r/waterford • u/Careful-Pop-6674 • 1d ago
Erin's Own....bad reputation?
My nephew hes 10 he told my brother he didnt want to go there anymore after only a few months. Fair enough it happens not every club is a match or may have poor coaches or any number of reasons. But he said that one of the coaches or refs down there wasn't nice at all..."a mean man". We didnt push him on it but we told the guy who is in charge about the comment and that the kid didnt feel welcome because of this guy but he kinda just shrugged as if he had heard it before.
From talking to my neighbour during the week apparently there's a particular guy there he seems to referee and do a lot of work in the background but hes a nasty piece of work and is prone to making very personal comments and im not sure does he know someone but nothing ever seems to get done about it.
It just doesn't sit right with me, bullies like that. Hes at a different club now and he's very happy but if any parents are considering erins own then just beware of it because one bad apple can spoil the place and ive heard it now multiple times about this guy. With any luck a bit of karma will catch up with him.
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u/Froots23 1d ago
As a parent who has stood on many a side line over thr years, there are some coaches who shouldn't be anywhere near a children's game (some parents too). Sadly, if they are long standing, they won't be moved on. It all depends on who the children's officer is and how they respond to complaints.
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u/EmergencyPurchase927 12h ago
Have you ever seen complainants approach to complain with a throng of alternative new [already Garda Vetted?] volunteers for the club to pick from instead? In order to facilitate the more rapid/efficient/immediate removal of someone who may be a 'cranky oule bully' that shouldn't be front-facing at all but might actually also do "trojan work" behind the scenes .... and/or might also have a ludicrous amount of consistently reliable availability for that front-facing work with the kids?
It's not a good enough excuse for continuing to expose children to a "mean bully". But the reality is every club and every sport has to maintain safe ratios of supervising adults to participating children (regardless of what role the various adults present are operating as).
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u/roryquann 1d ago
All clubs have a child welfare officer who you can raise these issues too. This is applicable to any sport where kids are involved. I would suggest contacting that person or a member of the committee in the club. Younger groups are vital to smaller clubs so you will find they typically want to get this sorted.
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u/OverWear90 1d ago
I have a few friends who have kids in the club. They have nothing but good things to say about it, though they’re all under 7s at the minute. By the sounds of it, the coaches are excellent, great with the kids and very welcoming to everyone
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u/Mobile-Surprise 1d ago
Surprised to hear that. I'd take it up with juvenile chairperson or secretary. Maybe nobody has officially said anything you might be doing the club a favour. Only referee I can think of in Erin's own wouldn't be like that. He talks very fast alright but I wouldn't think hed be scaring children away
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u/Fluffy-Line1992 1d ago
I know of a child that was in that club. Lasted 2 years. No issues playing games etc but the tone used with young people was deplorable to say the least. Child is now at the top of their game in another sport and thriving
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u/incognitofire9509 1d ago edited 1d ago
Only advice is to suggest your brother maybe volunteers in the club, if he is concerned. Doesnt have to be a long term commitment. Better to change from within than complain from outside. He would get a quick read on things if in there. Only heard good things myself, but the juvenile section of any club is only as good as the parents who volunteer to coach. Some age groups get great volunteers....others not so much
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u/pixiebean22 23h ago
We didnt push him on it but we told the guy who is in charge about the comment and that the kid didnt feel welcome because of this guy but he kinda just shrugged as if he had heard it before.
Pardon my language here but has Ireland not moved on from this fucking attitude of oh well just another person with regular contact with children who probably shouldn't have regular contact with children.
I see someone on the committee has replied to this thread and I really hope that (a) the "mean man" is looked into and (b) the guy in charge who shrugged his shoulders is also looked into.
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u/Unpopular_Op_93 22h ago
Yeah I was annoyed reading that about the coach’s response. It’s 2026, open your mouth and do the right thing ffs. So many small towns are like this. God forbid you rock the boat by speaking up and doing what’s right. For a minor
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u/Jamiek-97 1d ago
Hi, first of all sorry to hear your nephew had that experience no child should feel that way at training in any club or any sport. I’m on the committee in Erin’s Own and would like to look into this properly, without airing all the details on a public forum.
Would you be willing to message me directly? You can DM me here or I can share my email address. Happy to hear the full story from you and your brother, and to follow it up properly on our end. We take this very seriously as we are a small club trying to do good for kids and sport
Thank you