TAKING the kids to football tomorrow morning? You’re being encouraged to just let the children play.
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It’s Silent Saturday, and the message for spectators at the 5-to-11-year-olds’ matches is cheers, not jeers.
Northern Inland Football is holding Silent Saturday across the zone, where ALDI MiniRoos match spectators are asked to refrain from calling out to players or game leaders.
Northern Inland Football (NIF) general manager Julia Farina said games were almost always friendly, so Silent Saturday was just a “reminder to be respectful of the players and the officials on the field”.
It comes after the annual winter sports Shoosh for Kids awareness week from May 14-20.
The little players’ fans can show support in other ways such as simply clapping, waving signs and wearing team colours, Ms Farina said.
“People can get carried away on the sidelines and forget to just enjoy the game,” she said.
“Really, 99.9 per cent of the time everyone is really well-behaved anyway.”
What is Silent Saturday and Shoosh for Kids trying to avoid?:
NIF zone technical director Howard Stubbs said the initiative was about “supporting the game leaders involved with under-5s to under-11s”.
He said one of the trickiest things for supporters was to resist the urge to call out: “Kick the ball!” – which was not really helpful, anyway.
“We encourage all the teams to keep possession of the ball – that way they have the opportunity to score goals,” Mr Stubbs said.
Silent Saturday is also about avoiding losing people such as 19-year-old Lachlan Smith – who received a National Volunteers Week award yesterday.
He refs older groups but also volunteers his time to coach a junior team.
“Most people are just out to have fun and be a bit competitive … but you do get the odd person who wants to question every decision,” he said.