Rec sports parents are the worst

My kids both play in school, community and Y leagues. Parents in these leagues can sometimes get harsh.

My eldest is in a recreational soccer (i.e. better kids play in the competitive league; they only play games... No practice) these parents are the worst. A dad seated near me was yelling at a girl on my sons team that he could not tell if she is a boy or girl. He got "in the face" of an employee who prevented him from entering the field to "do something about" the refs "bad calls" and cheered when one of our players was hurt.

The rec league is killing me. My son likes it, but adults bullying children, cheering injuries, and threatening employees ruines it.

This pains me.

that sucks, but if i was the coach or the administrator of the rec league, i'd be having some serious discussion with those parents.

my youngest plays rec soccer (disclaimer: i'm the coach and ref) but i don't tolerate that from parents or kids.. i set expectations and rules from day 1.

i've had many parents from the other team telling me as ref that i made some bad calls, that i didn't know soccer, and haven't i seen pros play. lol.. i played college ball (D3), which was plenty competitive.. but the kicker was that these were 4/5 year olds.. and their kid was stiffing arm others in the face over and over and she was like a full size larger than the rest.

when the girl tripped up and fell and started to cry, karma's a B.

the parents apologized to me last year or the year before. but it was crazy

coincidentally, they were the team to beat this year supposedly, i don't know, cause we thrashed her team and the rest of the whole league this year with almost no subs.. i never let the score get ridic, but it was never close.

back to your point. those parents eventually get told by a good coach to settle down and they do...

I coached my kid's 7 year old rec league flag football team last year. Man, I've got some stories I'd just rather not re-live. Most of the parents refused to help. They just wanted someone to baby-sit their kids for a few hours a week. Then they show up and complain to me if we're not winning and yell at the refs on game day. I'm secretly glad my kid decided not to play this year.

I used to coach youth hockey. Not to put more responsibility on coaches--most of whom are volunteers and are sacrificing huge amounts of time--but one thing I did at the start of every season was to have a parents' meeting. I'd pretty clearly state that their kid wasn't playing in the NHL or getting a college scholarship (although 3 of the kids I coached are playing D1 hockey) and that they should relax and just cheer on the kids. Not their kids. The kids. Most of them took the news well and were well behaved.

It's potentially so bad here in youth hockey that our district passed a new rule that allows refs to call 911 from the ice to have parents ejected.

Yeah, kids sports seem to have gotten way too competitive.

I'm the guy who cheers for both sides at my kid's games and yells "good call ref!" Regardless of it's truthfulness.

Let's go back to the "let's not keep score" soccer games.

Great signs, Doc.

Some parents do get out of hand, but I have found 98% or so to be OK. The bad apples more than make up for this, but pity the poor child who has one of thee goons as a parent.

My sons ran cross country. Great bunch of chilled parents.

My kids all played soccer and my oldest played into high school. Rec has nothing on HS sports. More bs than you can imagine. With some female parents "being friendly" with the coaches to get their kids moved up.

Whenever I read threads like this I ALWAYS post this information. AFC Ajax is a club in the top tier of Dutch Football. They have been among the most innovative and successful clubs in professional football/soccer since the early 70s. Their Academy players, and indeed ALL Dutch kids, do not even PLAY competitive matches (keeping score) until age 12. They produce some of the most sought after players in the world with these methods.

Parents need to relax.

Doc4 said:

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Great signs. Some parents live vicariously through their children and this ruins their perspective. In addition, some parents are just plain obnoxious at their children's sporting events.

I ref lacrosse. I've officiated U9 to college level. The younger the kids, the worse the parents. Give me a college or high level high school game over U9 any day.

I have heard some of the most appalling things from parents of young kids. And I've stopped the game and had them removed.