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Sportsmanlike behavior is sportsmanlike behavior no matter what the "situation". A real athlete doesn't have to lower herself to the gutter to be able to play "competitive soccer". You don't have to be on the field to see if a player of less skill is using that type of play to hide their incompetance in the sport. Most of the "good" teams we have played have the skill and the dignity to play at a much higher level than the one being discussed. Sorry if mature opinions bother you, but this is a site for just that, OPINIONS.

I agree that the parents see very little of everything that goes on on the field and you don't understand how hard it is keep yourself from your temper flaring after some girl just might try to trip u up from behind and she does it repeatedly. The refs can't see everything on the field either. So if your a student athlete and know what actually goes on on the field then YOU should have an opinion on this subject. Sorry parents.

a coach's point of view:

any player who lets trash-talking or fouling get in the way of her focus on her responsibilities in a game needs to work on the her mental toughness.

That being said, I love seeing my team play very agressive and get most of the fouls in the match, but only if those fouls are "nature of play" fouls where the refs whistles a foul because you were just playing really hard and aggressively. Bad fouls, like tripping a player after she beat you or throwing an elbow, are very unsporting and not good for the game. But, these are also the kind of fouls that can get you off your game and make you unable to play as well.

Players must focus on the game and not what their opponents are saying, not what the fans are saying, and not the bad fouls that are happening.

If you and your team are mentally tougher than your opponents, then bad fouls and trash talking will not break your concentration and good play.

You know, each team has its "enforcer" who you can ask to teach a trash-talking, bad fouling opponent a lesson. But all aggressive contact must be done in the nature of play. Otherwise, you're just as bad as that opponent who threw an elbow or tripped you from behind.

I agree with observer and the coach's point of view. As a college player and now coach I have learned that soccer is 90% mental and 10% physical. If you play with your brain, you do not have to be the most skilled player on the field, and you can play simple soccer (one and two touch). If you lose your mental toughness during a game you have lost your game. It is important for the coach's to concentrate and spend alot of time on mental toughness because it is an important piece of the game. Trash-talking will always take place, but players need to respond by scoring goals and beating the opponent physically.

BEAR5- I understand where you are coming from but....... you said "it is 90% mental and 10% physical" but then the last thing you said was "beat them physically". I am pretty sure you meant "beat them with skill" but if the game is 90% mental then trying to get under the other team's skin would win games, not scoring goals. Also, if the game is 90% mental, then a team of enforcers could beat the best skilled team. The game is not 90% mental and 10% physical, it is more like 50-50.

Yes, players must maintain composure. Composure could mean a player giving up a professional foul, but he better not give up two. It means not speaking to the referee or his assistants. Talking to the opponent is going to happen. I did it when I played in goal and I had players do it to me. The key was both of us maintaining composure. A forward telling the keeper "I'm about to score on your ******* ***" and the keeper saying "no ******* way" is just two competitive athletes jawing at each other. If they both maintain composure then it makes for a heck of a game to play in. I love it when people talk trash to me in my adult leagure b/c it gets me fired up and I tend to play better to shut them up.

If one of the best players on the other team is talking then, if you are any type of competitor, it should get you pumped. If it is the other team's enforcer talking, then you should laugh, get the ball, expose that player's weaknesses, score and then laugh again.