To give you a perspective on where I am coming from: at the end of my illustrious figure skating career, I not only did some coaching, but I also became a judge. There were different levels of being a judge and you had to apprentice and be accurate to move up. In figure skating, if you harassed a judge or yelled at a judge or had any inappropriate behavior, you were removed from the facilities. There were people who were banned from competitive events (yes… some coaches too). Because the head official was firm and had the support of the rinks, there were no shenanigans.
Unfortunately, in most other sports, there are rarely such firm guidelines. Parents yell at officials, and in turn their children do to. There is little sportsmanship. The idea becomes “we did not loose because we did not play as well as the other team, but we lost because we were screwed by the official.” In 99.9% of all cases, officials try their darnedest to do a good job. In some sports, there are things that are subjective. We know this. We do our best to be as objective as possible. Players become people… not friends or relatives and such.
I have started boycotting most “junior” type events. Most parents are behaving badly. And in turn, it goes out on the field. There is nothing more embarrassing then having players yell at officials “look officials… did you see that violation… you need to do something.” Players should pay attention to themselves. Not what the other team is or is not doing.
And lastly… Kids/junior sports… is just that. It means nothing in the end. We have these people who prop up high school sports or this and that. When in the end, it is not the pros, it will not lead to the Olympics, ect. I don’t give a rat’s ass because it really means nothing. Kids/junior sports are supposed to prepare young folks for the real deal. Well if that is being surly, pompous, argumentative, and harassing judges, I suggest we get rid of all kid competitions. They can just start out at the adult levels and get their asses kicked. This includes high school. Take the sports out of the high schools. Make them all city/social sports and not associated with the schools. No trophies awarded for winners. Make it the love of sport and not a pissing match between kids and the parents taking sides.
That will never happen so I have come up with a few rules that will alleviate people from behaving badly at kids sports:
1). No parents or relatives are allowed to coach the same “team” as their child or relative.
2). If anyone approaches an official to talk or yell or whatever, that person is banned from the rest of the game/event. If it happens a second time later on, that person is banned from all further games/events.
3). The team captain is the only player allowed to talk with an official. If someone other than the captain talks with an official, that player is ejected from the game. If the captain argues with an official, that person is ejected from the game.
4). For each sport, there will be an official process for grievances. Only the coach or the team captain can file grievances.
5). If there is any any aggressive behavior by spectators (heckling, fights) then all spectators will be ejected from the game.
I would like these rules to apply to all sports levels, but one fight and trying to clear out 70,000 people from huskie stadium is crazy. But most high school sports only have a couple thousand at the most. All you need is a couple times where the rules are broken and its amazing how people will stop behaving badly.
In the end… parents… juniors…. it is just a game. Focus on you and not others. Stop the pettiness.
