Youth parents get forfeit for their team after arguing with umpire

 
I actually just had an interesting conversation with a colleague about this very video. He asked me what I thought the solution was...I said that the answer, while impossible to do, is for the adults/parents/coaches realize that umpires at every level are just as mistake prone and learning as the players. Everyone wants an MLB ump at the local 10u game...isn't happening.....we see MLB umpires, the best in the world, make mistakes, but the kid working your 11u rec game has to be perfect? Do you scream at the other team's kid when they make a mistake? No? Why not? Because it isn't your kid? Well neither is the umpire.

If the parents didn't expect perfection on every call, situation, and ball/strike, they wouldn't get so upset. The only thing people should be able to demand from an umpire is effort. If they bother to wear clean clothes (not all dirty and raggedy) and they move and try to get the call right, they are an A+ umpire in my book and don't deserve verbal abuse.
 
Who are the games for - the kids or the adults/parents? Maybe consideration should be given to playing games with no fans present in some circumstances.
 
10U game? 11U? Dollars to doughnuts not one kid on that field gets his college paid for or goes pro. Center of the universe parents barbecuing a young ump. Unreal and good for the ump.
 
These parents are complete losers. They should be banned from all their kid's games.
........there is some kind of chemical reaction in the brain that takes place in parents when it involves their kids and youth sports. I've known guys who are good dudes, who played ball, who know what matters and what don't, that go mental when they think little Jr ain't getting a fair shake on the ballfield or court. Sometimes it's full blown mental and sometimes it's just unreasonable mental, but the big picture goes completely out the window when it's game time. Coaches are stupid, refs and umps are cheating, or my personal favorite other kids on the team get preferential treatment. If you want to be loved you better get a puppy, cause you ain't gonna' get it being involved in youth sports.
 
Seems like the younger the kids.....the worst the parents are. Older they get t seems like parents learn how to act.


But yeah.....I've seen some horrid behavior from parents.
 
After reading the responses on Twitter, it’s hard to believe there’s a shortage in youth coaches and umpires. Apparently everyone responding is a coach or umpire ?

Without seeing the entire course of events that led up to the point of video…too hard to tell for me, but I’ve witnessed some ridiculous parents/fans at youth sports.
 
After reading the responses on Twitter, it’s hard to believe there’s a shortage in youth coaches and umpires. Apparently everyone responding is a coach or umpire ?
Since 2018 we have lost 50,000 high school officials in the US.

The problem is real.
 
After reading the responses on Twitter, it’s hard to believe there’s a shortage in youth coaches and umpires. Apparently everyone responding is a coach or umpire ?

Without seeing the entire course of events that led up to the point of video…too hard to tell for me, but I’ve witnessed some ridiculous parents/fans at youth sports.
Please believe me when I tell you not everyone is a coach or umpire. I havent been licensed to do high school baseball in over 10 years. Ive covered a few games this season, as well as a rec game my nephews played the other night because the umpire(s), didnt show. Its not immune to any level either. Buddy of mine who coaches 12u "travel", entered a tournament for $600+ and didnt have two umpires for their first 3 games. Had two for the semi's and both umpires let the coaches know they are both first year umpires with a combined age under 40. Its not just the young people, its the seasoned officials too. And if you think its bad now, wait until the OHSAA mandates all of the pay to be done by arbiter. Every football official I work with over the age of 50 (which is about 90%) will hang it up. I wont, I feel like I should be paying the schools to officiate, because I enjoy it that much. Plus I am legally deaf, so I hear very little of the complaining as it is
 
........there is some kind of chemical reaction in the brain that takes place in parents when it involves their kids and youth sports. I've known guys who are good dudes, who played ball, who know what matters and what don't, that go mental when they think little Jr ain't getting a fair shake on the ballfield or court. Sometimes it's full blown mental and sometimes it's just unreasonable mental, but the big picture goes completely out the window when it's game time. Coaches are stupid, refs and umps are cheating, or my personal favorite other kids on the team get preferential treatment. If you want to be loved you better get a puppy, cause you ain't gonna' get it being involved in youth sports.
You are 100% true, I've know really good people, REALLY good people who just go insane when their kid or grandkid is in a competitive situation. I'm so happy my parents, who always attended our games, never yelled at the umpires, referees or coaches. I guess since I coached my kids at the youth levels I wasn't as prone to this because I had other things to consider. I think alot of this starts with the head coach, notifying parents at the pre-season meeting that these antics will not be tolerated and then the coach has to set the tone. Bob Knight said the winner many times is determined by who makes the least amount of mistakes, not NO mistakes. Umpires are the same, they are going to miss calls. You just hope that there is a balance in the middle somewhere.
 
