Venting

The soccer season here in Caroline County is officially over today. My Grandson played for the local grocery store. Save-A-Lot was their sponsor. The kids chose their own name for the team and decided upon the Squirrels. It is difficult to figure the workings of the eight and nine year old mind ! Nevertheless the Squirrels it was.
At the very beginning of the season two children dropped out for their own reasons. The team needed an additional player and one boy was available. The paper work was filled out and submitted.The town representative for the soccer association reviewed this and approved the player. Now I need to explain that the ages for this group are eight and nine year olds. This boy had just turned ten but never played organized soccer prior to this so the Town rep approved this.
The team was formed and practicing begun. The team played 14 regular seasons games and went undefeated. On one occasion the opposing coach objected to the ten year old boy. Our coach offered to sit the young man out for the game. The other coach stated that it wasn't necessary but was letting us know he knew the boy was ten. The team never tried to keep that a secret.
This weekend the tournament began. The regular season record counts for nothing during this event. Three games are played on the first day with the winners advancing to the semi finals and finals on Sunday. The Save-A-Lot squirrels again went undefeated. The children were quite excited about advancing.
The last game was over about 1o'clock. Then it happened ! The coach gets a call from the tournament officials saying the team is disqualified for having a ten year old. Some other coach or coaches filed a complaint. They did offer to let the team play without the ten year old one buy in game. Yesterday we did have one kid that became sick so he wouldn't be able to play today. So now the team would be down two players and their entire season resting on one game.This would mean the team would have no players to act as subs.
It is my feeling that this is very unfair to the children. Granted,perhaps the town rep overstepped his authority in allowing the boy to play on the team.but this was no secret to anyone. They played an entire season with only one coach raising any objection at all. The tournament officials allowed the team to participate on the first day and only when the team wins is this brought out. Sounds like a little jealousy on someones part. How else can you explain it ? To do this to these young children is a travesty. Sure we all want to teach them fair play and sportsmanship but to pull the rug out from underneath their feet on a technicality ? Try explaining to a eight or nine year old why they can play an entire season,go undefeated,play three games in a tournament,again undefeated and not be allowed to compete in the final event !
The Caroline County Youth Soccer Association should be ashamed of themselves. Had they done their job this situation could have been avoided. To allow the team to play and then when they win make them ineligible. To top it off they offer to let the team play what may as well be a handicap match against the best teams to decide their season. Ridiculous.
The Save-A-Lot squirrels withdrew from the tournament. We are leaving with our heads held high knowing we did nothing wrong. We are also leaving with the knowledge that we defeated every team that stood before us. We beat them fair and square. Some other teams also had ten year olds but I guess they didn't win. Another team will get the championship but the Squirrels are the true champions !