Aggression is very important in order to be an effective player within organized sports. It is a way to distinguish yourself from other players within your sport. However, what happens when there is too much aggression? Coaches are always telling their players to be aggressive and work hard, but recently there have been cases where players will just take it too far.
A recent soccer game has received a large amount of publicity. The game was between New Mexico and BYU and involved a girl named Elizabeth Lambert.
When I think of soccer, I usually do not think of it as an incredibly aggressive or injury prone sport. I do realize that there are times where the game does become very physical, but those times are just natural as players are all going after the same ball. There are slide tackles that are legal and often players will get kicked or knocked down when other players are going for the ball. That is the stuff that happens that is legal within the sport of soccer. However, the things the Lambert was doing were simply unacceptable. She was the perfect example of a person taking their aggression too far.
Within the game, Lambert’s biggest and most noticeable form of aggression was when she pulled another girls pony tail and ripped her down to the ground by it. This scene looked just gruesome. It was an ugly site, but luckily she was not injured.
The situation at hand is what should be done when aggression is shown in this form. It is obviously unacceptable, but what can be done as the referees did not call any penalties on Lambert for her actions. I personally believe that the videos should be able to be used to suspend her for future games. I realize that the University of New Mexico has suspended her indefinitely, but is that enough. I think that the NCAA should also be involved and make a decision on what should be done as well. I respect the University of New Mexico for taking action, but I think that they should also send the tape to the NCAA in order for more action to be taken.
What do you think should be done to her? Was the indefinite suspension enough or should she get more? I think it will be interesting to hear.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sportsprose/2009/11/new_mexico_womens_soccer_playe.html
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What seems curious to me is how the cameras picked up so much of Elizabeth Lambert's play, while the referees evidently failed to see it. For that reason, I agree with you that it would be good for the NCAA or perhaps the sport of soccer, needs to revisit that game, and ask if it was an unusual incident, or something that is more widespread. If it is the latter, they definitely need to intervene.
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