You what they say:
Those who can, do.
Those who can't, coach.
Those who never could, officiate.


So according to the above quote....we should have an abundance of refs.
 
Why would being paid from one central location be bad? Beats chasing checks 4-6 weeks after you worked a game.
Geez, I'd think these days officials could be money by Venmo, Zelle or some other instant payment system.

It's funny though, I've been around a long time and it doesn't seem to matter if it was last week, last year or 20 years ago, officials at sporting events get ripped every chance they get. Heck look at professional officials. Watch an NBA game and see how the players treat officials (or the authority figure). And we wonder why there are issues at the youth levels? I know when I played high school ball in the early 80's you had a very short rope with officials. You even question a call or sometimes even look at officials and you had a chance of getting T'd up. Today, especially at the college and pro levels, officials and players have this on going conversation the entire game. Just checked the list of the top 10 technical fouls of all time, the youngest player or the most recent to retire is the late Koby Bryant. Other than that it's mostly guys from the 80's- 90's. Barkley, Shaq, Garnett, Gary Payton, Honestly, I think NBA refs are told not to give techincals anymore. It's just considered part of their job to take crap from players.
 
Why would being paid from one central location be bad? Beats chasing checks 4-6 weeks after you worked a game.
I dont mind at all, but change from the norm is not particularly taken kindly by the age group of officials I usually work with. I can also say that Ive never done a game at any school in NW Ohio that didnt have a check waiting for you when you showed up. Rossford back in my umpiring days mailed you your check. Always loved doing games on their spring break and not getting a check for a month.
 
Going back to the topic of the thread ... hate to be a scrooge type, but I wonder how the umpire's assignor and/or league acted based on the actions taken by the umpire.
 
Going back to the topic of the thread ... hate to be a scrooge type, but I wonder how the umpire's assignor and/or league acted based on the actions taken by the umpire.
Hopefully they responded positively towards him. They probably cannot afford to have it seem like they dont have the backs of the guys umpiring. Unfortunately it will take a moment like that for the parents to hopefully reflect, and see that they cannot act like that. If that game continues, nothing changes. Going to that extreme will hopefully spark some change with at least that group.
 
........there is some kind of chemical reaction in the brain that takes place in parents when it involves their kids and youth sports. I've known guys who are good dudes, who played ball, who know what matters and what don't, that go mental when they think little Jr ain't getting a fair shake on the ballfield or court. Sometimes it's full blown mental and sometimes it's just unreasonable mental, but the big picture goes completely out the window when it's game time. Coaches are stupid, refs and umps are cheating, or my personal favorite other kids on the team get preferential treatment. If you want to be loved you better get a puppy, cause you ain't gonna' get it being involved in youth sports.
The biggest "switch flipping" I see is with youth football. It can be, and is, bad all around in just about every sport, but football is a special type of animal that turns parents into......well......animals lol. I can't tell you how many great people I've seen turn into a Chuckie devil, with included head spinning and knife weilding extras. It's pretty crazy to watch.

Basketball is probably the next up in 2nd place. For football I think its the violence of the sport that helps raise the level of intensity with parents. For basketball I think its the proximity to the action. Most times they are standing/sitting right next to the players/coaches/referees. I think that closeness gives them a feeling of being a part of the action, so it's easy for them to want to intervene.

I think the single most problem with baseball is actual knowledge of the rules. Everyone seems to know everything, when in actuality they know very little of the rules. Which leads to continuous questionating and berating of umpires. Soccer suffers from this same problem, though not as much as baseball.
 
I dispose when umps have rabbit ears and continually react to fans.


However...there's a time as an umo where you need to nip it in the bud.
Youth sports.... parents.....just shut the F up.

My home town still plays their youth baseball, below little league, on Mon Wed and Fri during the day. New teams selected each time....park workers run it...and very very little parental interaction as they are all at work. Genius.
 
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