Adults are Ruining Youth Sports!
Randy Corwin’s Blog
“A shortage of umpires and referees now exists, as youth sports officials are resigning in record numbers due to abuse they face.”
—Randy Corwin, author Obnoxious Parents and Ruthless Coaches
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Youth sports officials resign at alarming rates
Part I of Why Youth Sports Umpires and Referees are Calling it Quits! With the 2023 season concluded, youth baseball is alive and well, but it has a serious problem which has been ignored for many years. Now in my…
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If my book wasn’t already published, here’s another chapter
Part XXVI of Why Youth Sports Umpires and Referees are Calling it Quits! It’s now been one year since “Obnoxious Parents and Ruthless Coaches” was released, and the reviews have been phenomenal! People everywhere are loving this book, especially those…
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“Assistant coaches are to be seen but not heard!”
Part XXV of Why Youth Sports Umpires and Referees are Calling it Quits! It’s kind of an “unwritten rule” in all sports, that assistant coaches are supposed to be “seen and not heard”. What this means in youth baseball is…
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“Ump, I know it’s getting dark but we’ve only played 4 innings!”
Part XXIV of Why Youth Sports Umpires and Referees are Calling it Quits! People who criticize youth baseball because “IT’S SO SLOW!” unfortunately are sometimes correct, and often the way a coach runs his team is the reason why. Being…
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Mercy rule? No way! We play until hell freezes over!
Part XXIII of Why Youth Sports Umpires and Referees are Calling it Quits! Nothing makes umpires dislike the job more than lopsided games where one team is absolutely destroying the other one. Most youth leagues, in an effort to try…
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Coaches who argue with umpires, but argue “politely”
Part XXII of Why Youth Sports Umpires and Referees are Calling it Quits! A fellow umpire once described to me a coach who was in his words, “The nicest, most polite, pain in the ass I’ve ever seen”. Usually if…
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Coaches who are ejected for arguing rules they don’t know
Part XXI of Why Youth Sports Umpires and Referees are Calling it Quits! When coaches are ejected from games, the reason is often one that can only be described as something like “really stupid, and completely unnecessary”. A few years…
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Coaches who argue defiantly about rules they don’t know
Part XX of Why Youth Sports Umpires and Referees are Calling it Quits! For what is often called “a simple kid’s game” baseball has a lot of rules, some of which don’t come into play very often. Things like the…
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I want to appeal that call because you got it wrong!
Part XIX of Why Youth Sports Umpires and Referees are Calling it Quits! If a baseball game has more than one umpire, some coaches will try to “appeal” every call they disagree with, which they can’t do, but try to…
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I pay a lot for my kid to play here, and can say whatever I want!
Part XVIII of Why Youth Sports Umpires and Referees are Calling it Quits! A veteran umpire I know has a unique way of dealing with parents who don’t hold back letting the umpire know their opinions about how they think…
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When obnoxious parents knock down a few “cold ones”
Part XVII of Why Youth Sports Umpires and Referees are Calling it Quits! Alcohol and obnoxious parents watching their kids play baseball is not a good combination. Some parents can’t behave when they aren’t drinking, so what would they be…