Youth baseball parents put on notice

yeah, I have seen similar signs at high schools and youth sports facilities.

The sign shown above, and CERTAINLY the 55-page handbook, are overkill, to some extent redunant and possibly counterproductive in the end.

Because you know the real dickslapper parents are going to read that 55-page handbook and comb it with a fine-toothed comb to figure out ways they can still be assholes and yet not technically be in violation.





K.I.S.S.:

1) No audible or visible (gestures, etc) criticism of game officials or disputing their decisions. Repeated audible attempts to influence officials' decisions will fall under the scope of this rule.

2) No audible or visible criticism of ANY player on either team. "Sarcastic cheering" may be interpreted as a violation of this rule.

3) No audible or visible criticism of coaching decisions (including PT) during the game. If you have strategic or PT concerns with the coaching staff, contact them on a non-game day to discuss these issues.

4) Any violation of the above rules will result in immediate suspension of play and public warning of the violator(s) by the game officials, after which play will continue.

5) A second violation of any above rule will result in immediate ejection from the event venue for the violator(s). If a parent or guardian, their child must leave with them. Any violator(s) so ejected from any game shall be liable for immediate ejection without a warning for ANY conduct violations for the rest of the season. Any violator may be ejected at ANY time for flagrant acts of unsportsmanlike behavior.


So there. Five Commandments. Make It So.

 

Here's something that a Facebook friend tipped me off to. A good read on the subject.

http://mikematheny.com/sites/default/files/docs/MathenyManifesto.pdf

 

The travel team coach scouted my daughter's softball game. She's 7.

Here's the thing: we all want to pretend it's "just a game," and for a lot of kids and parents, it is. But a lot of irrationality is a rational response to a highly professionalized youth sports system where decisions on who gets spots rests on how much parents will spend on development, how much time parents dedicate to it, and how well they can manipulate a system that is under more and more pressure to deliver elite-level talent, healthy development be damned, so their kid can get a scholarship because how the fuck are we supposed afford college?

It's telling that this sign is up in an upper-crust suburb, because the parents of the upper 10 percent discovering sports as something more than a hobby has helped feed this system. You know, like how families of means with no reason to seriously worry about their child's eventual station in life lose their shit if their kid doesn't get in the right preschool.

 

The "not criticizing officials" is fine, as long as those officials know the rules. Like a runner can advance to first on an uncaught third strike. Then when I yell for my girls to run, they shouldn't come over to me and tell me that I don't know the rules.

I don't mind judgment call mistakes, or even getting complex or obscure rules wrong. But basic knowledge rules mistakes? There should be no protection. They are being paid to be out there. Do it right.

 

Officials in kids sports are usually not getting paid much -- or sometimes anything.

You get what you pay for.

If the refs foul up a really obvious rules situation, obviously the coach should call time out and say to the ref, "just want to double check the dropped third strike rule is still in effect so I can tell my players when to run or not run."

(Not 'you goddamn idiot, haven't you ever heard of the goddamn dropped third strike rule?' )

If the league is hiring officials who consistently screw up basic rules situations, your coach needs to contact the commissioner or league president or whoever is hiring them and give THEM an earful. "What the hell are we paying our league entry fees for?"

But it should be established at least in theory parents aren't supposed to bitch at the refs -- and if they do, they get ONE warning.

Yeah, I think I've seen that one before. Nobody much can argue with the general message of the piece, but once again, those likely to read, understand and buy into it are probably not your problem parents anyway.

 

If youth league officials don't know the rules, bitching about it from the sideline won't help anything. It will make you look like an ass. Take it to the organization.

 

Believe me. I spoke with the rec director immediately.

And as far as not getting paid? I'd say $35 for a 1:15 is a pretty good rate.

I didn't yell at the guy. He came to the fence attempting to explain the rule to me. I told him that he was wrong and should read the rule book. Not to sound childish but he started it.

But, as an official, the idea that criticizing the officials is verboten is crazy.

 

Never said it was verboten. Just that it makes you look like an ass.

 

And carry the rule book. If that one rule is an issue, mark it so you can quickly show it. Hell, show it before the game.

 

You do sound childish. With that attitude, I hope you don't mind when parents are ripping you for your coaching. Just let it go, man. There's a lesson for players sometimes in learning how to overcome officiating mistakes. I've always told my players not to worry about the refs or umps -- that's my job, and the only reason I worry about it is if there is a safety issue I think is being ignored. And that happened only once, and I pointed it out nicely. I've learned that if everyone is worrying about the calls, they've stopped worrying about their game, coaches included.

 

@ Bob Cook - it is like you are reading my mind on this thread.

I can't think of a single reason to be getting on the officials at any level of youth sports.

On Saturday I had to tell a parent on my daughter's soccer team to give it a rest when he was giving a volunteer linesman a hard time about missing an offside call that led to the opposing team getting a goal.

Cheer for the good plays and STFU otherwise.

 

There's a difference between learning to accept an official's call that goes against you and having an official totally blow a call because he/she does not understand or know the rule. I believe that's what bydesign77 is getting at.
I help coach my son's baseball team. We had two instances this year in separate games where an umpire (one of them in his teens/early 20s) was really at a loss, but the umpire and coaches quickly got it figured out, and right, without any profanity or ejections.
One of them involved the third-strike rule (our league doesn't allow it, and the umpire wasn't sure so he asked before the game) and other was a collision at first resulting in the fielder dropping the ball after stepping on first (runner was originally ruled safe, but then called out).
It can be done, especially if everyone keeps their cool.