Treatment of Game Officials

Recently, while scrolling on the internet I came across a story on Facebook reported by NBC news in New York regarding an umpire who left the field while the game was still in process. This wasn’t a simple matter of the umpire just leaving the field for no reason, but rather he left after being abused by both the parents and one of coaches all game long.

Like most sports disputes, this one started with a disputed call. The umpire, who was umpiring the game alone and from behind the pitcher’s mound, due to the fact that more and more youth sport officials are opting out of officiating games due to the abuse that they are taking. Following a disputed call, the coach came out to argue the with the umpire and got ejected for arguing the call and refused to leave the field so the umpire abandoned the game. As the umpire left the field, the parents continued to abuse him, as they had been doing all game, and he curses them out, in front of the children, as he leaves the field.

During the interview with NBC News, the league president stated that this behavior between coaches, spectators and game officials is becoming more common and that coaches and parents have stopped knowing where the “line” is and that more and more children are playing games with fewer game officials due to officials not wanting to subject themselves to the abuse. The president further stated that, while he was not criticizing the umpire’s behavior, that umpire would no longer be umpiring games for that league. My question is why? During the interview the president said that this particular umpire has umpired over 100 games for the league and while I am not at all condoning his behavior (and in fact I found it reprehensible), my question would be what was the league doing to nsure that the coaches and parents were in control during the game and not abusing the game official? Has this happened in the past and if so, how was it handled? Were there any ramifications for the coaches and parents who acted out? If not, why is the umpire being “punished”? What happened to the coach? Were there any ramification for his actions? And if not, why not? Shouldn’t the coach be held to the same and possibly a higher standard as the umpire due to the fact the he spends more time with the children than the umpire and should be a role model for the children that he coaches.

Unfortunately, this is becoming a major issue for youth sports leagues around the country. According to a September 20, 2018 FOX News story, 80% of High School and youth sports officials quit before their 3rd year on the job and the reason for this trend is the abusive behavior by parents and coaches. Barry Mano, the President of the National Association of Sports Officials, stated that his office receives calls weekly from youth sports and non-youth sports officials alike, that have to do with assaultive behavior. He stated that in a survey of youth sports officials the following was revealed:

· 13% have been assaulted;

· 47% have feared for their safety;

· 51% have had to break up a fight between players; and,

· 64% have ejected a spectator over unruly behavior.

What causes seemly rational people to become irrational enough at a youth sporting event to cause a game official to abandon the game? One factor can be attributed to the financial and time commitments that parents are investing in their children. Many parents are spending astronomical amounts of money to have their children join competitive/select travel teams in the hope that their children will get that elusive college scholarship and by spending this money and having their children on these teams, along with the time and money spent on specialized training, extra equipment and traveling to tournaments they feel that this gives them the right to act the way that they do at sporting events.

In Mark Hyman’s book “The Most Expensive Game in Town, he states that the idea that youth sports will pay for college in a myth for all but a few athletes. Further, he states that there are far more kids hoping to play college sports than are roster spots for them and that fewer than 7 in 100 athletes move from prep to college teams (NOTE: this book was published in 2012 and the numbers may be dated).

What can be done to eliminate or lessen this conflict between coaches, parents and youth sports officials? In my opinion, the education of coaches and parents by league officials is the answer to these issues. The next question is what type on education is needed?

In an October, 2017 article about respect and accountability, posted on the TrueSport website, called “7 Steps of Teaching Youth Athletes to Respect Umpires and Referees” they laid out seven lessons for referee respect and they are as follows:

1. Referees have more training than players and spectators – No matter how experienced or knowledgeable an athlete or parent is, it’s important to remember referees have specific training in the rules of the game, how to observe the game, and how to make the difficult calls.

2. More focus on the referee means less focus on the game – Players, spectators, and coaches can’t control officiating, but if players are overly focused on how the officials are calling the game, they are likely less focused on playing the game to the best of their abilities. Similarly, coaches should advocate for their team, but focus more on instructing and guiding players than haranguing referees.

3. Referees should be treated like coaches – One of the ways coaches can model respect for officials is to make an effort to personally greet referees before the game, just as you would the coach of the opposing team.

4. Rude teams don’t get calls – Referees do their best to call games objectively, but they are still human. On a tough call that could go either way, a referee may be more likely to rule in favor of a team whose players (and coaches) have been respectful and focused on fair play throughout the game. It’s a natural bias to reward favorable behavior and the people who have treated them respectfully.

5. Yelling at officials models poor communication skills – For parents and coaches, it’s important to think about what yelling at refs teaches youth athletes.

6. Try It Before You Criticize – Having athletes and parents try officiating during scrimmages at practices is a great way if illustrating the difficulties referees face.

7. Remember It’s Just a Game – No missed call during a youth sports game is going to make or break an athlete’s career. Youth sports are an environment for learning about and falling in love with sports, not heaping pressure on athletes, coaches and officials.

In my opinion, these are good rules for youth sports organizations to model and follow and while they may eliminate the violence that occurs towards game officials, they could serve to lesson the issues. And while youth sports leagues don’t have to use these exact rules, I feel that leagues should develop a set of rules that everyone has to abide by and this would be a step in the right direction in reducing such incidents and making youth sports the learning experience that they should be and not the pressure filled activity that it currently is. What are your thoughts?