One of the fun and unique things about sports is how involved the fans and crowd can get in games. This could be good or bad. Fans can heckle opposing teams and players. They can boo and yell at their own team out of frustration. They may yell at officials. But fans can also yell to players to get to a certain position or do something they are not doing. They can encourage and screen out to their team. And these fans can be parents watching their kids’ games which includes me.
As a former athlete myself and diehard sports fan, I can’t take my passion or emotion out of sports. Now that my oldest boys are playing sports that emotion is ramped very high. I can’t shut it off!
So this weekend the boys’ soccer league was having a “Silent Saturday” where all spectators were encouraged to only say positive things or be silent. After seeing the email about this, my husband says to me looks like they have an “Erin Cahill rule” in place.
Let’s just say I get a little fired up at the games especially when Chase plays. Last weekend the team he was playing was elbowing a lot and I may have yelled for the official to pay attention to this and maybe he told the league administration or maybe it was just coincidence that this weekend was deemed a “Silent Saturday” for parents.
The email actually talked about just letting kids play. That kids are getting confused or distracted from their coaches because of parents yelling things out. So I don’t think it was directed at me though the timing of this made me suspicious.
I will admit that the fields were very quiet during both boys’ games this Saturday. There wasn’t the usual loud yells and noise you hear as you walk around the complex. And I missed the loud yells and sounds that are usually present every weekend.
Yells and noise are a part of sports for good or bad. Even if sports like golf or tennis that require quiet during play, the crowd erupts after a good rally or point or after a player tees off or putts it in.
I do understand encouraging more positive behavior with parents. And I do realize I am way too intense for a rec soccer game. But yelling happens. It’s because sports brings out our emotions, good and bad. We lose ourselves in games causing us to be vocal and passionate.
The noises and yelling and crowds are what make going to sports games so fun. That’s the biggest difference between watching games at home versus in person. You can feel and hear that passion and emotion even more.
So I behaved this “Silent Saturday” but I did miss the noise and yelling at the fields. Sports has always been a part of my life so I tend to get a little too caught up in them and may yell from time to time. You can’t take the intensity away from an athlete, it’s still around all these years later. And I’ll maybe learn to control it, so I can at least continue to go in person!
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