Sports and poisonous atmospheres

Much has been made in the American media, and rightly so, about the melee at an NBA basketball game in Detroit where players from a player from the visiting Indiana Pacers stormed into the crowd to confront a player who'd thrown something at him.

However, this article from The San Francisco Chronicle notes that such anti-social idiocy is not limited to professional sports, millionaire players and fans paying ridiculous ticket prices.

When the first blow landed on the side of his head, sending his glasses flying, soccer referee Bruce Greenlee wasn't shocked. There was no disbelief that a low-key, recreational league soccer game among 8- and 9-year- olds had turned to violence.
The sad fact is, he'd been expecting it.

"My first thought was, 'Well, I guess today's the day,' '' Greenlee, an attorney and legal software developer in San Francisco, said Monday. "I kind of knew it would come someday.''

[...]

In this case, it was last Saturday morning [November 20] at halftime of an under-10 soccer match in sleepy, suburban Albany. It was a lovely morning until the coach of a Richmond [CA] team completely lost his marbles. He threatened Greenlee, a 59-year-old referee, and when Greenlee couldn't change his mind, hit him twice, at least once with what Greenlee believes was a martial-arts kick, sending him to the hospital for stitches.

It wasn't the first run-in Greenlee had with this coach. The guy had been in the league for three seasons, and Greenlee had twice before disqualified his team for failing to provide proof that his players were not over the required age. It was simple, the ref said: The guy was sneaking older players onto his team so he could win.

The ref disqualified the cheating team, which prompted the cheater coach to go psycho on the kiddie league official.

Fortunately, the ref is reportedly pressing charges against the delinquent who attacked him. The coach could face a misdemeanor charge of assaulting a referee, which carries a fine of up to $2,000 and a year in jail, authorities said.

I'm glad the ref chose to do this. He's sending a message to all parents that if you act like a criminal, you'll be treated as one... regardless of the context.

That the coach would be so pathetic as to cheat in an 8-/9-year old game is enough of a black mark on his character. But to assault the ref like some common street thug? I feel sorry for the child that has to grow up with this person as a male role model.

I've written before about the lunatic parents that reign in some youth sports leagues. In most cases, it's a minority of parents; most of them are either passionate within the bounds of reason or simply supportive of their child. Most coaches volunteer because they love the sport or because they want to spend more time with their kids. But it only takes a few jerks with no sense of perspective, even one, to ruin the experience for a whole team. Combine that with a bunch of decent parents who won't confront the jerk(s).

There is a counterexample to all this doom and gloom. My city's rec soccer program (with which I am not involved) has a reputation for having a culture when perspective prevails. Parents whose passion nears that line which separates reasonable exuberance from 'get a life,' they are politely reminded which side of the line to stay on.

The rec program is a feeder for the school program in which I coach. Not coincidentally, participation in my school's modified (middle school) programs is much higher than it was before the rec program started.

Increased participation allows me a bigger pool of players to develop, which in turn leads to more competition and thus better players. Our school's varsity team (the top level team) has improved greatly in the last few years.

In other words, letting kids enjoy themselves and creating a positive atmosphere for them to play in eventually leads to successful results.

How revolutionary!