Whats the worst behaviour you have seen or heard at childrens sporting events.
My kids are only just now starting to play football and the like but the stories the other Dad's tell me about parents screaming at their kids when they mess up, or offering other parents out etc are truly mind blowing.
I think the worst behaviour I have seen in any sport was at rugby matches when mothers pushed push chairs and prams over the line into the path of oncoming players and the language was pretty foul too.
There are some great ones from American sport here including one mother who would flash the opposition players to distract them and another who hired a hitman to kill the mother of her daughters rival for the team -
http://www.cracked.com/article_18541_8-psychotic-overreactions-by-adults-at-youth-sporting-events.html (http://www.cracked.com/article_18541_8-psychotic-overreactions-by-adults-at-youth-sporting-events.html)
What's the worst behaviour you have seen?
well, first of all, the Albuquerque school in question is St. Pius X, NOT St. Pious [damn spellcheckers].
I've seen dozens of interfering parents in all sports, but the worst of all was when I started a youth soccer league from scratch on a military base more than 30 years ago. I had three age groups, trained all the officials, trained all the coaches, and -- with two other ex players -- conducted skill sessions prior to a player draft. I then organized a schedule of matches, and a rota of officials. Considering that most of the officials -- including myself -- were working rotating shifts, that was quite a bit of UNPAID work on my part. As a matter of fact, EVERYONE involved was a volunteer.
Aside from never quite getting the complexities of the offside rule fully inclucated in all the coaches minds [thank goodness all the officials all understood it], the only major problem I had was trying to keep enough kids on the pitch at the end of the 60 minutes [30 minute halves were in the by-laws].
Anyhow, about halfway through the third weekend, I showed up with whistle to ref my match. The previous match referee came up and said, "Don, the base commander showed up and said that 30 minute halves were too strenuous for the kids and that we had to go to 20 minute halves." Well, I had a couple of problems with that. First of all, it was very difficult to get substituting in with only 60 minutes on the pitch, never mind 40 minutes. Second of all, the 30-minute halves were in the league bylaws that I had written and he had signed.
So, I said, "I'll go show him his signature on the bylaws." The other official said, "I showed it to him; he said it was 20 minute halves or no league." Since I didn't outrank the base commander ... .
Followup: Monday morning I got off work after a mid-shift [0800] and, after breakfast, was met by several coaches and several players who complained about the previous weekend's matches being shortened. I acknowledged that it was an unpopular choice, and that there should have been more notice. Once of the kids -- about 11 and probably the best player on the base -- was incensed [he'd never been any problem to anyone before]. Close to tears, he spluttered, "I'm going to tell my father that you wouldn't change back to 30 minute halves, and we'll see what happens then." I slowly spelled my name and gave my rank to the young man, but said nothing else.
Yes, the kid was the base commander's son. I finished out the season, MC'd the luncheon for the players and coaches, watched the trophies be distributed, and turned down a request to run the league the following year.
Sigh; parents -- especially parents with rank!
My sons team was U-14 and played in a tournament in Nashville. The match was rough and getting rougher by the minute because the referee would not pull a card out of the pocket. The match was getting out of hand both ways and the boys on both teams were losing their cool and committing fouls that should have been carded. By my standards both teams should have received a couple of yellows before the first card was ever issued. The first yellow card of the match was issued to one of my sons teammates for a pretty nasty challenge. It did not appear to be intentional but it was very reckless and it was not the first foul he committed in the match. After that particular foul one of the parents from the other team yelled out something along the lines of "if he is going to play like that someone needs to take him out". Within minutes one the opposing teams players committed a really rash foul on my sons teammate which left him on the ground truly screaming in pain. The opposing player walked away and high-fived his teammate directly after the foul and received a yellow for his actions while my sons teammate had to be helped off the pitch. The father of our injured player and the man who yelled out the incendiary comment nearly wound up in a fight. Fortunately cooler heads prevailed before that happened but not before the comment was made.
The only upside to the story is my sons teammate was not severely injured but he easily could have been. It is amazing how quickly stupidity multiplies.
During High School I umpired Little League baseball games during the summer. I was berated, threatened and chased to my car by so called adults. I was even warned about one manager in particular, but oddly enough I never had a problem with him because his kids went to a school that played in the same league I did. I was even escourted to my car by a manager carrying a baseball bat because I was being threatened by player and parents of the WINNING team.
I've come across a few whilst running the line.A woman once said in ear shot of one of our kids tackle the black barstard.The poor lad broke down in tears when the ref approached me i explained to him what had happened and who had done it.Fair play to the ref he asked the lady to leave not before belittling her in the ways of how good mothers should act.
I've even walked refs back to the club house because parents and managers have taken umbridge at the way the game went .I wouldn't mind but some leagues are struggling for refs and it seems that the younger ones are fair game. Which is totally out of order its hard enough being a ref let alone having some big oaf slagging you off just because of your age.
As a linesman I've never had trouble, I've had the normal moan like that was never off side and things like that.As the manager of our team says "Ian you have a face that says "Don't love with me" .Still haven't decided if thats a compliment ?
Don't parents ever lean shouting and hollowing at your kid docent help ! My son and i have a great relationship on and off the pitch i never shout or hollow.After the game were have chat and its all constructive He will be the first to explain or say why he did what he did or had a bad game and were both work on it.
Quote from: TheDaddy on July 27, 2010, 12:24:42 AM
Don't parents ever lean shouting and hollowing at your kid docent help !
This one did and bought a camera. I now stand on the side taking pictures. The tighter the match the more pictures I take.
As Nutmeg will tell you, when we played football the chances of our parents coming to watch were nil.
For our home games we would have to walk from his house up to Upper Richmond Road, catch a number 37 bus to Priory Lane walk about two miles into Richmond Park carrying our kit often in sleet and blinding rain. Then caked in mud and ice we would have to make the trip home again – there were no showers where we played.
Many a kid from this League went on to play at a reasonable level - George Cohen's late brother, Peter, was just one; but we did not need screaming, cheating parents to shout us on and nor did we need them to ferry us to home and away matches like some unpaid chauffeurs.
These parents who live vicariously through the efforts of their kids should do something useful in their own lives and then it does not become such an obsession with them. :019:
My main experiences of bad behaviour at kids' games of all kinds came from parents at Sunday morning football matches. I managed teams from u10s to u14s for a number of years and met some very pleasant, supportive parents but every team, my own and the opposition seemed to have three or four sets of parents who were extremely abusive to referees,linos, myself, the kids in our team, the opposition managers and parents and kids and even to their own kids! I shall doubtless be criticised for typecasting the parents but ours seem to loadasmoney types or builders with Audis and blonde Barbara Windsor look-a-like wives. The kids seemed ashamed of these parents' behaviour but I remember one or two opposition kids remonstrating with Dad to sort the referee out... Then there were the occasional touchline fights. The ones between the wives were the worst.
