It can’t be.

Periodically, a piece of correspondence is sent to OS which is so hard-hitting, so emotional, so pathetically outrageous, that it must be reprinted in a national publication for comprehensive analysis:

Dear OS:
I was excited to mentor this weekend as I have done it four times this year and I have enjoyed it each time, giving back to the hockey community that has given me so much. Sunday, I mentored a 14-year-old girl who was doing her second game. We chatted about her experiences and why she was becoming a ref and then we entered the ice for a storied rivalry between two Mite Silver teams. We introduced ourselves to the coaches where I identified myself as the mentor of this 14-year-old girl and I would be helping her out in her second game. I knew both coaches as they coached at high levels, including varsity high school divisions. 

The first period started and quickly, one of the coaches yelled, “It’s an icing,” and then he complained about a tripping call that my mentee had called. Then he challenged another icing. I finally went up to him and said, “Coach, this is Mites, not high school. I told you that I was mentoring a first-time official and you said that’s fantastic. Since then, all you’re doing is dressing down a first-time official. He was quiet the rest of the game, but in the third period, my mentee blew down a play when she lost sight of the puck and the puck went in the net. Naturally, the crowd starting yelling and screaming and booing and losing its humanity. I stared them down and put my hand up yelling, “Quiet!”

My mentee, to her credit, didn’t skip a beat. Either she was mature or not listening to the abuse. Between periods, she asked me what she did wrong, and I said, “You did nothing wrong – you lost sight of the puck so you blew it down, which is what you’re supposed to do. Don’t listen to the crowd, follow your instincts, and try not to let immature adults scare you.”

She nodded her head, and I felt sorry for the state of suburban hockey.

Comprehensive analysis? Not necessary. This story from the heart speaks volumes about the ignorance of “travel hockey” participants. Coaches screaming. Parents wailing. What kind of coach’s card is this idiot holding? You think the parents don’t feed off these lunatics? And after being afforded the opportunity to be introduced to a mentee officiating her second game.

Disgusting.

OS hasn’t seen this stuff in a while. Optimistically, OS was hoping this wouldn’t be a continuing problem. The rulebook is clear. Many rinks have zero tolerance notices splattered all over the walls. The economy is roaring.

But it happens.

Coaches. This better not be you. 

Parents. Get a dose of reality. You’re making fools of yourselves in front of a bench full of 9 year olds.

We’re talking Mite Silver.

You think OS makes these stories up for shock value? Think again. The OS inbox is inundated with recapitulations of adverse behavior occurring in amateur games.

But this story submitted by a veteran Level 3 was galling. A Mite coach dressing down a teenage girl doing her second game after being advised that she was being mentored.

It can’t be. 

But it is.

Questions and comments can be sent to editor@letsplayhockey.com, via Twitter @OSpeaking or through the Let’s Play Hockey Facebook page.