If you were on Niles Daily Star’s Facebook page this weekend, you likely noticed or took part in a heated debate about the Niles Noon Optimist Youth Soccer program and a decision by its organizers to cancel the remainder of the season for two soccer teams.

The decision to cancel was made by the board after an incident took place at one of the youth soccer games.

An investigation determined that an intense argument over officiating broke out between parents, coaches and those in charge of enforcing rules at the game (administrators).

Much of the discussion on social media centered around who was to blame for the disturbance. Based on everything we’ve heard, blame can be placed on the feet of parents, coaches and administrators.

Each one of those groups of people could have behaved more appropriately to diffuse the situation. Instead, adults continued to act in a manner that disrupted what the program is all about in the first place: kids playing soccer.

The unfortunate part of this whole situation is that the children were the ones who were impacted the most, even though they did nothing wrong.

However, it appears that some good will come out of it.

The Optimist Soccer program is in the process of making changes that hopefully will keep something like this from ever happening again.

Some ideas — like giving parents a clear outlet to voice their concerns or problems — are good ones.

This will take compromise and commitment by everyone involved: administrators, parents and coaches.

We believe that some changes will work and that the Optimist Soccer program can continue to provide positive experiences for kids in the future.

 

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of Publisher Michael Caldwell and editors Ambrosia Neldon, Craig Haupert, Ted Yoakum and Scott Novak.