The number zero

So my kid goes to a Catholic school with a lot of well meaning people who aren't the best at administering programs such as soccer, baseball or other extra curricular activities. I try not to complain too much because I don't want people to see my kid and think "There's that kid with the lunatic father." Yesterday was uniform pickup night for soccer and my kid got his shirt. The number was ZERO. I wasn't happy. That's not a soccer number! Thankfully I was outside when I opened the bag or my reaction would have got some attention.

So my question to all of you is should I complain or just accept that my kid will be a ZERO this year? One would think the "Uniform Committee" would have some basic knowledge of the uniforms and traditions of the sport they are purchasing uniforms for? Am I expecting too much?

I don't believe there was any ill will against my kid. I'm sure they just bought a bunch of uniforms in bulk and asked for different numbers on the shirts. Since my last name is almost always first alphabetically (Unless the class has an Abbott), I'm sure they just gave him the first 'number' available.

Is this worth complaining about or should I just keep my mouth shut?

 

You didn't say what position your son plays because that factors into my response. My son went to a Mennonite school that had a pretty well run program and they had a tradition of having goalkeepers being 1 or 0. My son was "number" 0 for his whole high school career and I didn't think anything about it. However, if he had been in any other position I would have thought it was weird.

Most importantly, how does your kid feel about it? If he's got a "whatever" attitude then just roll with it, but if he thinks it is odd too then say something.

 

Sincere advice, don’t say anything unless you want the job and then think three times if you’re talking about something done by a volunteer. Good volunteers are priceless.

 

Plenty of greats in other sports wear 0 (Dame Lillard and Jayson Tatum come immediately to mind). Great advice from the above gentlemen. Its how your son feels about it. If he doesn’t like it, he should go into the coach and request a new number.

 

I played rec soccer all through my youth and was on the high school team. I don't know if this helps or not, but I never knew about the positionally numbered jerseys in soccer until started following the Premier League in my thirties. I always knew the number ten typically went to the star player but that was about it. I also didn't find out until a couple of years ago that it was a requirement for the shirt number to match the player's position in the early days (this I learned while watching the ESPN 30 for 30 about George Best).

My guess is that the people putting together the kits had no clue regarding the traditions of jersey numbers in soccer. Your alphabetical assignment theory may be valid. I play in an adult rec league now and our jerseys are numbered by shirt size (smaller numbers are smaller sized, larger numbers are larger sized). I do think that it's odd to have a number zero at all though. I guess MLB and the NBA allow it but I can't think of a single professional footballer with the number zero.

 

Thank you all for your measured responses. It made me realize that although I'm not happy with the number Zero it really isn't that big of a deal. The parish/school wasn't much help when I volunteered to coach the baseball team so I think this small issue just got me thinking back to that negative experience.