"A Letter to His Parents"

Dear Mom and Dad,

I hope you won't get mad at me for writing this letter, but you always told me never to keep anything back that ought to be brought out into the open. So here goes...

Remember the other morning when my team was playing and both of you were sitting and watching? Well, I hope that you won't get mad at me, but you kind of embarrassed me. Remember when I went after the ball in front of the goal trying to score, and fell? I could hear you yelling at the defender for getting in my way and tripping me. It wasn't his fault. That is what he is supposed to do. Then, do you remember yelling at me to get over and cover Johnny's man? Well the coach told me to cover someone else and I wouldn't if I listened to you. While I tried to decide, they scored against us. Then you yelled at me for being in the wrong place. You shouldn't have jumped all over the coach for pulling me off the field. He is a pretty good coach and a good guy, and he knows what he is doing. Besides, he is just a volunteer, coming down at all hours of the day helping us kids just because he loves sports. Then, neither of you spoke to me the whole way home. I guess you were pretty sore at me for not scoring a goal. I tried awfully hard, but I guess I am a crummy soccer player. But, I love the game, it's lots of fun being with the other kids and learning to compete. It is a good sport, but how can I learn if you don't show me a good example? And anyhow, I thought I was playing soccer for fun, to have a good time, and to learn good sportsmanship. I didn't know that you were going to get so upset because I couldn't become a star.

Love,
Your soccer player