Youth sports faces shortage of refs who ‘don’t want to stand there and take the abuse'


K

Kendrick

Well-Known Member
Experts say the increasingly aggressive nature of parents represents a general shift in youth sports culture. Once centered around play and fun, sports leagues now are highly competitive and can cost parents thousands of dollars a season, monopolizing weekends spent traveling to games.

“I think if you examine where we were at maybe 10 to 15 years ago, compared to where we are now, things have gotten demonstratively worse,” said Bruce Svare, a psychology professor at State University of New York at Albany and author of “Reforming Sports Before the Clock Runs Out.”

This evolution in youth sports has caused fewer young officials to be drawn to the job simply for their love of the game, said Barry Mano, founder of the National Association of Sports Officials. After dealing with the wrath of angry parents for a season or two, young officials often ask themselves: “‘Do I really want to go out there and suffer this scrutiny?’”

“This is a real challenge,” said Mano, who has heard many tales of mistreatment, and even assault, from the organization’s 27,000 members. Young officials tend to leave the job early, and veterans working for little to no pay give up their hobby after one too many scuffles on the field, he said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-life-youth-sports-ref-shortage-20180501-story.html
 



TSU/BAMA said:
Well, I really can't blame the refs for not wanting to put up with the abuse.
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Neither do I. Saw it during my son Travel Soccer Days, those parents were horrible. And I have heard if from other parents of kids who play other sports. Also, the coaches get abuse from the parents and soon, it might be a shortage of youth coaches as well.
 
Fuck that....

My son plays for a majority black school and I have witnessed first hand refs (black and white) cheating for the white school.

It was so bad a few games that Sheriff's deputies in charge of security did not even want to provide security for them. Tell their asses to stop cheating so damn much. One baseball umpire threatened to put me out of the game and I screamed right back "I'm sitting next to the chief." The chief then screamed out "you need to stop cheating."

Tell those byach ass refs to taking backdoor cash for cheating.
 
The Founder said:
Fuck that....

My son plays for a majority black school and I have witnessed first hand refs (black and white) cheating for the white school.

It was so bad a few games that Sheriff's deputies in charge of security did not even want to provide security for them. Tell their asses to stop cheating so damn much. One baseball umpire threatened to put me out of the game and I screamed right back "I'm sitting next to the chief." The chief then screamed out "you need to stop cheating."

Tell those byach ass refs to taking backdoor cash for cheating.
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Founder that's a whole different topic. However I have been coaching youth sports since 1988 and the parents and coaches are really brutal to the umpires. However the leagues are taking a stance to clean it up. There are penalties in place for coach or parent ejections are they are pretty tough.
 
Sports parents are the worst. Just a bunch of emotional children in the stands. These games would be a whole lot better if they were not allowed to attend.
 
Lol at these comments. I just started officiating basketball (3 seasons) and football (1 season). I don't let it get to me. As long as you don't touch me or verbally disrespect me, we're cool. During basketball I sometimes turn around and laugh at them. Once I stare them down they usually back off.
 
swac4life said:
Founder that's a whole different topic. However I have been coaching youth sports since 1988 and the parents and coaches are really brutal to the umpires. However the leagues are taking a stance to clean it up. There are penalties in place for coach or parent ejections are they are pretty tough.
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What about penalties for racist refs and umpires. People understand some calls will be missed but I have seen refs who cheated so horribly that after the game they literally walked over to the opposing team and sat in the stands and ate food with the team's coach's.
 
PV_Sigma7 said:
Lol at these comments. I just started officiating basketball (3 seasons) and football (1 season). I don't let it get to me. As long as you don't touch me or verbally disrespect me, we're cool. During basketball I sometimes turn around and laugh at them. Once I stare them down they usually back off.
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Yeah at some point you just are able to just ignore it. It usually comes down to 2 things... Parents/coaches not knowing the rules, or officials not putting forth the effort to be in position to make the calls.

Are you in the Houston TASO football chapter?
 
The Founder said:
What about penalties for racist refs and umpires. People understand some calls will be missed but I have seen refs who cheated so horribly that after the game they literally walked over to the opposing team and sat in the stands and ate food with the team's coach's.
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Most districts have a rating system for refs and can request certain refs not do their games. .

But we are talking about youth sports which are handle much differently.
 



