Entitled sports parents are the worst. What I hate most about them is they turn their children's sport event which is supposed to be about their kids, and make it about themselves. It's horrible when they ruin things for their kids.
When I was about 16 I umpired a little league game ($10 per game) and was threatened by a local coach. It almost came to blows but his assistant coach was able to recognize the situation and intervened. A few days later I went to a local car dealer and guess who the salesman was. Let me tell you it was a great turn of events having this grown man recognize me and start to grovel just to try to sell me an old $2000 truck (all i could save with a high school job). I asked him about 2 hours worth of questions, had him crawling around under the truck with me in his nice shirt, then went to the manager told them what type of person the salesman was and asked for another salesperson. I bought the truck from the new sales person and the commision went to him instead of the jerk. Karma at its finest.
I had a Little League coach in the late 70s who would go and yell at the umpire. The parents got together and fired him. The parents then rotated coaching duties for the rest of the season. We ended up in second place and received the "outstanding sportsmanship" award from the League.
I have been a professional umpire for over 14 years, working high school and older travel team games. Parents think there kids are going to the mall. They also think they have the right to scream at the umpires. Well, this craziness happens all the time. One year I had to throw a parent out, then found out he was an umpire in the same association as mine, he never worked a game again. People lost respect for one another :(
I have been lucky. I had only one coach who, during my first couple years, gave me problems. He gave EVERY umpire problems. After that I never had an issue with him again. Other umpires can't stand umpiring on his field; I actually enjoy it, not because I am a masochist, but because he respects me. (He is still the most "hated" coach by every other umpire in my area.) The only people I ever have problems with anymore are adult players (because they are playing out their MLB fantasy), and even those instances are few and far between. I have 20 years of experience and have umpired in 12 national championship tournaments in my association.
Good for the umpires. Our local Little League teams asked the parents to ump games as volunteers to help keep costs down. I umped six games in three years and will never step onto a baseball field again. Our league was very calm in comparison to what you described and the level of commenting, harassment, and disrespect were horrible.
I played in the 80's, and my brothers played through the 90's... in eastern Pennsylvania. What he described that the parents were doing was super common. Parents would get thrown out of the park at least once or twice a week
There is something about baseball when it comes to crazy parents. Soccer is way more chill, but also has shortages for refs. I think people are broke and these leagues aren't used to having to pay top dollar to get refs. No one wants to donate their time off on weekends to make only 20 bucks. Shortages mean they ask the refs they do have to do more and then they all quit due to being asked to do too much.
Back in the late '60s, I was on a little league baseball team that played on a US Army base. The home plate umpire was a young off-duty soldier. I recall a parent getting so upset at the umpire that he went on the field to argue with him. The parent was a senior NCO. I guess he didn't like the idea of a lower ranked enlistee barking back at him so the parent punched the umpire in the jaw and knocked him out. When I got home, I told my dad about it and he said that parent just destroyed his military career, i.e., stockade, less than honorable discharge, no military benefits. Sure enough, the parent and his son (entire family) disappeared from the Army base.
Absolutely. I've been in the military, guaranteed that senior NCO is screwed, especially since he caused injury. He'd be lucky to get any minimal veteran's benefits when it's over. If he got kicked out and got an OTH (other-than-honorable discharge), which he probably did, he'd get no veteran's benefits and his retirement would be gone. His fellow senior NCOs would not back him, that is a terrible breach of discipline, terrible show of no-honor, conduct unbecoming, you name it. His next duty station was probably an Army disciplinary barracks (in other words, The Stockade).
@@notright7 It was a bit more serious than just making the military look bad. An NCO striking an enlisted soldier is a court-martial offence, a fundamental threat to the discipline of the service. In no way could it be tolerated by higher authority. The regulations for the conduct of soldiers toward their officers and NCOs and vice-versa are clearly spelled out in the UCMJ.
My dad was a Little League umpire.. One day a parent yelled at him about a call. He calmly went over and sat down next to the mother. He told her that he was going to call the rest of the inning from there since she seemed to have so much better view than him.
It's sad that if parents act this way in public, just imagine how they act behind closed doors. I would stand up and clap for any kid who refused to play until his parent stopped embarrassing him in front of his teammates and everyone watching.
I umpired Bobby Sox softball a couple decades ago. We had a standard rule by the organizing committee to forfeit the game if the coach came onto the field yelling. Any parent coming on the field would be ordered to leave the field and if they failed, forfeit the game. In the five years I was doing this, we only had one game forfeit because of a parent.
It wasn't often but I have seen parents made to leave I did once have one of our soccer games forfeited but both teams parents were told to leave (all them) most did but a few stuck around and the refs weren't having it. Its actually pathetic
I actually played Bobby Sox softball back in the day and I recall it being a quality organization and thankfully we never had any difficulties with parents.
Here in Texas, this is almost the norm. Parents are more in to kids' sports than the kids are, it's honestly pathetic how much they are vicariously living through their spawn.
There’s a hilarious South Park episode on this. The parents are celebrating the kids going to the playoffs and all of the kids hate baseball and are trying to lose.😂
When we were in CT our boys played Ripken (like Little League) and the umpires were all older boys. To prevent the parents from abusing the youth umpires there was a rule that if a spectator was abusive the umpire could stop the responsible coach to address the issue. If he did not or it repeated then the game would be stopped and the offending team would be registered as a forfeit. This gave the coaches (and the parents and umpires) the tools to address the issue - every time I saw some parent start to get out of line, the parents around him almost always addressed the issue before the umpires or the coaches got involved.
