New initiative

Red card for aggression in youth soccer

Youth matches are also full of emotion for both players and spectators.

(Bild: ANDREAS TROESTER)

Aggression and verbal abuse are a problem in youth soccer. A Styrian initiative now wants to tackle this with special training sessions to protect referees and players and to warn football parents not to set a bad example.

Scolding parents, arguing players, insults against referees: "I sometimes experienced more aggression and abusive behavior at my sons' youth football matches than in a stadium," says Michaela Gosch, Managing Director of Frauenhäuser Steiermark. Together with the men's counseling/perpetrator work, they now want to take the initiative against the development of increased verbal violence and aggression in Styrian youth soccer.

Workshops planned
"Together with the Styrian Football Association, we will be offering anti-aggression training for children, parents, coaches and referees by the fall at the latest. Because they are all affected by the issue. There is a pilot project in Vorarlberg. We are extending it to Styria," Gosch told the "Krone" newspaper. Talks and workshops can be used to take a preventative approach and deal with incidents. In the near future, SK Sturm (with whom they recently organized the "Evening against Violence") will also be approached in order to get the club on board.

Michaela Gosch, managing director of the women's shelters in Styria

(Bild: Elmar Gubisch)

They are aware of the problem of insulting, sometimes homophobic (which has become sadly topical since the tirades of SK Rapid officials and players) and shouting attacks, as Thomas Raffl, Head of Sport U 8 to U 14, says. "Of course there is this problem. That's why we start with the very young players, teach them that fairness is paramount and have also noted this in our mission statement. Cooperation with parents is just as important."

"We players also adhere to fair play"
Sturm youngster Felix Petritsch (13) says: "It happens again and again that parents from the opposing club shout in. That doesn't have to be the case. We also play fair play!" Nepomuk Eichholzer, U13 coach at Union Kainbach-Hönigtal, agrees: "If there is any misconduct, we reprimand the parents immediately."

The fun of soccer is never taken away from children by over-ambitious parents.

(Bild: ANDREAS TROESTER)

Referees are often the victims of verbal attacks. Gerhard Holzmann can point to a decades-long career as a referee and has experienced a lot. "It used to be much worse. But even now, parents often get carried away. This is passed on to the young kickers. It's a vicious circle. If a young referee is constantly attacked, he will soon stop whistling. What also strikes me is that mothers are often in no way inferior to fathers when it comes to aggression."

The joy of kicking a ball must be paramount
This makes counter-strategies such as the training sessions by Michaela Gosch and her team described above all the more important. "You always have to ask yourself: What example am I setting for the children when I misbehave on the sidelines? How does that affect their socialization off the pitch? Very negative behavioral structures can develop - and that's where we want to start and show how things can be done differently," she says. Because there's one thing that everyone the Krone spoke to agrees on: the young footballers' enjoyment of the sport is paramount. And to achieve this, everyone has to stick to the rules, even off the pitch.

Philipp Braunegger "Steirerkrone"