I watched some good soccer this weekend at the Irmo tournament and must say that I was impressed with the number of teams, the officiating, and the organization of the tournament.
However, there was a "black eye" for the sport concerning a team that was full of foul-mouthed kids and a coach that seemed to embody this persona via his camouflage pants and two earrings. He even went as far as to tell one group of spectators who were in awe of what he allowed his players to get away with, "don't make this a problem" as they stared with gaping jaws at his demeanor and lack of discipline.
The players were guilty of committing four heinous fouls in the penalty area, thus four PKs (all of which were converted) and backtalking, f-bombing, the officials and one was finally red-carded. At least the players' parent called him over for a deserved scolding, but when returning to his bench (of which his teammates said "Holy $#!+, did you hear what he said?" He just turned to the opposing coach and said that HIS team was playing dirty?!?!?!?
I don't know if this kind of conduct for coaches/teams is allowed in high school football or basketball, but I find it very sad that it is tolerated by a 4A school from the Midlands that should embrace and promote sportsmanship in prep soccer. It was an ugly scene and not the first from what I learned from an apologetic parent in the parking lot.