DAHILL said:
ITS 10 times worst in AAU games than it is in school ball games. My son has played in games where the gym was literally shut down and the teams had to play in an empty gym with no fans in there to finish a game.
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And that is what will it come down to in all youth sports. AAU Basketball is not the only one. My son played Travel Soccer back in the day and the parents were horrible and on top of that, he was the only black on the team, so you know what we went through. I have heard from friends that coach Football, Lacrosse, Baseball the same thing. Trust me, soon the games will have no fans or parents.
 
DAHILL said:
ITS 10 times worst in AAU games than it is in school ball games. My son has played in games where the gym was literally shut down and the teams had to play in an empty gym with no fans in there to finish a game.
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Yep. With school games the parents know that if they act too crazy they'll be banned by the district.
 
Fiyah said:
Most districts have a rating system for refs and can request certain refs not do their games. .

But we are talking about youth sports which are handle much differently.
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I confronted a ref once and we really got in to it......so much so that my son's coach restrained me.

My son was playing little league which included 5th and 6th graders. Well the opposing team had a girl. The boys on my son's team were not blocking her at all....mostly because she was a girl and were taught not to hit girls.

Well on one play my son who was playing middle line backer. On a sweep he was going for the tackle. Well the little girl was playing guard. My son missed the tackle because the girl was between him and the running back. Well the girl's coach saw that the boys were not hitting her so he decides to let her run the ball. She scored about 3 touchdowns. The girl then runs over and taunts my son. He's like whatever. So on the next play my son kinda pushes her and she gets in his face and calls him a bitch. The white ref says nothing.

Welp....she runs again and all you hear is WHOP!!!! My son went in for the tackle and knocked the woman back in her. Then we hear a scream and the little girl is in the fetal position crying. Her dad and his buddies rush the field so me and the other dads do the same. We get there and these grown men screaming at my son. I pull him back behind me and their redneck assess pull back after they see the brothers were not having it.

Well the hit was clean and the dad carries the girl off the field. The dad then returns after 2 or 3 plays and interrupts the game and decides he wants to "council" my son on how men are to treat women. I wasn't having it. I went to the field and told my son to go to the sideline. The white dad got redder and hotter than a .38. So after the game the ref calls my son a bitch ass coward. That was it.

Let's just say the outcome was not a good one. The ref is now a high school coach for Haynesville.....
 
jag4life said:
Yep. With school games the parents know that if they act too crazy they'll be banned by the district.
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I have had to have a few escorted out of games that I have worked, both school ball and summer league. I don't mind being heckled or just general shat talking. But when you start getting personal or making remarks that have NOTHING to do with basketball, my line is drawn. But typically, I find it pretty funny, cuz like J4L said, either they can't see what you see, or don't know the rules to start with.
 
s phi s said:
I have had to have a few escorted out of games that I have worked, both school ball and summer league. I don't mind being heckled or just general shat talking. But when you start getting personal or making remarks that have NOTHING to do with basketball, my line is drawn. But typically, I find it pretty funny, cuz like J4L said, either they can't see what you see, or don't know the rules to start with.
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Man a few weeks ago a certain Hall of Famer was coaching his son's team and got double-T'd and kicked out of the building. Not sure what he told that ref but it must have been a "good" one. lol
 
jag4life said:
There is one guy I worked with years ago who I think had a bit of it in him but it was a game between 2 black teams.
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That's my thing...you guys are speaking from a perspective of parents not seeing the calls etc....some of the parents in the stands know the game and rules but see the biases toward certain teams because of the coach's relationships and it is sickening.

Furthermore for a parent to get thrown out because of words. I remember screaming telling me to shut up....I screamed back at him to shut up. We knew his ass was wearing a white hood under his outfit all we had to do was look at the stickers on his vehicle.
 
The Founder said:
That's my thing...you guys are speaking from a perspective of parents not seeing the calls etc....some of the parents in the stands know the game and rules but see the biases toward certain teams because of the coach's relationships and it is sickening.

Furthermore for a parent to get thrown out because of words. I remember screaming telling me to shut up....I screamed back at him to shut up. We knew his ass was wearing a white hood under his outfit all we had to do was look at the stickers on his vehicle.
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I see what you are saying. There is some truth to it, but generally speaking, I'm in a much better position to see a toe on the line 3 feet in front of me than the parent 12 rows up and 70 feet away screaming that I'm cheating. And at the end of the day, my pay is the same regardless of who wins....I think the whole "ref is cheating" spiel is a bit overrated, however I don't doubt for a second that on some level, it does occur. And I don't have people escorted out because of words, per se. It's WHAT words and the CONTEXT in which they use them.
 
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