'He landed face first in a puddle of mud': Male Karen gets put in his place after bullying an underaged referee at a kid's soccer game; karma comes back with a vengeance

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jun 25, 2023 6:00 PM EDT

There's nothing worse than unnecessarily rowdy adults at a children's soccer team. Perhaps everyone thinks their child is a star athlete and is under the impression that their little golden goose is going to the big leagues one day. That may be, but for now, chill out Kevin, your boy is 8 and he's picking the grass in the goal. Sit back down and relax. 

One angry parent recently received a quick kick in the chin from karma after getting overly excited at his U11 child's soccer game. The referee, a perfectly competent 17 year old girl was calling the shots in the game as she saw them, crushing her weekend job and managing the increasingly passionate parental fans like a champion, then lo-and-behold, in walks the Kevin (aka a male Karen), an aggressive coach hellbent on traumatizing every single child at that soccer game with his foul language and antagonistic behavior. After screaming at the ref, insisting on speaking with the manager of the league, and rampaging all over the soccer field, Kevin was put in his place by the one man who had supreme power over every soccer game: The director of the little league. 

Scroll for the full account of how the director stood up to the Kevin and set things right within the league, defending his referee and salvaging the decorum of the sport. For more entitled Kevin's getting pwned by their tormented public, check out this story of how one woman got revenge on her crude coworker by doing exactly what he told her to do– go to HR. 

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  • 01
    Smile - r/pettyrevenge. Posted by u/FaenixDawn 9 hours ago Bully my ref, become a laughing stock
    via FaenixDawn
  • 02
    Font - Long time lurker, first-time poster. On a phone, so forgive any mistakes/typos. I was sharing this story with friends on the weekend and they suggested posting it. TL;DNR: An adult screamed at a teenage referee for no good reason and I got him laughed off the pitch.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 03
    Font - Back when I (M38) was in my mid-20s, the person who organized referees for minor soccer in my community retired from the volunteer position. Being the longest-serving referee there I was asked to take over the position, which I gladly did.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 04
    Font - I was happy to take on the role because my father was the convener for the league, and had taught me to ref while he was the head referee in a neighbouring community. When I came back home after school, I settled a couple towns away and decided to stay involved.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 05
    Font - I never scheduled myself for games so I could step in if someone wasn't able to make it. The result was that, most weeknights from May to August, I would be at the local pitches (just a block from my house). Aside from being on-site in case of an emergency, this also allowed me to guide newer referees if they ran into trouble.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 06
    Font - One such night, I was watching two games being played, one was a U12 match (10- and 11- year old players) refereed by a 17-year-old young lady we will call Nikki who had just started as a referee. It was a muddy night, so she was calling a tight game as to not encourage reckless play (as is taught at every reffing certification I've ever been to).
    via FaenixDawn
  • 07
    Font - One of the visiting coaches, let's call him Coach Chad, felt she was calling too much and being too "by the book" and yelled at her through the entire first half of the game.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 08
    Font - Nikki saw me at halftime and came to ask if she was doing okay. Since she started, I told her that referees aren't perfect, but it's important to be confident in your calls regardless. I also told her that the pitch is her responsibility and she can remove anyone, especially coaches, for being disrespectful.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 09
    Font - The second half started with Coach Chad back yelling until, at a stoppage, Nikki reminded him it's a game for kids and she didn't want to have to ask him to leave. Coach Chad didn't take kindly to that and then made the mistake of entering the field to challenge Nikki.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 10
    Font - After seeing the worst from parents through reffing for a decade, I had no interest in losing another referee to this kind of abuse or seeing the situation get worse so I slapped on my badge on and walked across the field.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 11
    Font - Also, where I am, entering the field is the equivalent to waking on the ice during a hockey game to talk to the ref. It's not done. Coach Chad, who had no idea who I was, looked relieved to have me walking across the field which immediately made me realize he isn't just an asshole, he's likely a s xist as well.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 12
    Font - I asked what was going on. Coach Chad: She doesn't know what she's doing. Nikki: I'm call-Coach Chad: She won't let the kids just play the game. She calls every small infraction. I want her reported.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 13
    Font - At this point, I was furious because Nikki was a good ref and was keeping the game safe and calling the advantage properly. Coach Chad just didn't like his team/kid having to follow the rules.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 14
    Font - I explained to Nikki I'd chat with her in a moment and gave Coach Chad the contact information and name for the head referee (me) then told him to call after the game as the head referee was busy until then. He walked away happy.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 15
    Font - I then told Nikki to keep going as she had as Coach Chad just thought he could bully her due to her age. I grabbed my gear and sat right between Coach Chad and the parents of both teams and filled out my part of an incident report for the league while the game went ahead. Either the exchange or my presence had a calming impact on Coach Chad.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 16
    Font - Sure enough, as soon as the game had ended, Coach Chad came over to the stands, got his phone from (I'm assuming) his partner and started to make a phone call. My cell in my bag rang and I answered it while walking over to him. He started BSing about the game and Nikki until he heard me in stereo as I came up beside him.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 17
    Font - He was angry, telling me I was going to be sorry when the real head referee found out what I'd done. At this point the home coach came over to see what was going on. Chad asked him who the head ref was. The home coach looked puzzled and said FaenixDawn. Chad looked smug and asked me my name, which I told him. The home team coach was more puzzled at this point, but some of the home team parents started snickering.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 18
    Font - I smiled, taking my opportunity to go on the offensive, and said if he ever treated a perfectly capable referee the way he did that night again, I'd know, because the refs in the league across all the centres keep in touch. I then told him to leave my pitch.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 19
    Font - He got more angry, and said he was going to complain to the league at which point more of the parents started laughing, knowing my father would be the one to take the call and run the review. This made Chad angrier.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 20
    Font - At this point, I was feeling pretty good but the universe wasn't done with Chad yet. The pièce de résistance came minutes later when he realized he left his clipboard and team balls on the bench and came back to get them. Instead of hiking around a knee-high barricade, he tried to step over it and slipped and fell, leading to all the children on both teams laughing as he landed face-first in an inch deep mud puddle.
    via FaenixDawn
  • 21
    Human body - From what my Dad told me, Chad quit coaching after that year.
    via DaenixDawn
  • 22
    Font - HotCompetition999 - 4 hr. ago I love Chads. They peaked in high school and are convinced their glory can return through watching a bunch of 10 year olds win a $5 trophy between nose picking sessions. I can't get enough of these stories tbh.
    via HotCompetition999
  • 23
    Font - Fast_Fee517 +2.9 hr. ago Chad got mad, but soon was sad & his coaching career was just a fad 53 Reply Share OldMetalHead. 7 hr. ago Too bad!
    via Fast_Fee517
  • 24
    Rectangle - Leonax_2001. 7 hr. ago After reading so many idiotic posts about toxic and/or useless parents I'm glad there are reports of bear parents to balance the universe! Kick 'em Daddy!
    via Leonax_2001
  • 25
    Font - jellehier0 5 hr. ago I used to play as an adult. One team in our league had such a bad reputation we decided to skip our matches with them. It's just sad how grown up people can be so detrimental. We just wanted to kick a ball around and then drink a few beers after. No need for spoilage or aggression on or around the field. Especially towards officials...
    via jellehier0
  • 26
    Font - chaos8803 7 hr. ago I have a lot of respect for the majority of refs in all sports. The abuse parents hurl at them is insane. 45 Reply Share FaenixDawn OP. 7 hr. ago It definitely has become worse over the years.
    via chaos8803

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