[ref18]

Originally posted by CommonSenseRef
Sorry, BktBallRef. When I said parents, I meant the people sitting in the bleachers. And I realize that quite often a parent is the coach. I often feel sorry for the kid on the team whose dad is the coach, because of how the coach acts. I have had to clear a gym 3 times to finish ballgames because the parents were so out of control. And you know, every time, after we did that, the players played better and stopped yappin’, coaches coached, and the game was a breeze to officiate. My experience is that the more the parents yell, the kids often follow suit on the court, and the play goes downhill.

I never said that there haven’t been officials quit because of bad coaches. It is just my opinion after doing hundreds of these type of games that parents have more of a negative effect on young officials than the coaches.

BktBallRef, can you please show me where Kaliix took the low road? Was it before or after he was called a Bozo?

Jurassic – All I’m saying is that in this world there are teachers that have no business teaching, there are doctors that have no business practicing, and there are officials that have no business officiating. I am not talking about anyone specifically, never did. But this is reality. I have no idea who these officials were, and never said they were good or bad.

And yes, I do help out younger officials. Actually, that is one of the aspects of officiating I enjoy most. Giving tips, and guidance to make these officials feel and act more confident on the court is awesome. I also talk with them about how to deal with coaches on the sideline, because coaches are a part of the game. I don’t talk about dealing with parents, because they are NOT part of the game, eventhough many think they are.

I find it interesting that the rule books give officials many alternatives/penalties for dealing with coaches (directly), and none for parents (directly). Yet the officials in your area expect, and are OK with, taking crap from those they cannot deal with directly, yet quit because of a coach that they could deal with directly.

My biggest piece of advice, if you can't take the BS from parents, officiating isn't for you, because they're never going to stop. As a younger official myself, I've learned to deal with it. I ignore them. And commonsenseref, you are absolutely right with your comments about the parents being the main cause of the problems, I've had a pissed off kid tell her mom to shut up with regards to yelling at the refs because he was embarassed by her comments. You need a thick skin, and worry about what's going on in the game and not the stands, because you're there to referee, not police the parents.