Lacrosse is still right up there and I’ll explain why. It’s a chirpy sport by nature like baseball so the kids are constantly talking to each other. You have a stick in your hand aka a weapon and Midwest refs don’t know the game well enough so slashes are usually allowed while good physical body play is penalized. Big kids regularly pummel small kids in space which then draws the ire of the parents who chose lacrosse because it was “safer” than football. Finally no one attends these games so they seat the fans on the same side opposite the players benches and you can hear every little comment. Still the only sport where I witnessed a mom try to push another mom down the bleachers after a loss. Yikes.
Worst parents?
- Thread starter MS4EVER
- Start date
As someone who has coached many levels of sports, I think it varies by sports and club/school
Elementary (under 12)
travel: wrestling (it isn't coach)
school: football
Middle school (12-15)
travel: wrestling, boys lax
School: boys basketball
HIghschool (15+)
travel: baseball, 7v7 football
School: girls soccer, girls basketball, girls lacrosse
Elementary (under 12)
travel: wrestling (it isn't coach)
school: football
Middle school (12-15)
travel: wrestling, boys lax
School: boys basketball
HIghschool (15+)
travel: baseball, 7v7 football
School: girls soccer, girls basketball, girls lacrosse
This is so true. I’ve had this theory for wrestling parents. Anyone who didn’t have athletic success makes the worst wrestling parent. Too much pressure, can’t control themselves, screaming at refs, coaches and their kid of course
Fight among parents leads to chaos at national cheer competition in Dallas
Videos show as young cheerleaders and parents fled from the Dallas convention center.
No matter the gender, no matter the sport, it starts on the field...
spreads to the stands...
and filters down to the parents and kids.
spreads to the stands...
and filters down to the parents and kids.
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I agree with eagles 2k3 on a very important point. It was definitely the parents who didn't play sports or who had very little experience on the field, court, ice., etc. who were, by far, the worst parents.
With that said, I don't know if it has gotten worse in the past 15 years or so. But my kids played, baseball, softball, volleyball, football and basketball in youth and HS sports with two of them going onto college to play football, baseball and softball. I haven't seen or coached in that world for at least 15 years but did from 1993 - 2010. I assume parents, in reading the posts here that nothing has changed much.
When they were little and in youth sports there were some parents who were clueless. But with our oldest the parents really weren't that bad at all. With second oldest the parents were bad on certain teams and not so bad on others. The baseball parents were clueless and bad but in basketball and football they weren't that bad.
The parents on my third oldest were bad in baseball till we took him off one team, put him on another, and those parents were pretty much the same. Basketball parents weren't that bad and the football parents were pretty good in his grade in HS. But the grade older than him had a slew of real a-holes. Glad when their kids, and they moved on.
The youngest had pretty good parents for basketball and volleyball. Softball parents were good till that one got to be 10 and we put that one on another team. Those parents were ridiculous at times. Saw a couple fights in those years.
But I just remembered when my second oldest was playing baseball, that one was on an 8 year old "all star" team. We were playing against the Morris 8 year old team. The coach on that team took a kid off the field in the middle of an inning because the kid made a couple errors. Soon after I could see the kid's dad saying something to the coach through the fence of the bench. After the game we saw those two arguing from across the parking lot. The dad of the kid pulled a gun on the coach. He didn't pull the trigger, but I stopped in my tracks and was wondering, WTF!
Overall on a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being the best, I would say the parents were maybe five and a half or six. There were a few who were terrible, but nowhere near the majority.
With that said, I don't know if it has gotten worse in the past 15 years or so. But my kids played, baseball, softball, volleyball, football and basketball in youth and HS sports with two of them going onto college to play football, baseball and softball. I haven't seen or coached in that world for at least 15 years but did from 1993 - 2010. I assume parents, in reading the posts here that nothing has changed much.
When they were little and in youth sports there were some parents who were clueless. But with our oldest the parents really weren't that bad at all. With second oldest the parents were bad on certain teams and not so bad on others. The baseball parents were clueless and bad but in basketball and football they weren't that bad.
The parents on my third oldest were bad in baseball till we took him off one team, put him on another, and those parents were pretty much the same. Basketball parents weren't that bad and the football parents were pretty good in his grade in HS. But the grade older than him had a slew of real a-holes. Glad when their kids, and they moved on.
The youngest had pretty good parents for basketball and volleyball. Softball parents were good till that one got to be 10 and we put that one on another team. Those parents were ridiculous at times. Saw a couple fights in those years.
But I just remembered when my second oldest was playing baseball, that one was on an 8 year old "all star" team. We were playing against the Morris 8 year old team. The coach on that team took a kid off the field in the middle of an inning because the kid made a couple errors. Soon after I could see the kid's dad saying something to the coach through the fence of the bench. After the game we saw those two arguing from across the parking lot. The dad of the kid pulled a gun on the coach. He didn't pull the trigger, but I stopped in my tracks and was wondering, WTF!