This is no surprise!! Parents NEED TO GROW UP!! When I worked as an EMT long ago, we had to cover pop-warner games, the parents were plain and simply, abusive towards us!!! Every time a child fell and got a boo boo they expected us to RUN onto the field (which would have only resulted In us getting injured), if we didn't move quick enough they began throwing stuff at us and yelling various things, ironically this was also in MA. Thankfully the company I worked for, was good, and told them to find some other service to cover the games, because they were not allowing their employees to be abused!! So ridiculous and childish!!
Amazing. Our EMT squad did standbys at a series of rugby games, and the parents and kids would scream at us if we didn't sprint out on the field for a minor injury. A kid called us " fucking assholes," and when the coaches refused to control the little shits and their parents, we got in our unit and left. I'm sorry you had a similar experience...
Ugh, this story hits home. I umpired youth softball as a teenager ($20/game in the mid-00's was awesome!), and there were always plenty angry parents looking for excuses to take things out on you. One father actually got up and screamed in my face about a call I made, but I stood up for myself (with other parents on both teams supporting me) and removed him to the parking lot. He eventually did come back up to me and apologize for his behavior after the game - while I thanked him for being humble, I also reminded him that if he did it again he could be permanently banned from watching his child play. Embarrassing for him and his kid. It's not like I cared either way which team won, and I always tried to be consistent with my calls. I can't imagine having to deal with *multiple* parents threatening to physically beat me at that age! Insanity.
This isn’t just a problem with little league baseball, this is a problem throughout youth sports. I remember a story out of Colorado a few years back where a soccer referee was actually murdered on the field. Also around the same time in Texas a high school football player attacked a referee during the middle of the game. A major part of the problem is that we don’t do enough to punish parents & coaches when they misbehave.
@@billrehm3590 There's also one in Brazil where the referee got attacked by a player, stabbed the player to death, got stoned to death by the crowd and decapitated, and his head put on a stake in the field.
When I was a teenager and early 20’s we had power of attorney during little league games at the school where they took place. Signage stated umpires can trespass parents and guardians along with a form, if they didn’t immediately leave they were criminally trespassed from ALL school properties in the district. We rarely had problems.
I ran into this problem way back in the late 70's. Case one. A parent was verbally abusing his own kid from the stands to the point the kid was in tears and he was the pitcher for one of the teams. I had him thrown out of the baseball park by the two coaches. Case two. I may or may not have blown a call and the coach on one team went off on me in a swearing screaming tirade and would not relent. At that point the crew chief umpire (team of two umpires) told the guy to leave. He refused and continued his tirade. The crew chief umpire at that point told him if he did not leave the umpire would call the game for that teams opponent. He again refused. We called the game and signed the score sheets and walked away. When it comes to the point when you destroy two teams of kids experience of being able to play a game, even if you feel the ump blew a call, because you have to be a complete out of control jerk you have stepped way over the line.
I had to forfeit a game once because the coach told his pitcher to hit a batter on purpose. I ejected the kid and the coach went off. He got personal so I ejected him. He refused to leave the field saying he didn’t have to go and there was nothing I could do if he didn’t. He found out differently. The forfeit put his team out of a tournament they were probably going to win. Several parents surrounded me at my car but the other umps and a few parents came to my aid and violence was threatened but didn’t occur. The tournament directors also had my back and the team was disinvited to all future tournaments. A couple of the other umps were actually jealous because they wanted to be the one who tossed the coach. Seems he was a jerk to several of them during the weekend but I got the honor of removing him. 😊
Me and the wife were just talking about this the other day, I played a few games when I was around 6 or 7 and I vividly remember parents screaming and a couple coaches acting like they were coaching in the major leagues. Even at that age I thought it was ridiculous behavior. But I learned early that people are dumb. Same reason I don't care to go to superbowl parties. Watching people get all excited and or upset because some millionaire athlete dropped the ball has always seemed irrational to me.
About Superbowl parties... Or any TV game/match... Whiners complaining about how officials make a call are absurd. No matter what they think or say, the call remains as called. What changes? We all learn who is the whiner! And nobody likes a whiner.
@@TheRealScooterGuy We had three popular daughters and when we hosted Superbowl parties, we had one simple rule. "Bring something to MAKE at the party (in other words, can't bring bags of chips and junk stuff.) That rule applied to everyone. But the friends the girls invited didn't shy away from the challenge. Lots of yummy stuff. The only other rule... No talking during commercials!
@@AndrewBlacker-wr2veYeah I was a big NFL fan back in the day your commercial thing made me think that was when commercials were funny but I haven't watched NFL since the whole kneeling crap now it's all political BLM in the end zones all kind of crap I don't miss it that's still watch football but I'm into college now and I enjoy it in college players give it all they got because they trying to get to the next level the NFL players They so spoiled they just quit even during a contract or whatever I don't miss it but anyways that along with everything else going on we have become the laughing stock of the world it's amazing how far it is country has fallen All I can say is I'm glad conservatives like myself have dethrone Budweiser from the king of beers and I believe Target it's going to be in for bankruptcy before it's all over so there are some good people with good values but I think it's too late all this trans stuff men competing against women in sports Yeah FALLEN🇺🇲🦅🌎⚓ USMC
Many years ago I was a volunteer umpire at my sons little league games, he did the minors/majors. The coaches didnt know or care what the hand signals meant, and they sure never taught them to the players. At the beginning of every game I would gather the starting pitchers and catchers together to do a quick point/wave explanation. The kids learned quick, the coaches never did.
I blame the school systems in Massachusetts for allowing this problem to get so out of control that all of your umpires quit because of it. It sounds like they need to institute zero tolerance polices and start actively prosecuting parents when they make threats against employees.
