This is the season when the paper gets an occasional call from a parent or grandparent with a common theme. The theme is that their child or grandchild has signed up to play football with some school or club youth team - not the high school varsity, but a team for much younger players - but never gets to play.

The latest such call was from a grandmother. Her grandson and others like him had paid the fee to join the team - $100, she said - but in game after game their role was to sit on the bench in the cold and rain and watch. They practice with the team, of course, but when it comes to a game, there is nothing for them to do except look on as only the most adept players see action on the field, even when the score is already fairly lopsided. And she said her grandson was getting discouraged.

You would think that in youth leagues below the varsity level, the main goal would be not racking up wins but letting all team members learn by putting them in the game.

If that's not the point of some of these teams of inexperienced and very young players, then maybe parents ought to be told before they sign up their kids and write the check. (hh)