Yelling at sports officials doesn't help any situation

From the YakimaHerald.com Online News.

Published on Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Yelling at sports officials doesn't help any situation

They're some of the most important people of a sporting event.

Yet, they get the blame for a team's loss, even if it's not their fault.

I'm not talking about the starting pitcher, quarterback, or point guard. I'm talking about the referees and umpires who officiate these sporting events. Games could not be played fairly without them. Yet coaches, players and parents sometimes show them an extreme lack of respect.

You see it all the time on television, coaches and players verbally, sometimes physically, assaulting the officials. Whether it be one little call, or a series of mistakes, the athletes seem to lose their cool and make fools of themselves.

This behavior has even become common in the sporting events of younger kids. Referees and umpires of all youth sports deal with the same criticism and pressure that those in the big leagues do. Although it is on a much smaller scale, they deal with verbal abuse from parents and coaches who want their kids to win.

I know this all too well because I have been a Little League umpire. The reason I do not continue that job is due to the fact that I could not stand the pressure being exerted by coaches and parents of the teams that were playing. I have a friend who quit her job umpiring softball for the same reasons.

It is the coach's job to defend his or her players and make sure the game is being played fairly. But some coaches need to realize that winning isn't everything. When they teach their kids that winning is the only thing that's important, it causes them to look for excuses for their loss and the blame gets put on the officials.

I recently witnessed an incident at one of my brother's baseball games that truly shocked me. A player on my brother's team was hit by a pitch and clearly was hurt. The opposing coach, however, was more worried about whether or not it should've been a foul ball than if the player was OK.

Parents also take things too far when they disagree with a call made during a game. By mouthing off to the officials, they teach their children that it's OK to do the same.

In that same game with the coach who took things too far, I watched a player from the opposing team argue a call while he was up to bat.

Parents nowadays put too much pressure on their kids to succeed. This causes kids to look for any excuse for not doing well. And usually they blame the umpire.

Coaches, parents and players need to clean up their acts.

Only one out of every 13,000 high school athletes will ever be a professional athlete, and only 1 percent to 2 percent of high school athletes will receive a Division 1 scholarship to play sports in college. Parents need to show these statistics to their kids so they realize that sports are meant to be fun.

So the next time you're at a sporting event and you think the official made a bad call, just put yourself in their shoes and think about the responsibilities they have.

It's not an easy job, but someone has to do it.


* Matt Rossow attends East Valley High School.