At some point the authorities have to be called. Uttering threats is a criminal offense, and when it goes on unenforced to such a degree this is what you get
How about in addition to having zero tolerance, but let’s put some of the onus on the parents. So entitled parents forgetting that sportsmanship is the biggest part of the game. People (Americans) aren’t taught about losing gracefully. Participation trophies spoil the person into thinking they deserve something just for being. Maybe refocus the reward of a game to camaraderie, teamwork , respect (for other and self) and selflessness and community. Maybe they should sit for a Ted Lasso session. Adults acting like animals.
Umpired High school and travel baseball and softball for seven years. Worked a lot. It was very rare to ever have a problem with a player or coach. The parents were a whole different thing. I quit after 7 soley due to parent's actions. It was beyond ridiculous
My son played little league a decade ago. Regular league and traveling teams. Some of the best years of my life! We had so much fun! Thankfully we never had issues like described here. Once my son slid into home, and was called out... while the catcher was still standing there waiting for the ball to hit his glove. There were a lot of unhappy parents and coach did go talk to the ump, but the out stood. All that did was fire the team up even harder, and they crushed the opposing team. I was taking pictures, and still have the image of my son's foot touching home plate while the catcher is standing there waiting. One of my favorite pictures ever!
one of my friends told me about a softball league a girl they were associated played in where a coach taught his players to deliberately aim a foot at the catcher's glove when they slid into home, in order to make the catcher lose control of the ball. their star runner did that to the girl. and the umpire called the runner safe. then the catcher held up her OTHER hand with the ball still in it. the call was changed.
Bad calls ARE a part of the game. It's easy to get upset over a bad call but it should be over as soon as play resumes. Life is too short to hold grudges.
I did medical stand by at several youth football games. The way parents and coaches act was unbelievable, especially when I pulled a kid from the game for a possible concussion, or a fracture.
When I played in pony league, I also umpired for the 8-11 year olds. This was back in the early sixties, before parents became so hostile. I always had a copy of the rules in my pocket, but I had known the rules well, before I umpired. You are correct: I knew the rules far better than some of the managers. After all, they were fathers who donated their time to help the kids learn the game. Having that rule book helped me show the coaches what the rule book said so they didn't have to take the word of a 13 year old kid. I can't recall ever having a problem with parents or coaches.
I believe it, my husband used to umpire my daughter's softball games and coach her team. I remember one time having to sneak off the field. He also officiated for her soccer league and was threatened by parents, one of which was a police officer. 😢 That was the last time he volunteered. This was back in the 80's my daughter is 44 now.
First mistake is umpiring a game you are also a coach of a team in. Second mistake is umpiring a game with a family member playing. Both that either is a reason for abuse. But both are a recipe for disaster.
@@baseballumpires6901 you would think a girls softball team would be safe. When they need volunteers most parents will try to step up. Maybe I wasn't completely clear he coached her softball team when she was 8. When he officiated soccer different town and not her league. It was also different team and age group when he umpired her games.
@@rjay7019 my daughter plays softball. I help coach her team when asked. Never take an assignment when her team is involved. Learned that lesson years ago when I saw a volunteer umpire getting lit up with his kid playing in the game. Accusations like crazy. He was actually from my viewpoint as an observing uninvolved no stakes in the game umpire, he was calling a good game I thought.
@@baseballumpires6901 glad my kid's are grown. My husband loved sports so he was always there for the kid's. I couldn't even imagine how heated some parents would get over a game.
I'm not surprised! I don't know why parents can get so aggressive about meaningless things like youth sports - it's not like winning/losing really means anything at that age, anyway.
I was a high school boys waterpolo referee for 1 season. I tried to quit before the season ended because the male coaches and the parents would yell at me (a female) that I didn’t know the rules. I actually knew the rules better than they did simply because I thought it would protect me. One of my fellow refs who had been a player in college, thought he was a hotshot and knew the rules without ever looking at the rule book and would even contradict my calls with illegal nonsense. The head ref asked me to please hang in there at least to the end of the season. I did, but I didn’t ref again.
All you did was bail out their bad behaviour. You should of walked away, maybe they would of learned their lessons because they would of actually had to face them. You should value yourself and your time more than that
Few things in life are as insufferable as a Glory Days Little League parent. You know the ones, they're the people that "woulda been in the majors, but " and now live vicariously through their kids.
That fair/foul story, I had a very similar experience. A kid bounced a ball off home plate and it went over the pitchers head. Home plate is in play, unless it bounces up and makes contact with the batter. One of the coaches screamed “foul ball” and the kids quit on the play, since it was the batter’s coach I called him out for interference. That coach spent the rest of the game googling rules, found out I was right, and still was chewing ass for the rest of the game and even after the game as we were packing our gear up. Last game I ever umpired.
Way back, like the 1930s through the 50s they taught a play similar to that. Smacking a high chopper off home plate or the dirt in front of home plate. “The Baltimore Chop”. It’s the reason why the grounds crews water the dirt so hard in front of the plate.
I had a bad coach in little league. He would yell and swear at the refs, parents, and even the kids. Well after the 3rd game my dad told him to leave and never return or be carried off the field. My dad ended up coaching the rest of the year.
Does anybody remember the bad coach in Massachusetts the hockey coach that was abusing his players and when one of the dads tried to intervene the coach chased the dad out under the parking lot the coach tripped over his hockey skates fouled and hit his head and died And the dad went to prison do I remember that right
Bravo to the umpires ! This may be the only way to make parents behave. Way back when I was in school ( class of '73 ), the team that got the sportsmanship award was more highly regarded than the Championship. Winning CAN be a part just good luck, but behavior is all from inside and shows the character of that person or those people. And part of the deciding factors to win the sportsmanship was the fans behavior as well. It was drilled into us that winning "by hook or by crook" is not winning at all. It is called a sport for good reason.
