When it comes to bad behavior in youth sports, I thought I had seen it all
A Coach berates his own pre-teen player for striking out. Coaches yelling at opposing coaches during a game. A coach physically attacking a teen-aged umpire for making a bad call. One coach being ejected from a softball game for excessive arguing and his assistant being ejected an inning later for doing the same thing.
Those were some examples of horrid behavior I witnessed during youth league sports events. And that was from the coaches; the parents were worse:
A father sitting behind the home-plate screen while his ten-year-old daughter pitched, yelling at the umpire over the ball and strike calls. That same father screaming at his daughter when she couldn't get the ball over the plate. A referee asking for a father to be ejected from the stands during a 12-under basketball game because he was yelling at the refs and the opposing team. A mother telling me to make sure her daughter got plenty of playing time because she thought college scouts were coming to watch her eighth-grade daughter play basketball (they weren't). A father calling a six-year-old girl a cunt after she didn't run to first base because she thought the ball she hit was foul, not fair.
I coached in a suburban youth sports league for close to a decade. Working with pre-teen girls is rewarding. Dealing with their parents is challenging. People who are usually normal functioning adults somehow get crazed at their children's sports events. I've never been able to figure out why it happens. I know we all think our sports-playing youth is going to become the next Michael Jordan or Diana Taurasi, but if in reality, not only will that not occur, but they probably won't be playing college sports. In a lot of cases, their athletic career will end before they get to high school because they'll find something they like better than basketball, softball, tennis, etc.
That's why these episodes of bad behavior always struck me as bizarre. A lot of these parents cared more about the games than their children. They certainly cared more about it than I did. I felt it was more important that everyone had fun, stayed safe and learned about teamwork and friendship. If the team won that was great, but it was down the list of my priorities as a coach...far down the list.
I occasionally tell the above stories, usually with a lot more adjectives, and people are either amazed or come back with their own story. I think folks who have been involved in the youth sports community like to think they have the worst story....sort of a who can top this thing.
I thought I had either seen or heard it all until last week. Then I read about this one.
At a youth basketball tournament in Ohio, there was a dispute about playing time. Nothing unusual about that. Plenty of parents have asked why their child isn't playing more or a particular position, but almost all have done it respectfully. But this father took it a new level.
He pulled a gun and shot the coach!!
Let me say that one more time with a little more emphasis.....
HE PULLED A GUN AND SHOT THE COACH!!!
Okay, so the event was at a tournament for travel teams and yes, those games are more intense than the regular house league, park district games, but to shoot a coach over a lack of playing time seems to be a bit over-the-top behavior, right?
The good news is the shooter was arrested and held on $500,000 bail. The better news is the person who was shot didn't suffer life-threatening injuries and will recover, at least physically.
As the title states, I thought I had seen it all when it comes to youth sports. I never imagined something like this could happen, but maybe that's due to my naivety. But, it does make me wonder what comes next? Is it possible there's anything worse than shooting a coach? I'm more than a little scared to find out.
Related Post: What is the appropriate behavior for a high school athlete attacking a referee?
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