As it was reported to me.....

[Berkut]

I was doing a 7th/8th grade CYO game the other day, and late in a close game, I saw A1 shove B1 during a dead ball. I had done team A several times over the last couple of years, and knew the coaches were very good about sportsmanship and such, so it was a little surprising.

Anyway, I called the T on A1, and the coaches sat him down immediately, and A ended up losing by 4 or 5 points.

Between games, the A coach came over to thank us for working the game, the way he always does, and I asked him "OK, coach, what did I miss on that T? Did your guy get shoved first?" and he said "Yeah, the other player kind of gave him a little extra elbow, and then my guy pushed him back. But they have to learn that someone being unsporting is no excuse for them being unsporting - you guys did a great job, thanks!".

And I thought "I would do a lot more CYO games if more of the coaches had that guys attitude..." Sadly, that is not the case.