I had that happen to me as a ref for soccer games 20 years ago, I called time out and walked over to them and read the rules out and it never happened again
In the early 80s in Western Canada our school's hockey team was one of the best in the province. It was coached and managed by two priests (they were excellent hockey players themselves). Our team would be on the road half the time. On more than one occasion the team bus had to have a police escort from the small town they'd been playing in because our team had so soundly defeated their team, and friends and parents of the defeated team became belligerent and threatening. It is terrible that umpires and other officials were threatened in this case but this is not a new phenomenon. I think we're finally not tolerating it any more.
You should’ve seen hockey games in Canada 40 years ago. They were insanely absurd. My parents would sit away from everyone in the arena they were so disgusted by these ignoramuses
@@gcanada3005 Tell me about it. My son has been refereeing hockey for the past thirty years in BC and Ontario and has had to testify in court on more than one occasion.
@@OpenKeith in this case, it was players and parents, which is why I noted both. From the WSAZ report: “After parents and players verbally abused and threatened the umpires, the officials walked off.”
My brother coached girl's soccer for several years. He loved what he was doing; the girls on his teams were a dream to work with. It was the abuse from the parents that drove him out of coaching.
A friend of mine umpired the tee ball league in high school, he had to eject a coach who also happened to be a teacher at our school. Surprisingly he complied and didn't retaliate against my friend.
My one exception is if the umpire is allowing stuff that that puts players at unnecessary injury risk (there are some softball clips where catchers were getting away with cheap shots and dirty play that could have seriously injured players multiple times within the same game).
Way back in the early 70's almost the same thing happened here in Phoenix, AZ. I got myself elected to the board and "hired" a bunch of good people to be umpires, I replaced all the old ones. I put my first wife in as chief umpire and the first time someone got out of line, she threw them off the field. That's all it took, word got around fast and the problem disappeared like magic. Many years later I ran across one of the men I got involved and he remembered what we did and thanked me, at the time no one believed it could be done. No police were ever involved. It takes a few good men and I thank them. As they say, "Teamwork Makes the Dream Work". A little addendum, My wife and I always carried a rule book in our hands, put never had to use it!
My Dad was a high school referee and umpire for multiple sports in the Flagstaff area during that time. I went with him a few times to games. I think I was ten, at a Flag high V. Coconino game at Coco. I was off playing with the gymnastics equipment when the whole gymnasium started Booing! I ran to the railing to see my Father throwing the head coach out for cussing my dad for throwing out his star basketball player. At the same high school that his son and daughter attended. That was a fun time for my family. We got egged a few times.
I think carrying the rule book was a big part of your success. Every rule book I've seen states it is acceptable after a play to ask for the ruling or (most say respectfully) call to look it up after the play is done. The presiding ump reads and considers the rule questioned and should have no argument changing or keeping the call based on the rule. A good coach will not waste time checking rules unless one call might change the outcome of the game.
From 65 years ago, I remember Little League. I remember winning one for the team and losing one (or more) for the team. We never questioned the ump's call and always had a cold pop for them in the parking lot... Memories forever...
When I was a kid, I was enrolled in a martial arts class. The value is moreso in exercise, discipline, and other positive learning experiences rather than actually being able to fight. At a tournament (which I had prepared for a month in advance), the judges were mostly from my dojo. We were doing "kata" (more of an artistic performance where you fight shadow opponents). It was very obvious that I outclassed every kid there, by a laughable margin, and everyone admitted it, even the parents. The judges from my dojo voted and as a result, I was put in last. It really stung, but I took it in stride, as we used competitions to train, not train for competitions. Looking back, I can see how significant that experience was in building my character. They very clearly did it to teach me a lesson in sportsmanship and humility, which was far more valuable than a gold medal
I can testify to how bad the job is of officiating any and all children's sports can be. My father who's turning 100 this year officiated baseball for 60 years of his life, little league being one of many and I went to observe a number of those games myself. He did retire about 20 years ago, and the behavior was commonly as Steve describes in this video. This really isn't new. It might be worse today, but it's been around for a long time. My father put up with all sorts of verbal abuse from the parents behind the backstop and the bleachers. The ones that annoyed me the most were the loudmouth women casting insults at my father. I had to stop going or else I was going to get myself into trouble by punching some of these people in the face. I know that stick and stones break the bones, but very nasty verbal abuse becomes very hard to take. My dad did have a pretty thick skin about it and would ignore what I had a hard time ignoring. My father also officiated High School wresting. He sent many a baseball and wrestling coach back to their chairs to sit down and shut up. It was common they they would jump up, run out and get in his face. This is a common part of pretty much any sport with any referee. I don't really understand the officials quitting since they control the situation and can and will stop the sporting event until the people comply, or they can end the event. The coaches, players, and spectators can be trained, they have to be trained to behave accordingly or they won't get to participate. My father had endless stories of throwing people off the fields due to their behavior. Yes, the umpire is Lord of the game and has the power to stop the game due to the behavior of players, coaches and even fans. My father had the police called to come more than once. We're talking 30-40 years ago. It's amazing how insane parents, coaches, and players can get over something as simple as a ballgame which is supposed to be fun, enjoyable entertainment. It's true that human umpires make mistakes. It happens with the best of them. It's part of the game. My father NEVER went back on a call, but it was part of the game to have people question his calls. My father talked about the trend to go to electronic officiating systems and ironically the majority of the public preferred the human element of officiating. As we know that tennis often uses electronics to see where the ball hits relative to a line. My father used to joke with the coaches, players who questioned his calls as he got older, claiming his eyes were no good. They would say he 'couldn't see' to make the call, and he would state, 'I could hear it!" In our city my father got an award from the city and a special dinner for being the oldest umpire in town. It was quite an honor.
