Taxes, puppy mills, cream-cheese muffins–I just looked down the list of posts for the last couple weeks and realized that the Amish have been the subject of a good bit of controversy recently.

Most of it fairly tame.

But this one made me do a double-take.

Apparently tempers got hot at the championship game of the Regency Hockey League in Lancaster County last night.

According to this Lancaster New Era article (no longer online), a 20-year old Amish player for the all-Amish-and-Mennonite Phantoms delivered a half-dozen punches to a referee in the closing seconds of the match.

The team was upset over what they felt was unfair officiating.

It’s likely this was an unbaptized youth, but still represents a very rare instance of violence by an Amish person.

Amish differ on sports–some feel that adults playing sports is unbecoming, while others participate in softball and basketball matches with one another.  Shuffleboard is a hit in Florida’s Pinecraft community.

Amish teachers also often join in the games at recess.  One Amishman I met in southern Indiana had a full gym in one of the buildings on his property.

It’s probably fair to say that differences in most Amish games are settled a lot more peacefully than in this case!

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