Acting Their Age

5 April 2004


Kids' Soccer League Bans Local Paper

For those who are not regular readers of the Derbyshire Times, coverage of a local soccer match in the Sheffield and District Sunday League has resulted in the paper getting the boot from the league. Apparently, the paper sinned by reporting a score between Chesterfield's side the Brampton Rovers and the Sheffield team Waltheof for Under Nines (that is, 8-year-olds). League officials believe that the paper should have spared the kids the shame of having their 29-0 loss put down on tomorrow's fish and chip wrappers.

According to the boss of the league, a fellow named Matt Hardman, there is an 18-year-old rule that the member teams have that says they don't want scores more lopsided than 14-0 in print. But what about journalistic integrity? The needs of journalism in Derbyshire demand that the readers know the who, what, where, when, why and how of even kids' soccer games. And precisely why a 14 goal differential? One would think that losing 13-0 hurts pretty badly as well, yet it can go in the paper? Does this not lead to teams scoring own goals to protect their fragile egos?

Or more seriously, what sort of coach of youth soccer would run a score up like that? The idea is to have fun and to teach the kids the basics of the game, ultimately to create an informed fan base as well as promoting the usual teamwork, grace in victory, dignity in defeat, and so on. After the game is safely in the bag, the better players should have a rest, the weaker players get some time up front, and above all, the humiliation of the blow out needs to be contained.

The reporter for the Derbyshire Times may be guilty of an undiplomatic choice of words, "emphatically trounced." Yet, that is a fair description of the score. More at fault is the coach of the winning side to let it get to that stage. And indeed, the league itself should come in for a bit of the blame -- any match this one-sided suggests that there is not a fair distribution of talent throughout the league.

But worst of all, the paper won't be printing the kids' names or following the league. Although 8 was long ago, the magic of seeing one's name in print remains fresh. Scores will come and go, teams will change, but there will always be a scrap-book in a closet with the small victories of little kids -- except for players in the Sheffield and District Sunday League. Perhaps, the grown-ups in this situation could try acting like adults. The League could relent to let the paper return to its coverage, and the paper could undertake a bit of sensitivity in reporting blow-outs.

And who won the match? That really isn't important here.

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