@@scj8863 They can call the cops after a game just as easily, but I'm talking about what happens with the parents during the game. They can get quite violent and abusive. I'm speaking from my father's experience which he often spoke of. He was in the business for 50 years and had over 5000 games under his belt when he retired. He had endless stories of this kind of thing. He had problems with Coaches, players, and spectators before, during, and after games, and yes, it was and is today a common practice for umpires to get into their cars quickly at the end of a game. First of all it's because it's a job so they don't hang around figuring they spent enough time there because they're paid by the sporting event, not by the hour, and also not wanting to deal with the a-holes. He would most often 'point the horses for home', backing his car in which made it more convenient for getting his gear out of and returning it back into the trunk as well.
Give the umpires pepper spray and $50 if they use it. The key is to tell all the parents that the umpire gets $50 for using the pepper spray on a parent.
It’s been getting crazy. It never happened when I was a kid. My coaches would be mad but never confrontational. Only time I saw it was during MLB games with coaches. How can we expect our kids to have sportsmanship and integrity if the parents are utterly failing at it?
I umpired from 8th grade through highschool starting in the late 90s. It wasn't "thankless", I was paid well above minimum wage and in cash. We weren't yelled at often, but it did happen. I dealt with worse people working retail.
The best fun i had as a kid was playing pick-up hockey games at the rink in the winter. In our organized leagues older kids or high school hockey players did the officiating. Parents need to stop trying to re-live the glory days they imagined they had.
I always LOVED all pickup games (many decades ago). Football we could round up 10-16 players. Basketball it was easy to find 10. Baseball, yeah, more like 8-14. But we played for hours, had nothing but fun, didn't scream at each other (beyond the usual sort of "you're killing me, Smalls") and did it day after day. I absolutely DESPISED organized games. 250lb HS football coaches who would literally step on the players doing pushups or situps or whatever if they were displeased with their performance. Coaches grabbing players by the facemask to pull 'em in close to scream at them so they can get spit on and smell their breath. It was abusive and I absolutely swore off all that at a young age. I'm told pickup games "just doesn't happen anymore". And it's, as my grandmother would have said, "a crying shame".
Amen Steve! Coached soccer ten years and very same issues. This had got to change!!! So bad that the last year I coached, opposing team parent tried to intimidate one of my better players to get them to play worse. Parents over coaches are especially are out of control. My heart goes out to these young people. What kind of example is this setting.
Reffed soccer for 15 years....... never took any crap from parents..... sent many to the parking lot as I had the control; coaches would get in serious trouble if they disagreed
I agree, it has gotten worse over the years. Years ago I was so proud of my 16 yr old son who served two consecutive years as an umpire in the younger leagues in Western NY State. The league supported the umps well and the coaches were pretty good about following the rules. There were some parental comments thrown around but nothing too out of control. He had the gumption to warn coaches, players and fans ahead of time to watch their language or be thrown out. Not bad for a 5 foot teenager. My wife and I would go watch him ump. For his age he really handled himself well knowing the rules and holding firm to his calls, even if it was a questionable one. There was a playoff inning that had to be replayed a couple days later when he wrongly called a runner out for leaving a base too soon (for the third time). There was a protest by the losing coach. The league gave him the chance to call the replayed inning with my permission. I let him decide. He did amidst the tension and the end result was the former losing team won. The league really handled this controversial situation correctly. My son also learned from his mistake. Maybe umpires should write novels or autobiographies to tell their sides of the story.
I wish I could like this a thousand times. My kids and I were involved in martial arts, and within the school's competition team. We were expected to conduct ourselves properly. We were told NEVER to argue/contradict the judges. Whatever score we got, we got, period. But the parents of two kids decide that their kids were more important than everyone else, they were privileged. I was also a senior student of our master. The mother of the kids decided that she would record the scores of every competitor in her children's events (4 events, 30-50 competitors each) so she could check the scoring. Her kids never got close to being even in the top 30. She would actually go to the judges and complain about her kids' scores.. This was an embarrassment to our school, and her children. She didn't care, neither did the father. The same parents attempted to PAY the school to give black sashes to their kids. This taught me about some parents, and the concept of being privileged ... and in a Kung Fu school where sweat/effort/discipline/ethics is way up there on the top of the list. My teacher, who has unfortunately passed, had many philosophies on the matter. RIP, Shir-Fu. I am a parent of two wonderful kids, they are adults now. They did not need me to earn their black sashes., or anything else. They earned everything through their own efforts. Anything else doesn't teach them anything except how to cheat. Many people considered themselves to be privileged and entitled ... the Karens and Kevins. I can understand why the umps quit. Good for them, bad for the kids, but the umps had no choice. Let the parents get off their asses and either stay out of it, or participate by helping. Thank you for the video.
@@bluejedi723 Them: "My children's observations of what 'acceptable' home parental interactions is, combined with my public displays of aggression, certainly won't affect their development in any way." Also them: "What's wrong with my child? Why is he opposing me and yelling at us? It must be >insert group
@@tedmoss 'Daddy, love me!' followed by a lifetime of insecurities and lashing out. It's a shame that apparently neither empathy or compassion were a part of his home life. "If you don't have something nice to say about someone, don't say anything." definitely wasn't ever said. Throwing insults as plan A and not actually addressing whatever topic you want to ignore is a really sad way to exist. His father was a real piece of work; he's unfortunately perpetuated his upbringing in his older children. He could have at worst become someone that actually paid contractors on time for work completed. Hell, he missed a prime opportunity to release his tax records. If they were truly above board, their disclosure would have validated him in spades. Hell, he could have just blamed his accounting firm for any 'issues'. Fox news concluded that settling the election lawsuit was their best choice. Let's play devil's advocate and say that 99% of their assertions were mistaken. 1% is plenty enough to provide reasonable doubt. If there was a conspiracy by 'them' to discredit/obfuscate 'us', then the high ground is absolutely the best approach. 'Please petition for an orderly recount.'. 'Here are neutral third party findings on things.' If you misspeak, OWN IT. Don't rant that you're the victim and then tie up what would vindicate you in litigation. Be more transparent than those that oppose you. It's likely more than a few people will dissent from my post. A white lie, incomplete disclosure of all facts concerning an issue or being told 'just trust me' is an insult to the people as a whole. A politician that can't participate in basic civil discourse isn't a good politician. If anything, they should aspire to be as open as possible. There's absolutely no reason for income disclosures to be fought against.
