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Just had to report and comment on an incident last night at my son's 7th grade football game....

So, here we are watching the game and all of the sudden I notice this dad that has walked halfway onto the field and is screaming and cussing at the coach. First of all, I am dissapointed at myself that I didnt notice him sooner, but they have so many kids that are not on the team milling around on the sidelines, and little ones playing on the track with their parents in tow, etc, that I didnt think anything of it until he actually stepped onto the field. Secondly, I've seen it before, but I STILL cant understand how these parents can get so worked up, especially in this case. This was the C team, of the 7th grade for Heaven's sake! Most of this kids havent played football before a month and half ago. I love my son, but I dont have any illusions that he is going to be a future Heisman Trophy winner lol..

Anyway, so the coaches yell at the administrator on duty, a middle aged woman, that the parent needs to leave. She comes over to him to tell him that he has to leave and I am thinking, what is she going to do if he starts getting even more crazy? In one of their last budget cuts, the school board disbanded the school police force, and now we have TWO local police personell that are assigned to the ENTIRE school district to be available if need be.... the old "when seconds count, the police are only minutes away" kind of situation.

Well, he finally agrees to leave on his own, all the while still yelling at the coach... My wife made the comment that that was the type of person that you have to worry about coming back with a gun and start shooting, and I made the (only half joking) comment that there is no way that could happen, after all we were in a "Gun Free Zone" and surely that would protect everyone lol..

So, all in all, it turned out fine, just one of those situations that kind of gives you chills when you think about what could have been.

Been there done that.
Makes you mad as heck, wondering what's wrong with some parents. And then wonder why their kids might act up.

Whenever I see a parent going overboard with something, I have to feel bad for the kid. He/she is probably embarrassed.

If the kid isn't embarrassed, then he/she is probably a bully, and I still will feel bad for kid for being ignorant because of his/her parents.

I know, it's sad.. the kid looses either way :(

...you made a good point, though, about what COULD have happened...hope you weren't parked a long way from where you were...

My 16 year old is a soccer player. She plays open league and on her high school varsity team. I was one of her coaches up to three years ago. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how the parents can be. They can actually be gleeful when their daughter fouls/injures another player. I saw this just weeks ago at a tournament we played in Austin (as a wildfire raged close enough I could see the flames leap over the trees in the far distance at one point!). A player on the opposing team raked her foot down the lateral lower leg of one of our girls, which dropped her like a ton of bricks. It was an obvious foul, not called by the official. The girl then ran to the end of the field and high-fived a fellow player, while laughing.

My point is this has to be bred into the player. It has to be sanctioned by the coach as well as by the parent. To actually think your daughter is a good soccer player because she took another player out is unfathomable. My daughter's coach would pull any player she saw doing that, and I would make sure she did if it was my daughter. The bright side is this...we are playing showcase tournaments where college coaches come to see the girls play. These coaches go out of their way to see players that have somehow come to their attention. I have talked to several of them about this issue, and they have all said that they would not consider recruiting a dirty player. So, who gets the last laugh?

My nephew attends high school at Stratford High. A coach at Stratford High in Houston, was killed last year by angry parent who was having marital problems with his wife. The mom of the student asked the coach for an escort to her vehicle after recieving angry phone call from husband. The coach was attacked in the parking lot by the dad of the student, the coach fell hit his head and died. So much for gun free zones.

...kinda hard to teach a kid good sportsmanship and teamwork when his "role model" is actin' like that...

AndyC wrote:Any non-player who stalks onto the field should be immediately arrested, taken to jail and booked (criminal trespassing charges or whatever it would take) - no passes, no excuses. I'm getting really tired of this behavior - it's disgusting and should be stamped-upon hard to discourage others from being tempted to do it. As for the deliberate dirty play - total ban for the rest of the season.

People do it because they know they can get away with it - there are hardly ever any serious consequences for the offenders.

Can't stand those dads.....

I think this is where the non-violent dispute resolution part of your CHL training comes in handy. You'd be surprised how much good a little verbal judo can do. Anything that keeps you from having to use force (deadly or non-deadly) is your best tool.

IMHO, one of two things generally happens to a kid that has a Father like that:

1. The kid grows up to be just like Dad.
2. The kid is so disgusted by Dad's behavior that he grows up to be a nice guy. It happens.

My wife's ex is one of those.

The 2 boys played a lot of baseball and he had minor league experience and expected his kids to follow in his foot steps.

More than once he went peeling out of the parking lot after a lost game.

Purplehood's observations are exactly right.

And, this type of behavior is only one facet of these parent's persona. If they act like this in public they
are ogres in all facets of life.

My wife's ex pays the price in that his kids don't care much about him.

But of course he says it's their fault. Aye aye aye

AndyC wrote:Any non-player who stalks onto the field should be immediately arrested, taken to jail and booked (criminal trespassing charges or whatever it would take) - no passes, no excuses. I'm getting really tired of this behavior - it's disgusting and should be stamped-upon hard to discourage others from being tempted to do it. As for the deliberate dirty play - total ban for the rest of the season.

People do it because they know they can get away with it - there are hardly ever any serious consequences for the offenders.

Excessive noise is easier to prove and less to write up. I keep that little municipal ordinance in my back pocket and whip it out on occasion to solve problems.