How much influence are professional footballers having on children’s football? Simon Eaves writes about the influence that bad language and disrespectful behavior has on the next generation.
The FA has made it a priority that investments are made into grassroots level football. With these investments taking place we are sure to reap the benefits as a footballing nation.
However, investing in the bottom tiers of football is not going to be beneficial to the younger generation if the behaviour by the professionals in the top tiers of football encourages children to be disrespectful on and off the pitch.
Whilst recently walking through Victoria Park in the sunshine, I caught a glimpse of a Sunday league match.
The children playing were ten and eleven years old; it took me back to the time when I would play on a Sunday morning. It was nice to watch until I saw a player get tackled, although he did not fall and get back up like ten year olds used to. Instead he dived dramatically, and much to my disbelief the referee naturally waved play on and the child started swearing and verbally abusing the referee. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; even more so I couldn’t believe the parents reaction in joining in with him.
This got me pondering – do children now watch their idols on a Saturday afternoon thinking it’s adequate behaviour to treat the officials like this, and do they think it’s acceptable to cheat?
Jack, an ex-referee for children’s football, said, “If they see their role model diving or bending the rules of the game, then those children are more likely to dive.”
Children copy those who they’ll look up to and learn from them, it is a natural way of life. To stop cheating in the game at all levels, the punishments need to be enforced.
Regarding other misconduct such as spitting, Nigel Davis, a current children’s referee, believes players should have a “six-month ban imposed, receiving no wages and a ban from the club also”. This would prevent footballers from acting in these ways and ultimately it could improve the attitude of the next generation.
With grassroots investment being the topic of conversation, this is a situation that needs to be addressed before this results in us bringing up professional cheaters. Jack said, “if a child is taught right from wrong on the football pitch then they should make their own decisions.” He believes that if the parents, referees and football coaches attempt to clamp cheating out of children’s football, then it would have a positive impact at a professional level with the new generation coming through.
The poor treatment of referees has increased within recent years, as professionals seem to think that swearing and shouting at a referee is acceptable. “Football in general treats referees badly,” says Jack, who believes that it is not just the players that treat referees unfairly, adding, “Kids will see their dad or mum shout at the ref on TV, so this has become a normal behaviour.”
Another strong argument is that football pundits are also to blame. Jack agreed, saying: “Pundits constantly bemoan decisions.” The use of over-examination on poor judgment calls from referees can lead to children expecting flawless refereeing on a Sunday morning, not getting this can cause the implications of abuse.
With this being the case, children need to learn that respect is vital. Nigel believes we need to duplicate the rules of rugby regarding the referee. “If you compare football to rugby, rugby has got it right – only the captain can politely question decisions made and if too aggressive the team can be punished by moving the ball forward.” This would decrease the mistreatment that referees suffer. The game needs to expect that respect breeds respect.