Neverending Top Ten #4.7: The Boy Done Good

There's been scandal on the side-lines at Sam's Under 8's football practice this past week. There are two teams of under 8s that practice together, but they play separate games on a weekend. The teams have been pretty evenly weighted and tend to have fallen into place arranged around friendship groups... until last week when parents were told that the teams were being segregated on ability lines to create an 'A' team and a 'B' team. Of the coaching staff and management, nobody seems to want to take responsibility for this decision, blaming it instead on the League and some obscure regulations. That said, all three coaches are now coaching the A Team (because, surprise surprise, their kids are all on it), and a new coach has been found for the B Team. Make of that what you will. 

Sam's been getting pretty good at football lately (amazing, really, considering his dad doesn't know one end of a pitch from a large hole in the ground) and he was chosen for the A Team for his recent goal-scoring prowess (listen to me with the lingo!). His two best friends though were chosen for the B Team. They, and a number of the other "demoted" kids, were really quite upset about the change around. Many of them were in tears, some are even talking about packing it in, or at least finding another team.

To his credit, Sam has asked to be moved to the B Team so that he can go back to playing with his mates. That would have been what I wanted for him as I've had enough of competitive dads trying to relive their own deluded pipe dream former glories through their kids, but Louise and I were careful not to influence his decision. It's up to you, we told him. He chose his friends over prestige, and for that, I love him to bits.

(I must admit I put my foot in it a few weeks back when I asked some of the other dads, "Come on, nobody really thinks their kid is going to grow up to be the next David Beckham, do they?", only to discover that, actually, some of them blatantly do.)

In the end, I think Sam's decision will work in his favour. He scored 4 goals on Sunday (final score, 5-1), and didn't have to fight for his chances against all the junior Ronaldos (or GOATs, as I believe they're now known... again, listen to me with the lingo). Wouldn't it be great if the B Team ended up the true champions? For irony alone, you understand... 

Strange as it may seem, I once had my football dreams

But I was always the last one, the last to get chosen

When my classmates picked their teams

I guess that was the way it stayed in every game I played

Life just tripped me and clattered and kicked me

Till you picked me from the parade

Insert usual comment about how young Billy looks in that video...