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DC-area soccer league gets tough with bratty parents

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by 2muchcoffeeman, Apr 21, 2009.

  1. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    Parents confronted an assistant referee after a game and told his daughter, "Your father should be fired!" Penalty: "Go sit way the fuck over there for two games. All of you."

    About damned time ... and maybe making everybody pay the price for a few people's immaturity will bring on a little peer pressure.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/20/AR2009042003542.html?nav=rss_email/components
     
  2. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    "We have taken a strong stance," Diapoulis said. "It's important. This isn't the World Cup. . . . And for the parents to be shrieking on the sidelines and belittling people goes against everything we're trying to do. . . . It's not acceptable behavior."

    It's not acceptable behavior, and I see it 3,000 miles away. I see it in every youth sport - some of the things I've heard said to umps at nine-year-old baseball games is shocking.

    Parents - and coaches - suck.
     
  3. jps

    jps Active Member

    I like it.

    and, while only 32 have voted in their little poll, 81 percent say the punishment fit and the rest say it should have been more severe. so far, I like that, too.
     
  4. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    More from the article"
    The trouble began when a parent from the Springfield Youth Club's Xplosion working as an assistant referee raised a flag in the air and called an offside violation on a Bethesda player, according to the minutes of the disciplinary hearing. After the game, a Bethesda parent approached the referee and accused him of making the wrong call, the report says. The parent "started to raise his voice," according to the report. More sniping occurred, and "the tone and behavior of the parents was aggressive." Then another Bethesda parent allegedly yelled at the referee's daughter, "Your father should be fired!"

    I guaran-fucking-tee you that 98% of the parents don't understand the offside rule. I see it every weekend. Parents who have been carting around their kid for years in the SUV, and watched games while drinking their Starbucks, think they know the offsides rules - but they don't.
     
  5. alleyallen

    alleyallen Guest

    This is my second year of Little Man participating in T-ball games, played at a multi-field park with other age groups on other fields. I can say that I've yet to see a single truly "ugly" incident at a game, although there have been times.

    One thing I've taken to doing is cheering for all the kids, regardless of the team, because if a 6-year-old can hit a thrown pitch to the fence, he's doing something right.
     
  6. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    One thing I've been shocked at in my new area (where I've lived since August) is how *well* the coaches and umpires get along at all levels. I've seen coaches argue calls, but never remotely close to crossing any sort of line of disrespectfulness.

    The parents are pretty tame, too, until the crowds get large enough that they can be fairly anonymous as they yell. Except for cheering at the other team's mistakes, which I really wish people wouldn't do.
     
  7. PeteyPirate

    PeteyPirate Guest

    Seriously, though, how is it kosher for a parent to referee a game in which his daughter is playing?
     
  8. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    A personal favorite is when I cover a volleyball game with multiple sets of lines drawn on the court. The players never have a problem with knowing which lines are theirs, but the parents just can't seem to get it.
     
  9. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    It's a soccer game between 13 year-olds. Its okay.
     
  10. PeteyPirate

    PeteyPirate Guest

    I understand your point, but the most egregious act cited in the story would not have been possible if they removed that variable from the equation. It seems like you're asking for trouble when you have parents refereeing.
     
  11. KYSportsWriter

    KYSportsWriter Well-Known Member

    does the article say the daughter was even playing?
     
  12. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    She better have been, otherwise they're costing her a scholarship.
     
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