We have a mix of U12 and U13 travel boys from both A and B teams. Half the team is my 10yr old son's U12 B team with the rest being A squad boys....and then my 8yr old son (he started out as a reserve when we were short handed and is now hooked

). This league is technically a rec league, but the talent is excellent (a few boys straight from the Philly Union academy).
We are 1-1-2, sitting 4th of 8. Every team we've played so far plays way more physical than any of our boys were used to. They've adjusted quickly, but still get caught playing soft at times.
Today's match was against a team that was so intense I am still shaking my head. The ref lost control of the game early on and never recovered. It got dangerous with so many fouls and slide tackles being inconsistently enforced that I held my younger son out at the end. We ended up tied 3-3 with a controversial no-goal call that had the opposing coach out of his mind.
After the final whistle, the coach sprinted onto the field - snatched the ball from the ref - sprinted to the goal to show the ref where he felt it crossed the line.... all while screaming "SCORE IS 4-3". The ref red carded him 3x

before things finally settled down. I thought the coach was going to deck him....
Friggin nuts - this stuff must be their life.
I now understand why my son's coach wanted them to experience it. The stands are always overflowing to standing room only. The cheering and passion is so damn cool. All the boys have fallen in love with the competitiveness of it all. I wish I had something like this when I played