A teenaged football hero

Martin Ödegaard has been selected to represent the national team of Norway, at the mere age of fifteen. That's obviously the News of Today in the football world, and most football bloggers in Europe will probably write more than a few lines about him. I will leave him with some good luck wishes and then turn my, and hopefully your attention towards another teenager. A real hero.

Last Sunday I watched my twelve year old daughter play in a big youth tournament in the western suburbs of Stockholm. As always on these occasions the ground was bustling with joyful and anticipating young boys and girls, hundreds of them, together with their coaches and families. The August sun was shining. Games were going on on six pitches. Parents were serving hamburgers and coffee.
As a father it makes me happy to see my girl be a part of this, and to be a part of it myself.
However, as a father and football lover it also made me very sad to see and hear the behaviour shown by some of the parents and leaders. Let me be a bit clearer. I mean the behaviour shown by some of the male parents.

While my daughter and her teammates were preparing for their quarter-final, I witnessed a tight game between two very good teams of eleven year old boys. As usual the referee was just a few years older than the players. This one was perhaps sixteen years old. As always, there were no assistant referees to help him, nor any fourth official. Furthermore, I´m afraid the goal line technology is not implemented in the Swedish youth leagues yet. Still, the aforementioned parents, I mean fathers, were so engaged in their sons' potential success or failure, and so convinced of their own football knowledge, that they regularly let out loud shouts, protesting against the ref´s decisions.

Generally, the level of engagement from some of these parent, I mean fathers, was actually pretty scaring. The never-ending shouting, telling the kids to do this or that, and the sometimes merciless criticizing of the referee is not only detrimental to their own health and the good spirit of the sport, but also plain stupid. The referees are all in the beginning of a potential career. It may be their very first season, or even their first game. For every young referee that the stupid parents, I mean fathers, make quit the trade because it's not worth the effort, the risk grows that the kids actually can´t play as many good games. Their own kids. My kids.
I hope this guy, in spite of all, walked away from this game with a good feeling, since he actually was a good referee. If  he can withstand all the negativity he will meet from some parents and leaders (and from the young players sadly mimicking the adults) a few more years, he will be a bigger hero than he already is.