stupid kid; stupid parent

[tomegun]

Originally Posted by VaTerp

Tell the kid something to the effect of, "I didnt quite hear what you said but if I even think I hear you say something disrespectful or inappropriate again you'll be watching this game from the parking lot."

I'm honestly not sure if I think asking the OP's question is baiting or not, but is threatening a kid a better way to handle it?

Plus, what are you going to say if the kid says, "no matter what you do, I'm not watching the rest of the game from the parking lot so you are wrong with that!" The kid would be correct.

Originally Posted by VaTerp

In Varsity games if I hear a kid mumble things under their breath I either ignore it or say something like, "#12 play ball..." They usually get the message. On the rare occasion that I do a sub varsity or youth rec games, I have pretty much zero tolerance for "back talk." I find that if you don't nip it in the bud early a lot of these kids feel they can give a running commentary of the officiating and it irritates the .... out of me. I'll tell this kids before the game, "You're here to play, I'm here to officiate. Let's not get that confused." Whacking the first kid that runs his mouth usually gets the message across but I remember giving 5 Ts in 3 games on a rec league Saturday last year.

So, a 14 year old JV player can mumble things under their breath, but a 14 year old varsity player can "back talk"? Got it. Here I was thinking all high school kids should practice the proper sportsmanship.

Call me crazy, but sometimes those "rare occasions" serve two purposes: 1) get me home sooner during a long season and 2) allow me to work with a younger official. Both positives for the association in my little corner of the silver state.