Is there a reason you "adults" behave so trashy when you put your kids in sports. It's a CYO league not the effing World Series

And how, exactly, are kids supposed to learn to stick up for themselves if you don't loudly berate the ump for blowing an obvious call?

If was umping I would show up drunk or high

And how else would my kids know that I love them?

Because most people don't get that winning at a high level takes serious dedication. We have 2 full generations that got a trophy for everything. Just because you want to win big does not guarantee that you do. Little league parents are full of parents that think practice 2 times a week should make their kid d 1 talent because they work so hard. No I'm order to get to that level you need to have God give talent or dedicate your life to the goal. Bottom line is we have a world full of weak parents. I see it several weekends a year.

Oh I'm sorry...I thought this was America.

If you think Little League parents are bad try Little Dribblers

Wicked Good Ag said:

---

If you think Little League parents are bad try Little Dribblers

---

Or Pop Warner football

Turf96 said:

---

Because most people don't get that winning at a high level takes serious dedication. We have 2 full generations that got a trophy for everything. Just because you want to win big does not guarantee that you do. Little league parents are full of parents that think practice 2 times a week should make their kid d 1 talent because they work so hard. No I'm order to get to that level you need to have God give talent or dedicate your life to the goal. Bottom line is we have a world full of weak parents. I see it several weekends a year.

---

I think we found obnoxious parent number 1

Former football ref and still work HS BB games.

Parents are the worst. Most shouldn't be allowed to watch their kids play.

I'm jaded from 8 years of AAU Basketball.

You didn't think my sarcastic "SAFE" call mocking the ump on an obvious out was funny after the two obvious blown calls against my son's team team was funny? Most of the crowd did. It got a good laugh.

I have always said that parents should have to drop off their kids at LL games and leave, then pick them up when it's over. The kids will enjoy it more and not be embarrassed by their parents.

Parents judge themselves and each other on how "protective" and involved they are regarding their children and it shows up pretty negatively in sports. Instead of letting the kid learn life isn't always fair or crap happens sober times and to just deal with IG and move on, they often learn that berating the authority figure and whining and campaigning for special treatment is how to get things done, from their own parents or other adults. They learn that when you lose it isn't because the other team tried harder or simply played better, or your team had a bad day, it's because they must have cheated or the ref was biased.

It only takes a few jerk parents to teach these lessons to all the kids on both teams, sadly.

I reffed youth soccer when I was younger. I loved it when parents would yell at me cause then I would intentionally make up calls against their team.

If you think little league parents are bad you should see the select team parents. I've seen some of these wastes of oxygen get excited when their kid gets a "scholarship" to a junior college.

So, you cheat at a kids game?

Look, here's the problem.

I had a passing interest in athletics, but my parents never pushed me. I played a bit in elementary school, went to a couple of camps, got a little better in junior high, and plateaued in high school. At the same time I had other interests, did my best to have a good social life, kept my grades up, and got accepted to A&M. My dreams of being a pro athlete were just that, dreams.

Now that I have a unshapen lump of clay child of my own, I can succeed where my pitifully weak parents failed with me. Instead of giving my child the option to play sports, I will hand-pick their teams, coaches, and positions from the age of 6 months until they start therapy at age 19. I will create an agility course in the backyard that includes feral hogs and alligators to increase their reaction time in stressful situations and I will construct a batting cage from scratch so they can start working on situational hitting every afternoon when they get home from daycare. By carefully shaping all of their actions, movements, thoughts, and aspirations over the next two decades, I will disable any preconceived notions they might have of being anything other than what I dictate - a superior athlete who will go beyond the limitations and disappointments of my own youth, and become the most important thing on earth - something for me to use as a bargaining chip when I have pissing contests with neighbors, friends, and coworkers on who has the best kid.

Salute The Marines said:

---

If you think little league parents are bad you should see the select team parents. I've seen some of these wastes of oxygen get excited when their kid gets a "scholarship" to a junior college.

---

I am blessed to see a lot of High School Basketball up close and it's so funny to hear coaches getting blasted by parents because "one eyed, one arm, one legged" Johnny isn't being put in a position to score 30 points a game.

"Your killing his scholarship chances!"

I would love to say to them "Uh No, your son's lack of God given talent to include height, speed, agility, ball handling skills and overall court presence is killing his chances..."

Expectations are unreal!

SoupNazi2001 said:

---

My 9 year old son was just on a basketball team with a kid who has a daily personal trainer. Parents were always yelling at the Refs.

---

When I was a sportswriter in the 1990s, I once wrote a half facetious / half serious column about how you know you're a sports parent who has gone too far. One of the reasons was "You read this column and automatically think I'm talking about you."

About three weeks later, a softball dad saw me at a game and said furiously, "Hey, I know that column you wrote was about me."

My son's baseball team this spring was embarrassing and had several of "those parents" and to top it off the coaching was TERRIBLE and we only won a single game. The last game the most obnoxious parent was sheet faced and fighting with the umpire and the head umpire as well and almost got banned from NBLL. The coaches then got into a fight with the other coach and I swear to god we just walked out into the parking lot to get away from the madness. I have never before wanted to pull my kid out of the dugout and never return so bad in my life. People suck.

I'm very lucky that my oldest is obsessed with fishing. He was elated when he found out our high school has a bass fishing team and you can play it as a club spot in college. He quit baseball and soccer so he can fish more on the weekends. And the best part is he wants me to take him. I don't have to be a spectator. I get to actually partake with him. Hopefully it lasts.

wbt5845 said:

---

I never had to yell much as my son was the one crushing everyone else's sons.

Funniest time was when opposing coaches insisted on inspecting my son's birth certificate as they were certain he was playing down. We kinda poured it on in that one.

---

How do you pour it on in marching band?

You haven't attended an AAU Tourney. You pay $20 to $25 per person per day to watch your kid play.

So you're already PISSED before tip off. It just escalates from there!

Oh the stories I have as a teenage umpire/basketball ref in the north texas area (McKinney, Allen, Plano, Frisco, Highland park) from as young as 5 yr old tball to as old as Mexican league adult 9 inning games and everything inbetween

Parent coming on to the field yelling at me. Even after the game was over. Cursed at from coaches and parents. The younger the kids were the worse the parents were.

The worst: church leagues (looking at you Prestonwood). So many "christians" yelling and berating me for little Johnny being called "out" on obvious calls (like first baseman being a foot off the bag).

Here are just a few of my favorite AAU moments:

1. 4th grade: Son was raining down three's. Other team's coach calls a TO and goes to the end of his bench and sends a kid in. As soon as the ball is in play said kids runs up and punches my son in the face. Kid and Coach are ejected.

2. 5th or 6th grade: Son is raining down three's. Kid punches my son in the nuts. Place went crazy. All caught on video. Game is forfeit and their team is DQ from the Tourney. The asst. coach, in a wheel chair, wanted to fight me, that was strange.

3. 8th grade: Sitting in the parking lot and a car parks next to us. Kid finishes smoking his blunt, puts on his jersey and proceeds to destroy our team with slam dunks, alley-oops, etc... Gotta love it.

Lots of great things about AAU as well, especially our coaching and the competition.