The other day, my 13 year old son was supposed to be a linesman in an Atom playoff game.  Game 3 to be exact.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, the referee could not make it and they bumped my 13 year old son up to headman.  They were proud of his hard work and how well he was doing as a young official in this game he loves.  They were confident he could handle it.

He didn’t want to ref, he wanted to lines the game.  He happened to have been at game 2 the day before and he wasn’t comfortable.  I told him, “Son, sometimes things happen that we can’t control and even though we may not want to, we need to suck it up and step up and get it done.”

I stayed to watch him headman and I heard grandmothers in the stands yelling at him.  Parents, telling him to open his eyes.  One fan even yelled at him, “that’s bulls**t”.  Parents and grandparents, moms and dads, yelling at MY 13 YEAR OLD SON!

Did my son make mistakes?   Sure he did.  He is a 13 year old boy, learning.  Did your player make mistakes?

I started to feel so bad, that I forced him to suck it up.  And for what?  Ideally, so that 9 & 10 year old kids could play a very fun and rewarding game.  Did I force him to suck it up so that he could be yelled at and berated by adults?  NO WAY!

My 13 year old son wanted to be a linesman that day.

My 13 year old son HEARD YOU...

...and so did your kids.