5748 replies to this topic

[Pedro Cerrano]

Is it just me or has this gotten a lot worse over the years?  When I was growing up, I played youth sports and, sure, there were loud parents (as an umpire at HYCP I even had to toss a parent once lol) but, honestly, you never saw anything close to some of the horror stories you are hearing about today.

 

People are just more stressed these days, I think.

[Mackus]

Is it just me or has this gotten a lot worse over the years?  When I was growing up, I played youth sports and, sure, there were loud parents (as an umpire at HYCP I even had to toss a parent once lol) but, honestly, you never saw anything close to some of the horror stories you are hearing about today.

 

People are just more stressed these days, I think.

 

I think the internet and video help publicize the horror stories more, is the main difference.  So you'll hear about something ridiculous that happens basically anywhere instead of just something local to your league or area.

 

Also an HCYP umpire!  Tossed way more than one parent

[NewMarketSean]

Was just talking to my wife about this. I think Gen X and whatever it is after us have become guilty of extreme over parenting.

[Mike in STL]

I think the internet and video help publicize the horror stories more, is the main difference. So you'll hear about something ridiculous that happens basically anywhere instead of just something local to your league or area.

Also an HCYP umpire! Tossed way more than one parent

People are quitting officiating at the youth levels at an alarming rate though. They wouldn’t be if the incident amounts were the same as the always have been.

Club sports are the devil. Parents don’t want to see their kids get hosed on a call when they shelled out a thousand dollars for one season. Instead of like the $98 at the Y where everyone plays. Thats what didn’t exist 30-40 years ago, at least at the magnitude it is now anyway.

[Pedro Cerrano]

People are quitting officiating at the youth levels at an alarming rate though. They wouldn’t be if the incident amounts were the same as the always have been.

Club sports are the devil. Parents don’t want to see their kids get hosed on a call when they shelled out a thousand dollars for one season. Instead of like the $98 at the Y where everyone plays. Thats what didn’t exist 30-40 years ago, at least at the magnitude it is now anyway.

I played travel baseball and the parents were a little worse there but not egregious. Don’t think my folks paid thousands for me to play but this was three decades ago. I am old.

[glenn__davis]

I think it's a lot of things.  General lack of respect for others, lack of understanding of rules, inability to put things in perspective, etc.

 

But mostly its parents being concerned about their kid and their kid only.  Not understanding that the coach has 15 other kids that they're trying to look out for.  Apparently this situation was because a parent was mad that his daughter got taken out of goal.  She wasn't taking out because she was doing bad - she was taken out to give another girl a chance to play goal.  Which is totally appropriate in 4th-5th grade lacrosse.  So this guy laid into the coach after the game, the coach wasn't happy with the support she was getting from the rec council, so she said peace out.

 

We did have another parent step up to help coach, so hopefully all's well that ends well.  

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Boom you nailed a lot it at the end of your first paragraph. The council or the league officials or association if your an official/ump are big. They have to do the right things. They have to support the officials and the coaches who are doing things the right way. Its huge. Youre still gonna have some that act up and like fools but a lot more of them bite their tongue and at least wait til their home or in their cars to start acting like fools.

[russsnyder]

I think it's a lot of things. General lack of respect for others, lack of understanding of rules, inability to put things in perspective, etc.

But mostly its parents being concerned about their kid and their kid only. Not understanding that the coach has 15 other kids that they're trying to look out for. Apparently this situation was because a parent was mad that his daughter got taken out of goal. She wasn't taking out because she was doing bad - she was taken out to give another girl a chance to play goal. Which is totally appropriate in 4th-5th grade lacrosse. So this guy laid into the coach after the game, the coach wasn't happy with the support she was getting from the rec council, so she said peace out.

We did have another parent step up to help coach, so hopefully all's well that ends well.

I'm glad someone stepped up. I live in Sykesville and if I knew anything about lacrosse, I would have offered. (My granddaughter plays high school lacrosse and even though I like watching her olay, I have no interest in anything else about the sport.)

I coached rec and travel baseball for about six years. The disturbing part if your story is the league not supporting the coach after she was pulled up by the parent. I bet the parentin this case was the father, the male vs. female dynamic makes a bad situation worse.

My suggestion to anyone coaching amateur sports is not to be friends with any parent whose kid you coach. You can be friendly, but you can't have beers with parents. Furyher, the other good rule is to have is that you won't discuss playng time with parents. The only time I wanted to hear from a parent was if the kid was going on a vacation or if they needed to use not playing on the team as a means of punishment. I hope after this episode, that the new coach doesn't entertain any interference from these too involved parents.

[russsnyder]

Is it just me or has this gotten a lot worse over the years? When I was growing up, I played youth sports and, sure, there were loud parents (as an umpire at HYCP I even had to toss a parent once lol) but, honestly, you never saw anything close to some of the horror stories you are hearing about today.

People are just more stressed these days, I think.

I think You're correct that people are more stressed. There is an overall general lack of mutual respect that has become more prevalent over time as well. In this particular case, it's most disturbing that the league didn't stand up more for the coach. I don't know all of the particulars, however, no one who volunteers to coach a rec team should be subjected to any harrassment about playing time/positioning by a parent. That league needs to address the code of conduct that the parents sign.