The Misconduct of Parents at Youth Sporting Events

Youth sports are supposed to be a fun-filled learning experience that not only teaches children the basic fundamentals of the sport, but lessons on teamwork and good sportsmanship. I’ve spoken to many coaches who volunteer their time in the afternoons and weekends, working with young kids to develop the necessary skills they will need as they become older. They always speak of how fun it is to coach kids throughout an entire season. The biggest problem they must deal with week after week, are some of the parents who take a little league game way too seriously.

When I was a kid, playing little league sports, there was always one kid on my team who would quit, just avoiding being embarrassed by their fantasy-minded mom or dad. It’s truly amazing to see adults fighting each other in the stands because of what’s going on in a game or yelling at the coach because their child isn’t getting the playing time he or she deserves. CNN reported that a poll of close to 3000 participants, conducted by the Center for Sports Parenting, 85 percent of the polls participants witnessed parents or coaches becoming verbally abusive during games and forty percent of the poll participants witnessed a parent become physically abusive. Where is the anger and rage coming from? People actually get way out of control over what’s supposed to be fun.