Charlie Sheen got lots of attention for his “Winning!” mantra, but spend a Saturday morning eavesdropping on Fayette youth sports fields and you’ll often hear ranting of a similar sort.
I’m talking about parents who feel the need to shout comments and criticisms throughout their children’s baseball, football, soccer and hockey games. They seem to do so for a variety of reasons, ranging from a lack of self-control to an abundance of hubris.
I have no problem with parents who get excited every time their child touches the ball, as long as they keep the cheer in cheerleader. But the ones who really start to bug the rest of us by halftime (and often sooner) are those who disrespect the coaches and disregard their children with constant commentary.
That’s when you can keep another score by playing “Count the Coaches.” Take a step back from watching the game and see how many parents consider themselves so better qualified to coach both their children and the entire team that they shout instructions from the sidelines. As the “score” climbs, so do the decibels. And my blood pressure.
Some Fayette leagues have written rules for spectators in an effort to keep parents under control. Peachtree City Little League lays out “six pillars of character” for its parents, and U.S. Youth Soccer asks spectators to “leave coaching to coaches.” Quite a few folks haven’t gotten that memo.
Constant commentary is unproductive and annoying. First of all, coaches who devote themselves to hours of practice and games each week don’t need lawnchair quarterbacks drowning them out.
Secondly, the kids don’t need or appreciate supplemental shouting. For young players just learning new rules and skills, it can be confusing and upsetting hearing their parents shout instructions while they’re trying to focus on the game.
Middle schoolers are already perfecting the art of tuning their parents out, so all the screamers do is annoy other spectators. You learn early on who not to sit next to.
Older players established in their sports are well aware of the stakes and strategies involved; there is little or nothing the average parent can constructively add. Cheer when your kids do well, and let the coach handle it when they don’t.
Third, when it comes to criticizing referees and umpires, some parents put John McEnroe to shame. Bad calls happen, but parents who berate the refs set a bad example for kids who are supposed to be learning to respect authority and not be bullies.
I love football and admit to talking back to the TV – sometimes using “locker room words” – when my team isn’t doing well. The big difference is that they can’t hear me, and even if they could, adult athletes are far different from 12-year-olds.
Confronting fellow parents is awkward, so I hereby grant permission for the polite majority to anonymously post this to their team message board or website. I’ll take the rap for being the “game police” if it makes even one loudmouth tone it down next time.
If that doesn’t work, cut this column out, attach a piece of duct tape to each end, and paste it over the mouth of the offending parent. Even Charlie Sheen had to be told when his idea of “winning” made him a loser.