My father told me always keep perspective. Some thing just aren't important enough -- pick your battles, not every hill needs to be died on. If you get bent out of shape about the outcome of a game, you need to step back and ask yourself if you've lost perspective.
@@unbreakable7633 Child of depression definitely. Too young for WW2 joined air force in 53 just after Korean war ended. Ended up in Vietnam decade later.
@@tedmoss Yep, same basic generation, same basic attitudes. I had an uncle who was an officer in the Marines during WW2 and then was called up for the Korean War.
I sympathize, I was a soccer referee. Was my first job since I was eligible at age 12. I didn't referee U10 (under 10) for years, because the first game I did the parents and coaches were so abusive when I called it the way I was taught to call it. As I got older, my skin got thicker, but parents usually cooled off when you get into the 14-18 range. At least in high school sports I had significant remedies for abusive coaches and parents (athletic director or school official proxy was responsible for the removal of parents). Crowd gets out of control verbally? all the parents leave school grounds.
I umpired in maryland, as a volunteer, then in VA for small pay. Then in NY as a volunteer. I umpired over a 15 year period, and as the years past the conduct of parents got worse. I gave it up 15 years ago. I can only imagine how much worse its gotten.
@@marktravelinPI MD District 2 (Frederick County area) and we had a rootin’ tootin’ good time as well. Brunswick Railroader LL, a.k.a. Mudville if ever there was one. Enjoyed my time behind the dish as it sounds like you did years ago, even did some state tournaments but today? Not a chance. Good memories though.
@@jedclampett7705 i actually got the opportunity to do a Big leage Eastern regional softball tournament. And a Big League maryland State state championship game. I truly enjoyed being behind the Dish... At that time Maryland had a great Little League System.
A friend of mine has been officiating baseball,softball, and basketball for 41 years now. He had dealt with players,parents, and coaches for years and has thrown out all the above. It takes a lot of patience dealing with rude and obnoxious people. Umpiring and refereeing pay for school sports is not worth the headaches.
I got started in soccer....which was basically the huddle of kids following the soccer ball...just fun for the kids and parents alike. I also had a couple of summers when I was a kid where I participated in little league....right field. Never had an instance of entitled parents. Later on in high school I was a right offensive tackle on the football team....as I was definitely built more for football. The head coach told my dad he loved the tree trunks I had for legs. As high school sports are much closer to having a career in sports...there were definitely more issues with parents yelling at refs. But not like it is today. No excuse for the coaches....you are absolutely right that they should be setting the example for the kids. I would argue that the parents need to do the same. Little league is about socialization and teaching good sportsmanship. This is the exact opposite of that.
The funny thing is most parents think their kids have a chance at playing at an advance level, when if fact they have no chance once so ever. It's okay to be competitive, but be realistic. Sports can be great for kids, or absolutely destroy a kid's love for sports. I've seen it firsthand.
Absolutely right, Donald. My Dad was a sports referee/umpire for baseball, softball, boys and girls basketball and football. For 25+ years. It felt like he loved sports more than family. I stopped caring for any sports quite young. Like before I graduated. My Dad devoted his life to making sure that every game he helped, everyone was treated fairly as players and cheating was the only thing he wouldn’t help. But if it was a unique play and discussed beforehand, and it was a legitimate play, he let them try.
@@peterallen4605 there are two kinds of kids named "Nelson." One you learn by respectfully asking because he is a bad ass and names never matter, and the second is the one screamed by well-intentioned overprotective parents. Just let your kids live
I volunteered exactly once to umpire a little league game. Never again. Also, I volunteered for years to officiate timing at swim meets (club and high school level). Only once did I ever have a problem with a coach. The head official (paid) told the coach that he was not allowed to talk to any other officials besides her, and she backed me up 100%. (I was right, after all). I always joked that if they didn't like the job I was doing, they were welcome to fire me. I did a good enough job that more than once I was asked to run the timing system at other venues to help out when they were short-handed.
I volunteered to coach my 10 year old son’s football game once. A parent was yelling at me about the play calling, I went over and offered him to coach. He had nothing to say after that.
I officiated youth sports (baseball and basketball) starting at age 15 and going through college and a few years beyond. Later in life I watched my son and daughter play soccer. During my son’s first year (age 8) I saw his team lose a championship game because the two officials didn’t understand the rules very well. The following year I signed up to officiate soccer and went through a good training program. I continued officiated for about 10 years and became the head official tasked with scheduling and training other officials.
I umpired a Little League game once, and I was horrible! It was over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and every time I rose from the squat behind home plate, the blood drained from my head, and for a few seconds I had to stand still to recover from my vision going dark-ish, lest I pass out. Once I forgot to call time when I bent over with my back to the pitcher as I dusted off home plate. So the pitcher threw the ball anyway, and the ball struck me in the butt. I didn't know what the rules said about that, so I pretended nothing happened.
