Asoccer coach for young girls rants that second place is worthless, spilled blood builds character, and girls who "kick ass and take names" become winners in the game of life.
Is he a loose cannon unfit to mentor kids, or a witty satirist commenting on the state of youth sports today?
Michael Kinahan of Scituate, Mass., south of Boston, has been called both since his pre-season manifesto shocked some parents and led to his resignation as coach of a team for seven- and eight-year-olds.
"I believe winning is fun and losing is for losers," Mr. Kinahan wrote in a letter to parents last month. "I expect us to fight for every loose ball and play every shift as if it were the finals of the World Cup."
He went on to say the girls were expected to drink protein shakes, eat red meat and heckle the referee. He then signed off: "Go Green Death!" - his nickname for the team.
It was all a joke, he said later. "It's just backfired because it's a PC world," says his wife, Mary Kinahan. (Mr. Kinahan declined an interview.)
Indeed, the case has become a lightning rod pitting those who say it is another case of an overzealous adult taking kids' sports too far against others who say parents need to loosen up.
"I think there's a longing for the old days of just being able to pick up and go play," says Chris Park, a board member of the Scituate Soccer Club where Mr. Kinahan has coached for several years.
"And when people see that threatened, they react like this," Mr. Park said.
The letter came to the board members' attention after they received a complaint from parents whose daughters were new to the team. Parents who knew Mr. Kinahan and his "witty" sense of humour did not complain, Mr. Park noted.
The board asked Mr. Kinahan to apologize. When he refused, the board promoted his assistant coach to replace him and Mr. Kinahan quit.
By then, the story - and the letter - had found its way online, igniting fierce debate among parents, coaches and readers about whether Mr. Kinahan had stepped out of bounds. Many called Mr. Kinahan scary, unfit to coach and an "A-1 nutjob."
"The e-mail was over the top ... and indicative of the attitude of the coach. He should not be in any leadership role to children at all," posted Sera on the website of The Patriot Ledger, the first newspaper to report the story.
But others, including players' parents, defended him by urging critics to get a sense of humour - and asking what's wrong with wanting to win, anyway?
"Okay, let me get this straight. The parents were offended that he wants the girls to be strong-minded, and to be winners in life?" asked one reader.
"One only has to go to a game to see he really does care and motivates the team with a great sense of camaraderie," wrote another, who said his child was coached by Mr. Kinahan last year.
Dan Del Mastro, a high-school athletics coach from Toronto and recipient of a national youth coaching award from the Canadian Football League, said the letter plays into a larger issue: Adults - whether it be coaches or parents - are too involved in youth sports.
"These days it seems that everything's regimented," he said. "It's kind of a dying art of the kids getting together and playing on their own, without leagues being in place."
Coach Kinahan's letter, he said, with its accompanying instructions on practice times, fees and uniforms, would "never have been sent 20 years ago."
Those thoughts are echoed by Ed Arnold of Peterborough, Ont., who coached eight-year-old hockey players for more than a decade before writing the book Whose Puck Is It, Anyway? He argues that fun has been stamped out of kids' games by hypercompetitive adults. "You coach for the children, make sure they have fun [and] learn some fundamentals," he wrote in an e-mail. "Never mind about the parents, they pay the registration fee."
Mr. Park said the board holds no ill will against Mr. Kinahan. "I wouldn't hold back from hiring him again," Mr. Park said. "Not this season, though."
Ms. Kinahan says her husband enjoys coaching and is always encouraging his players to have fun. He quit, she says, because he didn't want any girls to be yanked from the team by angry parents. "He's not ashamed," she said. "He's not going to retract what he said."
And he will still be involved with the team this season: He plans to be on the sidelines, cheering his daughter and her teammates on.
*****
You make the call
An excerpt from Michael Kinahan's original e-mail:
Some say soccer at this age is about fun and I completely agree. However, I believe winning is fun and losing is for losers. Ergo, we will strive for the "W" in each game. While we may not win every game (excuse me, I just got a little nauseated) I expect us to fight for every loose ball and play every shift as if it were the finals of the World Cup.
While I spent a good Saturday morning listening to the legal liability BS, which included a 30-minute dissertation on how we need to baby the kids and especially the refs, I was disgusted. The kids will run, they will fall, get bumps, bruises and even bleed a little. Big deal, it's good for them (but I do hope the other team is the one bleeding). If the refs can't handle a little criticism, then they should turn in their whistle.
