Brody Gets Shelled, 9/21/13

Yesterday for the first half of the game, our grandson 8 year old Brody played goalie for his soccer team the Silver Bullets in a league in which no score is kept.

But by his parents' and my informal count he got shelled for 8 goals and there was no let up as the other team kept breaching the Silver Bullets' defense and were right in front of Brody often taking goal shots. Meanwhile, his team did not score.

Late in the first half, Brody's dad, our son Kevin, and I stood on the sidelines near the goal to offer him some support. But when the second half started and he was no longer goalie, he told his dad he wanted to go home. However he did play the second half in the field and the next goalie got shelled as well in a game that had a likely unkept score of about 16 to 0.

But I wasn't there for much of the second half as Brody's little brother 5 year old Gannon wanted to show me his kindergarten classroom (the soccer game was played at the school Brody and Gannon attend) and he took me to room number 4.

Gannon also swung on the swings and played in the play yard including sliding down slides. He and I had fun together and afterward he said next time he wanted to do as I had done during the baseball season with Brody, take him into the neighborhood to "checkout" houses and cars.

It will be a joy to do as not only is it fun, but with Brody it built the close relationship he and I have today.

Dick

9/29/13 Having pondered Brody's soccer game and having discussed it with my sons Kevin and Clayton my perspective is this: First it was a team getting shelled, not just Brody and his team's second half goalie.

Second no child or children should be subject to this humiliation. The opposing coach should have rested his best players or put them on defense or by mutual agreement among the coaches, the game should have been shortened, and preferably all three solutions should have taken place.

The primary intent of these soccer games is for the children to have fun and this concept got lost in a team running up the score against another team, ironically in a league in which no score is officially kept to help prevent incidents such as this