weekend tournaments

[Mark Padgett]

It depends on the league. In my local rec league (grades 3 - 12), we make all parents (including coaches) sign a conduct statement. This makes it easier to take action against someone who is acting like a jerk. Last weekend, an official (who is a HS junior) ejected a parent from a gym for challenging another parent to a fight. The ejected parent is suspended for the season and may not attend games or practices. We also suspended a coach (3rd grade boys) for yelling at his players in a derogatory manner. We had a bunch of complaints from the parents on his team. He told one 3rd grader, "You're the biggest kid out there. You should be getting every rebound. You're not very good but at least you have some size. WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?!?!?!?!" This was way out of line.

Use the T, make sure you know who game management is and don't hesitate to ask them to eject spectators for unacceptable behavior.

If we don't do this, the kids will be even worse in the future.