The Spill Over

In my retirement I have ventured into the world of female young volleyball. I have taken up the occupation of Volleyball official. It has been an interesting experience. I had no idea that there were this many people doing this kind of thing every Saturday for about three months. These volleyball sessions go all day Saturday. Most begin about 8:30 a.m. and the last is not over until 8:00 p.m.

A few Saturdays ago I was working a match in a "14 and under Nickel" competition. "14 and Under" means that every girl is 14 years old or younger. They have them divided into levels of skill by metals. Nickel, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum. Nickel means that these young girls are playing at a very elemental level. This is not Olympic volleyball. The set I was calling was very competitive. Most games go to 25. This game ended up with a 34-32 score. It was a very exciting set. When the score was about 28-28 the captain of one team came up and complained that the parents were saying some very "rude, crude and socially unacceptable things" to the girls while they were trying to serve. I assured her that I would listen for it and would act if I heard it. I did not hear anything and the match conclude.

As the teams switched sides and one of the coaches said something to me about it, the other coach simply said that their girls had been getting the same thing from the parents on their side. Later I was told more about what was being said to them, and I had to tell the girls that in the larger picture they were going to have to learn how to block out crowd noises and crowd insults as they play in other sports and other places.

Since this is my first year, I do not know if this is new or not for volleyball. I do know that over zealous parents have been a problem in most youth sports for as long as the youth programs have been organized by adults. But the things that were reported to me that were said made me think about the kind of things that were said in the public rallies against health care reform bill. These comments to these girls at this age were sexual, racial, vicious attacks on them. They had the same mean hostile spirit that the anti-health rallies had. One just has to wonder if there is some kind of carry over. Acceptance of that kind of yelling in public in one places makes it acceptable in another. I don't know in which direction the carry over would go.

These kind of comments coming from people who would probably call themselves good people is just another example of the basic Christian affirmation that there is evil in us all. That it slips out, erupts, shows up in all kinds of ways. In the way we can become a mean and nasty cheering section for our side and ready to hurt and demean others just for a moment of success. Try telling that 14 year old girl who is trying to learn how to serve in a very close game that the people who are yelling at her are basically good people. She probably would have no trouble believing that they too are sinners.