football game.

The home team won a tough match against an opponent they, admittedly, should’ve dominated. On the way off the field after the game, a group of home-team parents and fans gathered as close as they could to the field exit. They stood there and verbally berated and assaulted their own coaches as they followed the kids into the locker room. Some of what they shouted was insulting enough to prompt a response from several coaches and a scuffle nearly ensued.

Think of the New York Jets leaving the field at halftime during the Mark Sanchez-era. (Real ones know.)

I want to mention here that the event and facility staff and security were fantastic. They de-escalated a potentially dangerous situation very quickly and without incident.

The second incident was at a soccer game.

I’ll soften this a little on the front end by saying soccer is notorious for faking on-field injuries, or “flopping.” That isn’t really the case in prep soccer, where the refs are pretty spot on with stopping their watches when there’s an injury. However, a well-timed “injury” can still break up an opponent’s rhythm or, even better, get a penalty kick.

With that said, that was not the case here.

During a high-stakes match, at a critical moment, a visiting team player took a tough (and illegal) hit in the scoring box that dropped him to the ground and earned his team a penalty kick.

He was in obvious pain and writhing on the ground. Play was immediately halted as trainers took care of their injured player. He was eventually helped up and carried off the field with assistance.

Through most of the incident, which lasted roughly five minutes, the home coach (NOT the coach of the injured player) yelled at the referees, who stood on the other side of the field.

“There’s no way! C’mon!” he yelled.

“No way! Nope! That was all ball!” he screamed.

All the while, a child was hurt on the ground.

I don’t want to pile on or make it seem like these are bad people, especially the coach. That’s not what I want to do here. It was an emotional moment, and the bottom line is he’s out there giving his time and energy to these kids. I don’t know the man, but I do know he cares about his team.

What I do want to do here is make a plea for a little perspective. Maybe even a drop of sanity? A dollop of decency?

It shouldn’t be hard. All we need to do is remember that these are kids.

They can be big and strong — and some of those offensive linemen have full beards — but they are still kids.

They can get up every day and put in the hard work and push themselves to the limit, but they are still kids.

They can “run a Cover 2” and “park the bus” and “create space at the net,” but they are still kids.

They may enter those stadiums and courts and fields and exit them again with more grace and maturity than many adults, but they are still kids.

Maybe all we need to do to find a way back to empathy and respect is just be a little more like the kids.