Last fall, I was asked (begged) to volunteer to coach my daughter's U8 soccer team at SLSC.

Not knowing what I was getting into, and assuming the competition would be fair, I said yes.

I will never coach or allow my daughter to participate at SLSC ever again.

The so-called "recreational" leagues at SLSC allow recruiting. Kids get to pick which teams they want to be on. Over time, a few "super teams" have evolved. I can imagine the conversation between parents, "hey your kid is good, plus that other kid from that team, and my kid - just think how much fun it would be if they all played on the same team next year!"

My team was like the Bad News Bears - my team consisted of the leftovers who had not picked to be on any certain team, and who were new to soccer - I had 3 girls who had never played before. The other three girls had 1, 2, and 3 years experience.

We won none and were outscored a couple times to the tune of 11-nil and 15-nil.

SLSC should be ashamed to allow this to happen in a 'recreational' league. You guys ruined the whole soccer experience for these girls. Fortunately for them, I was able to teach them about sportsmanship and being happy with your best effort - but it was heartbreaking to watch them get outscored so badly against the super teams.