THE relatives of local children give up significant amounts of time and money to ensure young children can enjoy playing football, with children travelling around the area to take part in games and tournaments.

However, there is at least one local club where the emphasis appears to be on winning, regardless of cost. At a tournament last year every player in my son’s team left the pitch in tears due purely to the aggressive behaviour of one local team. Every player experienced being kicked in the ankle, barged, having arms and hands waved in their faces and their shirts pulled to prevent them from running.

My son was physically lifted from the ground in a “bear hug”, swung around and dumped on the floor; he is seven years old. However, no action was taken by the referees who are often very young and, presumably, without the experience or confidence to stand up to the coaches and supporters of inappropriately aggressive teams.

The event organisers who could have taken action were completely absent from the playing area. If a player is kicked while he has control of the ball this will, sometimes, result in a foul. If a player is kicked when he is nowhere near the ball this will result in no action being taken at all, even if that player is injured and has to leave the pitch.

Every player, supporter, club and official is aware of the ‘Respect’ rules which apply to youth football. These rules are there to underpin good sportsmanship and appropriate behaviour.

However, at a local football tournament my son played at this weekend some (not all) of the supporters for one team (that same team as last year) were standing and sitting on the pitch line, so close that players were unable to stand off the pitch for throw-ins. This caused problems with the game and yet was not rectified by the referee.

Unfortunately, this position so close to the players was all the better for the supporters to hurl inappropriate comments at the players on both sides; applauding the worst behaviour of their own team while making degrading comments about the other side, before, during and after the match. The worst behaviour of the terraces is being seen during a match between eight-year-olds.

In life, no-one wins all of the time, yet these parents appear unable to convey to their children the important lesson of losing gracefully: that a team who fails to display skill, teamwork and good sportsmanship may win the match but will always be the losers in life.

If youth football is to remain a good, safe life experience for the young players involved officials need to start recognising that the Respect rules are every bit as important as the technical rules of the game and sometimes require enforcement.

The referees therefore need training and support to deal with transgressions during the matches. The event organisers need to be visible during matches and be prepared to take responsibility for rectifying breaches of the rules.

Until they do that, I am seriously considering withdrawing my child from games and tournaments that involve those clubs with the well-earned reputation of aggressive and demeaning behaviour, and I will be suggesting the parents of other players do likewise.

A concerned parent, Trowbridge