Is it normal that... I'm scared of the bullying soccer dad

We’ve all seen scary parents at children’s sports but for Ashley Harris it’s gotten so bad she no longer wants to take her son to soccer. Advice needed from our iVillage brainstrust, please.

My son has made it through to his indoor soccer Grand Final. Yay, right? Except I was hoping he’d lose his semi-final. The reason – because the team we are playing in the Grand Final is home to one of the most obnoxious, horrible, loud and terrifying soccer dads I have ever encountered.

I’m dreading it.

This guy screams at his players, confronts them during the game and yells out demands like ‘tackle’. Um, it’s Under 6’s soccer. For most of these boys it’s their first foray into formal, competitive sport. Is he hallucinating that he’s on a professional footy field? Sorry to stereotype but the guy wears a tight footy jersey and has the flushed complexion of a bloke who’s clearly had a few the night before.

I’m tempted to diffuse him early on, perhaps introduce myself, wish him luck and then retreat to my corner and try not to let him damage my ear drums. I also would really love to beat his team and shut him up for good. But his team is much better than ours. We do pretty well, we’ve made it into the Grand Final after all, but watching his team play last week I can see that we are clearly the underdogs.

My biggest fear isn’t that he will yell at me or my team, but that I’ll become upset by his loud, angry, vitriolic behaviour. I’m worried I’ll want to scream back if he’s too vocal during play and scares my boys. I’m worried that my husband will want to try and shut him up in a different way. And I’m worried I’ll yell too, just to even up the noise coming out of each team’s camp.

I feel as though this shining moment for my little boy is ruined already, not just because he might lose because his team has done so well to get this far. I feel sad that I’m going to be dealing with this clown instead of focusing on seven little boys who need my full attention and support during the game.

What should I do? Should I confront the bullying dad, try to match him yell for yell or just try and rise above it?