On my Sunday walk, I saw something that I think looks really odd.
An organised football game was taking place, with kids aged around 8 or 9 playing.
The game had rolling substitutions.
So if you were subbed off, you’d be back on later on.
But that didn’t stop each of the four children I watched take their walk to the halfway line holding their hands above their heads and clapping themselves off.
There were, possibly, 30 spectators.
It was cute; but odd.
This role modelling of their favourite players’ behaviours is one of the reasons I struggle to enjoy the beautiful game.
Clapping yourself off was just one of the behaviours.
I also witnessed:
🐝 spitting onto the pitch, and
🐝 6 players “praying” to the referee not to give a free kick
It’s not the kids’ faults.
It’s professional footballers’ behaviour being aped by those that either admire them or believe that this is normal.
It’s what’s being demonstrated by “leaders”.
Yet, it would be the children that would be chastised for the behaviour.
And herein lies the challenge.
If we’re a leader, you don’t get to choose if we’re a role model. You are.
You can only choose whether we’re a good role model or not.
