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

So why is winning youth baseball games so damn important to parents and coaches, when all the kids playing care about is having fun? Why are some parents and coaches (who are also usually parents of players) so hell bent on winning that they abuse umpires to the point where umpires say to themselves, “WHO NEEDS THIS CRAP? I’M DONE!”

I don’t get it, and I never will. I coached for ten years before becoming an umpire in 2008. In recreational leagues, the emphasis is not supposed to be on winning at all costs, but for some coaches it clearly is. Why? To get a trophy and bragging rights. Who cares?

When your 10 year old’s team wins their games, winning will not change your life:

Winning youth baseball games doesn’t make your real job suck any less.

Winning youth baseball games won’t make you younger.

Winning youth baseball games won’t make you any better looking.

Winning youth baseball games won’t reverse your receding hairline.

Winning youth baseball games won’t turn your beer belly into “six- pack- abs.”

Winning youth baseball games will not increase your net worth.

Your spouse likely won’t find you any “sexier” after your team wins than after they lose.

Next time, I’ll discuss some possible reasons for what’s making parents and coaches behave like lunatics at their kid’s baseball games.

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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 eight of a series of articles based on the book.