Part VII of Why Youth Sports Umpires and Referees are Calling it Quits!

Why do parents and coaches (who are often also parents of players) mistreat umpires and referees in youth games so badly that they decide to stop officiating? The reasons are many:

Parents:

Many don’t consider having their child play on a team “a success” unless their team wins.

Many think their child at a very young age has the talent to be a professional ballplayer.

Many ignore the great “life lessons” youth sports teach like teamwork, sportsmanship, respect for authority figures, how to win, how to lose and how to handle difficult situations both in sports and in life, because to them, winning is all that matters.

Parents behaving badly at their kid’s games do so much damage by forgetting they are role models for kids who watch them and want to grow up to be just like them. In addition, they also make life miserable for officials who are trying their best to get every call correct.

They forget that games are supposed to be fun for all players, regardless of their talent.

Coaches:

Some don’t care if the kids have fun, learn anything, or improve their skills. Winning games is all they care about.

Some forget how much players look up to them, and that they are like parents to their players during the time they spend together.

Coaches who show a lack of respect for officials and treat them like “the enemy” forget that as coaches they are also role models, and that players learn to treat officials the same way their coaches do.

Like parents, coaches who “ride the umpire” make life absolutely miserable for officials. Sometimes when coaches keep complaining, it breaks the concentration of officials, possibly causing them to make a mistake on a call.

Some coaches forget that all players want to be having fun, not just the stars, and give as little playing time as possible to less talented players, so their team wins more games.

The common theme in all of this is that many coaches and parents are overly competitive, placing far too much importance on the game score, and the overall win/loss record. If given a choice in any sport, contest, or activity, everyone would certainly rather win than lose. There is a fine line however, between trying to win, and being so obnoxious or ruthless about wanting to win that you completely lose sight of what really matters in life, and what really doesn’t.

Next time, I’ll discuss why it is so damn important to parents and coaches to win youth baseball games, when all the kids who are playing care about is having fun.

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Randy Corwin is a veteran Massachusetts youth baseball umpire and author of the book, OBNOXIOUS PARENTS AND RUTHLESS COACHES, which is now available at Amazon Books, Barnes and Noble’s online bookstore, and at An Unlikely Story Bookstore and Cafe in Plainville, MA. This post is part seven of a series of articles based on the book.