[Oski]

Any league that doesn't keep score is by nature a non-competitive league. Its obvious the point is for the kids to have fun while learning the game, etc. with no pressure from the parents. That is probably why you find it so low key.

I played club soccer when I was younger (when club soccer was somewhat of a novelty in Southern Cal). The difference from that and AYSO was night and day. I was miserable because all of a sudden a lot of parents thought their kid was going to be a pro player (we were 11 and 12) and they always lobbied the coach for playing time, etc. The fun was just leached from the game.

In other words, it was no different from Baseball, Football, etc.; if a parent cares too much and is a jerk to begin with, there is a chance the parent will poison the atmosphere for the kids.

My team travelled to Europe to play, and I noticed that the game was pretty serious to them as well. When the games were "friendlies" we had fun and everything was low key. However, we had touneyments in Sweden and Denmark and the atmosphere was too intense for my tastes.

I believe that soccer is a good sport for a lot of reasons; I don't believe that it is immume from bringing the jerk out of jerky parents, however.