The hand shake line- we did it as little leaguers, HS does it, college does it after a series, college basketball does it every game. I think it's one of the best things about little league and sports in general. Major league baseball doesn't do it, but sometimes they form a line and shake hands with their own team mates. lol. Pro hockey players have a hand shake line just after a series in the playoffs. It's a nice piece of civility- we need more of that
Lest we forget, parents are abusive to coaches too. My daughter was a coach for middle school girls and just took so much verbal abuse that she quit. Who needs it?
Parents and coaches are the reason why I stopped refereeing youth soccer after almost 10 years. I realized I had better things to do on the weekends than getting abuse from parents and coaches who had little understanding about the laws of the game and and how they were supposed to be used at different age levels. No doubt I made mistakes but I was out there on my own time at least trying.
I saw this back in 1983. I was in little league, and my dad volunteered to be an ump. Ones of my games got so out of control with screaming parents that the pitcher starting crying. My dad had to stop the game and lecture the parents.
Not only the parents,I was helping as usual at my 10 year old sons regular Sat morning athletics event taking a group of kids around a sports field . It was expected of all parents to do something to help during the day .I had a older woman,who I had never seen before , go completely nuts at me in front of the kids .She was in a official uniform covered with badges and ribbons and part of her rant was she was the State Co-ordinator and a Class 6 Official in the Olympics blah blah .I was just a Dad herding a bunch of 10 year olds from sand pit to sand pit without the skills of a Drill Sergeant to make the kids march like soldiers as she expected.
I used to officiate at tae kwon do tournaments and at one national competition where I was not assigned to a match, I sat next to some parents watching their 10--yr old green belt who was either taught incorrectly or the parents were just overly zealous. They were screaming to their child "kick him him the head," which at that level and at that age was forbidden. Competitor would be (if the official was competent) disqualified. Adults always ruin organized sports for children. It's sad. But kudos to the umpire association for making and sticking by their decision.
Almost 40 years ago I let myself get bullied into umpiring a game. By the third inning several of the players were screaming at me. I walked off the field and never went back.
To keep this kind of stuff from happening, our local field has a sign on the fence that warned parents that it's just a game, their kids are not professionals, there's no talent scouts for Big League teams there, and they will be kicked out if they get too rowdy. Parents like this are one of the reasons after I graduated high school I lost all interest in sports
It's been over 30 years, but I still remember this one very large loud mother would scream her head off when we played against this one team. She'd scream the entire time. Yet no one ever stopped her. Honestly, if I remember correctly, she was fairly intimidating. I wouldn't have stopped her either.
No, people are afraid of the police. That is why no one did anything, because they thought it was not worth an encounter with the cops, even 30 years ago.
As an umpire myself (having worked 8U {baseball with all kids under 9 years old} to College level games), I know EXACTLY what you mean, and you are precisely correct in all that you said (although I wold NOT have given in and said anything on that last "almost out of play" ball). I also commend the GTABUA for standing tall and not compromising. Parents *think* they know the rules, but very few know ALL the rules. Umpires spend HOURS studying and learning ALL the rules. It's the most important part of our job! The second most important item, is being in the right place to make the call. When you went over to the fence to see if the ball remained in play, you did EXACTLY the right thing! Well done! Thank you for airing this segment!
I started officiating high school football in 1975. Our association required new officials to call youth football games for the first two years as a means of gaining experience. At the end of those two years I never again called youth ball because of the adults. This is not a new problem but it has become more vicious. All around the country, at all levels, it has become extremely difficult to find new officials and retain the ones with experience because of the abuse.
I reffed soccer for 10 years (2008-2018). The retention rate for new refs getting to their second year was about 12% in 2008, it's less than 5% when I retired.😬
When my kids played soccer in Wisconsin, they had additional cards for the refs, orange and blue. These were like red and yellow cards but for parents and coaches. One coach was out of control and a friends daughter was officiating. She gave the coach an orange card and he started screaming. She calmly said are you leaving or am I calling the police? He left.
I've coached rec league soccer. I've also worked computer tech support for 20 years. There is no de-escalation with past 10 years of adults. They go from zero to WW3 in a heartbeat. As I've learned, best decisions are usually the ones that are perfect for no one.
As you said, it is sad, and a sign of the times we live in. My opinion is this; as soon as some parent or couch start this king of behavior, the game should be called off. No one wins.
I made it a point to thank refs and umpires and judges when our kids were participating in sports (soccer and gymnastics). I did this after the game or meet so no one thought I was trying to influence anyone. Just a "Hey, refs - thanks for being out here today" at soccer games or "Hey, judges - thank you for being here all weekend" at gymnastics meets helps to let them know that their contribution of time and expertise is appreciated.
It's amazing how ignorant of rules a lot of players today are. It used to be parents. I started umpiring very young. My mother was the 1st girl's league VP. My Dat was unofficial grown crew chief and I was the umpire. The mothers were VERY new to watching and I have stories of mothers yelling at me because they didn't tag on a force out! GOOD TIMES! I got my high-school Ohio officiating license. I really enjoyed it back then. There were a great support system and yearly training! I got to be one of the "main" high-school girls umpire 'source' with my history and doing a LOT of the girl's games. There was a HUGE difference in rules! Most don't know the precise way to officiating for clarity! What you yell over just single. Simple rule! It's fair and live until an umpire says different!
