I have the distinct pleasure of refereeing soccer for the Searcy Youth Soccer Association. And the pleasure is vastly more than just the paycheck.

Many times, refereeing kids is as if I am watching myself from years ago, running with childhood tenacity in dauntless hope of victory. I relive the frustrations and euphorias of my youth as I watch these small athletes compete. What is most amazing is the ability of the kids to see beyond the scoreboard when it all ends. Every match recharges my love of the game and my appreciation of pure competition.

Sometimes, though, I wonder how pure the competition is in the world today. The innocence is not so present when coaches on the sidelines scream at their nine or ten-year-old players, blaming their changing, uncoordinated bodies for the “failure” of a lost opportunity or lost goal. Very little compares to the anger I feel when I see a child in tears on account of a myopic, selfish, insensitive coach, because I was once that kid, too.

The purity of the competition seems to be vanishing in sports today. I know very little about the world of major league or college sports, save that these athletes are paid a salary that I will likely never achieve in my entire life. Their intellectual, moral, or cultural contribution to society, however, will be considerably meager. And though I am ignorant of the majors, I still know who A-rod is. And that is whom we pay millions? Does that embody the love of the game?

I think sports in general have forgotten what sports are for. If athletic competition is purely for glory and domination, the games will continue to be empty pursuit. No role models will be churned out of a system that encourages vanity, selfish striving, and worship of brawn alone. Instead, sports should truly be about the love of the game, and I admit it is a fine line to walk. However, when we dedicate competition to higher ideals than money and temporary glory, athletics will become a vessel for transcendence in society, not just the object of the neo-Rome.

I truly enjoy sports, as a former player and current spectator/officiator. I believe in the benefits of athletics, but I long for a new age of sports, where the love of the game produces more heroes than scandals.

On that day, these coaches might just calm down.