Case in point tonight. I am officiating a couple of Jr High games tonight in South Mississippi. I am leaving out the names to protect the guilty.
Team A is the home team. Team B ( a highly successful varsity program) is the visitor. Here are some of the things I witnessed:
1. The chains were run by 3 kids in the 7th grade that had NEVER done it before in their lives! I spent most of the night encouraging and correcting them on when, where, why, etc. Meanwhile, numerous adults from Team A were in the stands sitting on their --- watching and complaining about everything going on.
2. The school made these kids, the chain gang, BUY their water and snacks in between games. I saw it.
3. The players (both teams) had players with their chinstrap unbuckled, their mouth piece dangling, their pants pulled up like shorts, their shoulder pads flapping outside the jersey. I spent the first part of the night playing fashion police and then finally gave up. (All of the things mentioned in this point are safety issues. Someone WILL be liable...)
4. Team A ran a 5 wide offense, some kind of motion, including whirly bird motion, on every snap, and then usually had the QB just take off trying to outrun everyone.
5. Absolutely no clue by either team as to how to line up or get in a stance. But their gloves and slick under britches looked cool.
6. Little to no proper technique in blocking and tackling, in either game. And don't get me started on improper handling and tucking of the ball while running. NONEXISTANT!
7. Team A's game plan in both games was to run the clock as much as possible and limit the snaps. They ran 9 plays in the 2nd half, or about 1 every 1:15. Team B's fans began to complain loudly (understandably) about the delaying tactic. I was told that it was agreed not to call delay in the 7th grade game. We called delay in the 8th grade game a couple of times (all on Team A) to discourage the tactic. How are kids supposed to get better with 9 plays in a half? What is the message being sent? To both teams?
8. The bathrooms were nasty and the sink faucet had been ripped out of the wall. What does it say to our kids when we don't encourage and even demand that our facilities are clean, maintained, and aesthetically pleasing?
I will stop there. I am getting frustrated all over again. I just don't get it. These are our kids. Don't they deserve the very best opportunities to be successful? What message are we sending to them, both overtly and subtly? Ok, I will step off the soapbox now. I had to share this with someone as I am at my work location so I have no one else to complain to about it. That is all.
Team A is the home team. Team B ( a highly successful varsity program) is the visitor. Here are some of the things I witnessed:
1. The chains were run by 3 kids in the 7th grade that had NEVER done it before in their lives! I spent most of the night encouraging and correcting them on when, where, why, etc. Meanwhile, numerous adults from Team A were in the stands sitting on their --- watching and complaining about everything going on.
2. The school made these kids, the chain gang, BUY their water and snacks in between games. I saw it.
3. The players (both teams) had players with their chinstrap unbuckled, their mouth piece dangling, their pants pulled up like shorts, their shoulder pads flapping outside the jersey. I spent the first part of the night playing fashion police and then finally gave up. (All of the things mentioned in this point are safety issues. Someone WILL be liable...)
4. Team A ran a 5 wide offense, some kind of motion, including whirly bird motion, on every snap, and then usually had the QB just take off trying to outrun everyone.
5. Absolutely no clue by either team as to how to line up or get in a stance. But their gloves and slick under britches looked cool.
6. Little to no proper technique in blocking and tackling, in either game. And don't get me started on improper handling and tucking of the ball while running. NONEXISTANT!
7. Team A's game plan in both games was to run the clock as much as possible and limit the snaps. They ran 9 plays in the 2nd half, or about 1 every 1:15. Team B's fans began to complain loudly (understandably) about the delaying tactic. I was told that it was agreed not to call delay in the 7th grade game. We called delay in the 8th grade game a couple of times (all on Team A) to discourage the tactic. How are kids supposed to get better with 9 plays in a half? What is the message being sent? To both teams?
8. The bathrooms were nasty and the sink faucet had been ripped out of the wall. What does it say to our kids when we don't encourage and even demand that our facilities are clean, maintained, and aesthetically pleasing?
I will stop there. I am getting frustrated all over again. I just don't get it. These are our kids. Don't they deserve the very best opportunities to be successful? What message are we sending to them, both overtly and subtly? Ok, I will step off the soapbox now. I had to share this with someone as I am at my work location so I have no one else to complain to about it. That is all.