I played Little League for 2 seasons in the 70s. Worked my way up from right field to first base by the end of my 2nd year, and made the last 3 outs of the last game of my eligibility. Was quite a high point in my young life. At the time I remember an interview with Tommy Lasorda, the legendary coach of the Dodgers, where he said when he went on the field to gesticulate and yell at the umpire, it was for show and they were actually saying mundane things (because nobody in the stadium could hear) like "Hi, how are you, nice weather..." I didn't believe it but my parents said it was almost certainly the truth. Parents in my league were mostly cool. I only remember one time where a drunk parent became aggressive and was even swinging a bat around threateningly after the game. Much of the team was tempted to quit the league on the spot; the parent was banned and stopped bringing his kid which was a shame.
The most fun I ever had playing little league was a year we lost most games but everyone got to play and have fun. The next year I quit because my coach was to serious only playing the kids he thought were the best in most positions. It’s not about winning it’s about the kids having fun. I ended up getting really into skateboarding and still skate till this day. I liked it a lot more than baseball because I got to decide what I wanted to do and who with.
I recall playing little league in Phoenix, AZ and only once did we have an abusively screaming parent. I and a couple of friends turned around in the dugout and shouted "BOOOOOO!" until they stopped. I never saw a coach screaming at an ump. I DID see a coach screaming at an outfielder to pay attention. Kid might have been a touch ADHD.
Hi Steve, I played in Little League and loved it when we had our trip to the ball park in Philadelphia. At the time it was Connie Mack Stadium. I played every position except pitcher and catcher. There was one game we were winning 4 -3 and in the seventh inning batted the lineup twice and at mu third time at bat had hit my third grand slam. The score was now 22 - 3 and our coach went to the other and asked if the game should be stopped. They wanted to continue with the game and our coach asked us to be kind and not hit anymore home runs. The game did end at 22 - 3.
I grew up in central NY. The parents were pretty harsh with bad apples. I recall a dad that was banished from the baseball stands so he watched from the outfield fence. They did the same thing with soccer. They asked a parent to leave the game because of bad language. Same in HS. One dad was kicked out of the hockey rink for bad behavior.
Sports parents are absolutely insane. I used to be a site manager for a basketball organization where kids from the tristate area would come and compete. The parents were bonkers. They think that their kid is the only one on the court (or in this case field) that matters so whenever something happens they blow up. I've seen several parents try to fight the refs for these games. Like refs that are working 8-9 games per day. We had to call the police multiple times. So this doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
I umpire for little league in Minnesota, and that particular play where umpires call for timeout and the pitcher still throws the ball happens all the time. I point it out at the plate meeting each game, but it still happens. It can not only lead to what happened here, but it's also a safety issue, especially if we're correcting the batter or catcher's position or equipment and they're not paying attention.
@@timclark7507 There's unfortunately not a provision for it in the rulebook. The closest you'd get is an illegal pitch, but that's more in line with a balk. Either way, the penalty for an illegal pitch would be that the pitch is called a ball. Nothing can happen while time is called, on the other hand - it's just a dead ball.
BTW love your vids. You have mastered the medium and are a natural story teller. Look forward to each new addition. I was an umpire here in Australia for many years. Started when my kids were playing and I grew to enjoy umpiring. Attended association training camps each year and umpired to a reasonably high level which included local senior games, capital city major league and national and international games up to and including under 18s. Loved it most of the time, but as time and years passed I grew tied of the constant abuse in mainly the adult leagues. Eventually any enthusiasm and passion I had for umpiring died and I gave it away. Life is too short to tolerate these kinds of people. Sad. Baseball is a wonderful game of inches. I still have a passion for the game, just not for some of the people involved.
My childhood memories of baseball (from the 1980s) were of my drunk coach screaming at a bunch of 10 year olds. It was not a good time. The good old days were not so different from the current days.
You described the foul/fair ball calls very well. And you teach your kids that every ball is in play and you dont stop until you hear an ump call foul ball, or out of play, or time out. A player never makes such a determination. A ball is in play until told it's not by an umpire. Not another player, not the coach, not mom or dad.
The same situation has arisen in some parts of Canada with minor hockey referees. I reffed for over 20 years and yes we took some abuse from the fans in those days but that was expected. In the last few years however, minor hockey associations have had to enact rules of conduct for parents that virtually make them have to keep their mouths shut during games because the abuse of on-ice officials had gotten so bad that refs were just quitting with no one wanting to enter the field. It's so bad in some places that the amateur hockey associations in some provinces are willing to provide all of the training clinics, uniforms and equipment free of charge up front in order to entice new people into officiating.
I've read a few of those stories over in BC. I also remember the rules being enacted here roughly within the last 10 years as it got really bad. So far as I know those rules have helped a lot
I played Taunton HS in football in the very late 2000's. The parents of several key players were somehow the referee's. Besides "the coaches kid was the QB" style stuff happening too, the REF's? One of their offensive linemen tried to gouge my eye out, not just accidents happen, cause that was the play before, openly bleeding multiple scratches blood down into my eye and down my face. Same play I got called for defensive holding, on a facemask grab and me falling behind the scrimmage line. I'm not surprised the refs fucked off because of the parents. The refs werent "the parents" anymore cause state got the tape of the game at the time. Their suspiciously high home record versus every away loss was chalked up to home field advantage... until it wasnt. We were the better team, and you couldnt hide behind fake calls anymore
I was a swim parent in the 90s. Swim meets were officiated and timed by volunteers. Everyone was completely friendly and civil regardless of the calls or which team won. The kids had a wonderful experience the whole time and made lasting friendships.
I have been a LL coach, umpire, announcer. I guess the most problematic was when we let girls on our team (there was no girls' league), and teams would forfeit the game. No problem. We'll take the win. When I was umping, I would stop a game if I thought the players were being harassed or parents being abusive. It only took one 1-0 forfeit that parents learned that I was not accepting such behavior (I also taught in the schools, so I knew a lot of the parents and a lot knew and supported me because they knew I was always fair).
