Midway through a hard-fought cup game, I notice our opponents have brought on a sub who isn’t wearing a proper shirt. Of course, my first instinct is to bring this to the referee’s attention and cause some trouble for the other team. Before I can even get the words out of my mouth though, one of the fathers on our side is up out of his chair, roaring.
‘That kid isn’t dressed properly,’ he shouts at the referee. ‘You can’t play without the right equipment on.’
There is some booing and hissing from the opposing parents but my guy isn’t deterred by this. He roars again, haranguing the official and the child.
‘Get off kid and get a real shirt. You can’t play in a sweater.’
The referee stops play and the child turns bright red as the spotlight falls upon him and his bad fashion decision. The other coach is apoplectic. I stand there feigning innocence, pretending to be exasperated at my interfering parent. I even shake the head once or twice convincingly. The kid goes off the field to change, their concentration is broken and we sneak what turns out to be the only goal of the game.
‘That’s for you sir,’ I say, at the final whistle as I hand the father involved one of my adult-sized ‘Nothing shapes character like winning’ t-shirts. ‘You did your bit for the cause today. You earned this prize.’
He pulls it over his head and walks towards his car with a spring in his step. Sometimes these parents will surprise you in the best possible way.
No comments:
Post a Comment