A teacher friend told me recently about a seminar on bullying which highlighted the complaints of a boy who had been the victim of a tirade of personal abuse.
I'll spare you the lurid details but it seems the boy had aroused the ire of his team-mates in the school football team. The luckless individual was the goalkeeper and sadly he had been at fault in letting in a crucial goal in an important cup-tie.
It was the stuff of nightmares and it almost had my friend, a one-time coach, sympathising with the rest of the team.
''What did he expect? Why did he go and do a thing like that?'' was the line of reasoning, which set me wondering whether putting someone in goal was not in itself a form of bullying.
It is bad enough when you are forced to take your place between the sticks or the pile of jerseys in a pick-up game in the park; and even worse when the ground is wet or muddy. But, when it comes to a full blown match and you are the last line of defence for king or country, no wonder grown men shy away.
Most of my short and undistinguished school football career was spent on the right wing, apart from the occasions when I was ''left back'' when the team travelled because, much to my embarrassment, my over-protective mother had deemed my ever-present teenage cold too bad to risk pneumonia or worse.
But I recall with dread the one and only occasion when I played in goal in a match. It was for the Golspie Senior Secondary under-somethings away to Lairg Junior Secondary and the pitch had a slope and was muddy.
Muggins, despite the habitual sniffle, had been granted a special pass to travel with the team as a supporter, by ''she who had to be obeyed,'' provided I did not take my boots (which might have been too big a temptation).
The regular keeper did not turn up and I was prevailed upon ''for the sake of the team'' to take his place between the posts in my studless, everyday shoes. It was a fearful mistake.
With no natural agility or aptitude (apart from a 6ft 2ins frame), I was a lamb for the slaughter the equal of any who pass through the famous nearby sale pens. The locals soon sussed me out.
The ball hit the net with monotonous regularity and the whole felony was compounded when I had to take a bye-kick up the slope, slipped in the mud and trundled the ball a few yards to a grateful centre-forward who returned it with interest: that was it - 9-1 for ''wee'' Lairg.
Bullying? I never heard the end of it for months after but, strangely, I cannot now recall a word of the derision, so completely has my mind blanked it out. I never played in goal again.
I might never have recalled it either but for an incident in last Saturday's women's football international with Czechoslavakia at the Caledonian Stadium, Inverness, which evoked my sympathy.
The Scottish goalkeeper, Gemma Fay from Aberdeen, who is only 16, was winning her first cap and playing pluckily, as did the rest of the home side against a a side of veritable giants.
The Czechs, up 1-0, sent a speculative lob-cum-shot into the box which Gemma, who looks no more than 5ft 0in tall, chose not to catch on the full. As a result the ball bounced clean over her head and appeared to be destined for the back of the net, when, fortunately for Scotland and, I suspect, Gemma's future career, hit the underside of the bar and came out. She was spared a moment of supreme embarrassment and Scotland went on to earn a 1-1 draw and a mathematical chance of topping their World Cup qual ifying group by beating Lithuania 18-0 at Scotstoun tomorrow.
If they do win by that amount however will it not be a form of bullying? Albeit that the competition is in its infancy and the stronger teams will emerge to fill the higher grades, it cannot be much fun for the also-rans.
And why are the authorities in women's sport so reluctant to make concessions on account of physique?
Gemma Fay looked tiny in the massive goals and the size and width of the pitch seemed a problem for many of her team-mates, particularly against the wind.
That, I hope, is not being sexist but sensible.
Some sports have modified their rules to acknowledge the different attributes of their female competitors, volleyball, for example, having a lower net.
Basketball in Europe is at long last beginning to change to a smaller ball for women which is already used in US college ball and the Women's NBA, and next season England will follow Ireland's example by using it for all women's competitions. The height of the ring, however, is still 10 feet, the same as for the men.
I am glad to say, ''goal-tending'' in basketball is barred - and I thoroughly approve.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article