Overall on a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being the best, I would say the parents were maybe five and a half or six. There were a few who were terrible, but nowhere near the majority.
I haven't come across too many bad track parents. Winning and losing is usually fairly straight forward and don't involve the officials all too often.
Making a strong case for the purity of track & field.
One of the reasons I love football is that it is not driven by the professional club like other youth sports. I know that there are attempts, but for the most part, a kid plays for their high school and most of the games they play will be local. Spending thousands of dollars to travel the country to watch 12-year-olds play other 12-year-olds is crazy. I am guilty of it with my own kid, but I am trying to pull back.
Right or wrong, when parents invest the money in fees, travel, and private coaching, they expect to see a return, which adds to the angry sports parents. I honestly long for the days when youth sports were mainly done through schools and park districts and kids just playing in the park for hours.
Right or wrong, when parents invest the money in fees, travel, and private coaching, they expect to see a return, which adds to the angry sports parents. I honestly long for the days when youth sports were mainly done through schools and park districts and kids just playing in the park for hours.
Year round tackle football has exploded post covid. Interested to see how many of those kids flame out/injure out by Junior/Senior year.
Investing in all that stuff for your kid doesn't equal a huge return like it might in the business world. All the coaching/training isn't making an average athlete good enough to play DI, heck even a good athlete. The sooner parents understand the better but they won't.
There is a lady I grew up with who tried to will her son into a D1 scholarship. He started at one of the better Catholic schools but was undersized for his posiition. She drove him around the country for two summers going to one day camps all over the place. He is going to an NAIA school. Nothing wrong with that but I could have told you by his measurements that was where he was ending up awhile ago.
Well, you can forget about your last sentence. All of my kids are adults now 33 and older. They played outside a lot more than inside when they were kids. We encouraged it. And they did have friends who they played with too. But it seems like most kids today have to be dragged outside to play. Whereas when we were kids and our kids had to be dragged back in the house even for dinner. If a parent wants a kid to go outside they need to understand the kids might not have much to do because pretty much no other kids are outside. I drive by parks in spring, summer and fall and if they aren't empty there are very few people there.
Maybe it is because some of the kids are playing travel sports and aren't around. But again, when we were kids some of us played organized sports. But the kids who didn't, were still outside playing with us or doing something else. Very, very few kids stayed inside back then. And we thought the ones who rarely went outside were weird. There are schools that don't have an outside recess now. I couldn't even imagine that as a kid. Some have cut back on gym classes. And some people wonder why there are so many overweight and obese kids. It isn't just the poor food choices. Kids simply aren't as active and don't seem to be as creative. I don't mean all kids...but I do mean too many kids. They don't have to be great athletes to go run and play outside. I blame the adults for that. That, however, is my perspective.
As for the first sentence of your second paragraph. Parents like that shouldn't even have kids. Or shouldn't have them in travel sports. But it cuts to exactly to what the major problem in travel sports is. It's not for the parents. It truly is for the kids. So many parents live vicariously through their kids in sports that it's pathetic. The worst were always the ones who were frustrated athletes in their day. Or never really played in their day. My wifey and I had our chance. We always told the kids they could play travel sports if they wanted to but didn't have to. They could play in house non competitive or play competitive sports and we would find the teams and places for them.
Not very long ago my wife and I were discussing when the kids played travel sports. There is no question in all those years...nearly 20...we spent six figures in fees travel, etc. But we didn't regret it. We didn't spend it in hopes of them getting athletic money, although two did. We laugh and say it kept them out of trouble. Maybe it did. Kids will find something to do when they are idle and a lot of it might not be good. So, whatever price it was, was well worth it.
I am not virtue signaling and I don't want to come off saying "in MY day." I don't expect the world to go back to a Currier and Ives painting. If it ever was one. I think kids are still kids. Maybe it's the adults who have changed. Sorry for the long post.
The best set up, IMO, was when there was a travel team for your town(s) for the really really good kids and the rest play in-house and it was pretty good level of competition.
My wife's brother-in-law thought his young son was bound for glory in the form of a baseball ride to Notre Dame. It was sad to witness multiple HS transfers and uprooting family moves. Chasing this unrealistic dream formed from youth travel baseball was a sad unfolding that was totally predictable.
These are wise words. I think every parent should read this before they join a club/travel sport.
Travel sports have decimated the town/park/rec leagues.
When my son was 13 he moved up from Little League (age 10-12) to PONY baseball. He did well and had fun, even though the field gets a decent amount bigger at that transition. The following year (which I had assumed would be PONY year #2), when I went to register him, I was informed that no league was available. Between those two years, PONY had changed their age requirements, and there was no Colt league in the area. It was travel or nothing for him at age 14.
I can only imagine that trend will continue to trickle down to lower levels.
Forgot this gem. There was a principal in the whose kid played at a different high school. This principal was a raging lunatic at the games. Even to the point of cornering the coach after a team banquet and declaring they were going to get that coach fired. Which they succeeded in doing. Not surprisingly, the team continued to be bad the following year.
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