Assaulting an official
 

Last weekend while leaving the 9/10yr football games me and my crew were leaving to go home. As usual there were some parents who were giving us crap about how we officiated the games. I had some words with a parent and then he punched me in the eye. After the initial shock, one of the coaches got him away from me, and i proceeded to leave the area and went to the police station to file a report and once that is done, I will be able to press charges. According to Louisiana this is a felony.

This is just a warning to everyone that violence against us officials is still alive and well especially when children are involved and to be careful out there.

It's also a warning to yourself and others that we have no business "having some words" with a parent after a game AT ALL. I even shy away from seemingly well-meaning handshake offers. You should make every effort not to depart alone or at the same time as the crowd is departing, and SURELY never engage a distressed fan/parent with even a single word.

Another reason why we try to park away from everyone else close to each other. Never leave the field alone and don't leave any of your fellow officials behind. Safety in numbers. (Not to mention witnesses.)

Nothing will happen to this guy becasue you "had some words". His attorney wil say he was provoked. He may have to pay some medical and maybe some community service, but it will not be anything that goes on his record. Slap on the wrist. Let him follow you to your car next time and don't say anything other than you are ready to call the police.

mbcrowder,

I couldn't agree with you more. Louisiana Dave, as bad as I feel for you I really think that the best thing to do is to just immediately leave the game area and ignore any and all comments/words you hear. I am certainly not saying that it is your fault (and maybe the guy would have assaulted you anyway for all we know), but I definitely agree with mbcrowder - the best thing to do after a game is to immediately get in your car and go home and certainly not engage in any discussion with fans about the game.

I had a pop warner coach approach me 2 years ago, after a game, and while walking to the parking lot.

Me reply to him was, "Coach, do I need to phone the police"? He shut up and walked away. :D

I agree with the others: leave with your comrades and have witnesses!

Why in the world would you "have some words" with somebody like this?

You walk by these idiots and don't open your mouth.

"Having words" ?!?!?!?! NOTHING can be gained by that. Like the saying goes...you can't have an argument if only 1 person is talking. Keep your mouth shut and get out of Dodge.

I do agree with all of you, and it was wrong to say anything, it is also wrong for a parent to do what he did.

What you did was wrong. What the parent (and I use that term loosely) did was CRIMINAL.

Well we will see just how criminal the state of Louisiana thinks it is.

Definitely keep us updated!

Having words with someone could simply be Dave telling the jerk to get out of his face. Unless we know what words were said, there's no way we can judge.

Sounds like you're getting belligerent with us. Not sure why - we're on your side. But several of us recommended that you (in the future) or other readers do their best to avoid this situation by leaving in a group, and entirely ignoring these morons. Sometimes that's difficult ... but "having words" with him could turn out to be part of the reason he gets away with this. I hope he doesn't. But they may find you instigating things a bit. We don't have carte blanche to say whatever we want to fans as we leave, so without knowing what you said, we don't know how your courts will react to it.

I'd limit it to, "Sir, if you don't stop, I'll have to call the police." or somesuch.

Unless the person is physically blocking your movement or is brandishing some sort of weapon (or potential weapon) , no need to even "threaten" calling the police. Just get out of Dodge. Let them scream and holler all they want. If they are cussing and others want to call the police to report his disorderly conduct, let them do it. If you call then you are going to have to stick around and that may cause more troubloe than it is worth.