[SmokeEater]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Billy, you have every right to do what you suggest you would. And I suspect a lot of parents might; especially at that level.

However, sometimes parents have to be willing to suffer consequences for actions they deem appropriate in spite of the rules. If I were running something like this rec league, and we had a rule like colt is proposing, I'd only enforce it if the parent became abusive towards the officials. IMO, this particular Dad may well have found himself in the parking lot without warning.

I'll give an example. 4 years ago this past fall, my younger brother had sarcoma in his chest. After the initial biopsy, they went in and cleared a little more space around the original tissue to ensure they had it all. The morphine sent him into respiratory arrest in the middle of that first night, and he was moved to ICU. The first night, Dad insisted he (or I) be allowed to stay in the ICU room with him, against hospital policy. They were going to refuse, but Dad called their bluff with the only hand he had. They were going to either let him stay or have him arrested. They acquiesced. My point, he knew their rules, and he didn't think they were necessarily bad. He was, however, prepared as a father to ignore them and do what he thought best for his son; even if there were consequences.

BTW, if your kid is seriously hurt, he's likely leaving the gym for treatment anyway, so being told to leave the gym would only be a formality.

Snaqs and Billy your are both right on the money with your comments. IMO both are justifiable. Iirc, there are already rules in place to stop someone from berating and addressing an official inappropriately so enforcing the rule is all that would be needed, IMO. I am an EMT and certified as a sports trainer and also do not hesitate to assist at a game (football, hockey and basketball) when I see fit. My youngest is now 13 yrs old and I have learned to use some descretion about when help is actually needed. Like was said by this age you can let a little more go. To each his/her own I guess.