Who knew there would be so much politics?

LIke c'mon people it's seven year olds playing hockey here!

Kamryn had a skating development class last night. Two other children from her hockey team are also signed up for this class. Their mothers are respectively the team's manager and treasurer and I'm the team trainer. The other ladies are pretty nice. I like them and have enjoyed chatting with them and hanging out over the course of the season. I think I've mentioned here that I'm lousy at making/maintaining friendships. I thought I wasn't doing to badly here. I looked forward to these classes because it meant I could hang with these women which I can't during games because I need to be on the bench.

Last night I went happily and blissfully off to the class. Manager Mom chats with me for a few minutes; muses that Treasurer Mom isn't there and then announces she needs a beer. She asks me if I'm coming up to the bar (it overlooks the rink). I told her I needed to wait for Daniel who was suiting Kamryn up in the dressing room and that I would follow. Lordy - we should have stayed in the arena.

It seems Manager Mom has gone to war with our Head Coach (who seems to be breaking rules left right and centre but I'm only getting one side of the story). She wanted to talk and politely (and as a friend) I needed to listen. It's all over the financial report and who's job it is to release it to the parents (the Manager's) and why it isn't being released (some funny business by the coach?). Manager Mom is VERY angry. And just like an arguement with a romantic partner its not just the infraction at hand that is being called into question but EVERY little thing the Coach has ever done. She is contemplating quitting vs. being a thorn in the coach's side. She relays that her son is already being treated unfairly by the coach and she is worried about this escallating. She is frends the the vice-president of the league. Coach is complaining to the vice-president of the league. ACK!

I'm a little (ridiculously little) torn between protecting my own child - by distancing myself from now poisoned manager and standing by a new friend. Of course I will stand by my new friend but it seems a ridiculous position to be in. We're talking little kids playing sports at the lowest level there is here. How it got to this level of animosity is beyond me. The challenge last night was to be supportive but not to get drawn in to all the drama (she asked me to send some pointed e-mails and I told her I wasn't brave enough).

It's going to make the next few months a little tense which is really unfortunate because I really like all the team parents but I can see a split developing already. Yikes.

The coach is a little chauvanistic (he didn't want me to be trainer but in the end didn't have a choice for various reasons). The other coaches - 3 men are quite close and chummy. Then there is another pocket - Manager and Treasurer Moms and a few others (not many) who are hockey parents "in-the-know" who are also quite chummy and who I gravitated to (although I also sometimes hang with the clueless parents because I want to be friendly) because I wanted to know too and it was obvious that the Coach-Dads didn't want/need to explain hockey to me. Then we have a whole group of really nice happily-clueless parents who are also quite nice but so clueless that they ask me questions as if *I* should know the answers. Bahahahahahahaha. That's how things divide. I expect the clueless parents will remain that way but that in-the-know group will become increasingly angry and hostile (if Manager Mom keeps talking) and the Coach Dad group is going to close ranks.

As central as the Head Coach is to this, it will affect the kids on the ice. Coach Dad has already been called on not giving some children fair ice time. He responded appropriately but petulantly (i.e. he gave all the weaker players prominant positions in last week's game and put all our goal scorers on defence rather than mix it up a little so that the team wasn't entirely lopsided. It was kind of a "so there." We still won.)

I'm stunned. I really am.