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This once scarce phenomenon of parents getting out of control has escalated to new levels not only in the number of incidents, but also in the level of severity of these incidents. When children sign up for sports they do it to be with friends, to have fun, and to learn the fundamentals of the game, however this is not what they are getting and this new parental behavior is killing youth sports. It is documented that 14 million of the 20 million kids that play sports starting around age four will quit by age 13, most kids give the same two reasons, negative parents and negative coaches. These adults have turned sports into a negative, joyless experience. What are these events that are happening, what is causing them to happen, and perhaps most importantly what can be done stop this growing trend in parental violence at youth sporting events? Though some sports are more violent that others as far as play goes, the rising level of violence has not been limited to any particular sport, ranging from non-contact sports like swimming and baseball to contact sports like soccer, football, and hockey. During a girls hockey game in Canada last year a 40 year old man aimed a laser pointer into the eyes of three of his daughter’s opponents, causing them to leave the ice complaining of headaches and flu-like symptoms. The man pleaded guilty in court to mischief and was banned from attending future games. In Pennsylvania a policeman gave a 10-year-old little league pitcher two dollars for hitting an opponent with a fastball, earning him a conviction for the corruption of a minor and solicitation to commit simple assault. In another incident involving a man of the law, a former corrections officer assaulted a 16-year-old referee at a flag football game for six and seven year olds in Nebraska. The tape of the incident shows the 6’3” 250 pound father poking the youth in the chest, when the 160 pound referee tried to defend himself by slapping away the father’s hand, the father punched him the face. As a result he was fined 585 dollars and sentenced to 30 days in jail. The violence isn’t limited to fathers either. At a swim meet an irate mother slapped her daughter across the face after her daughter had shown up late for a heat and been disqualified. The mother never bothered to find out why she missed the heat, but as it turned out the daughter had been comforting a friend who had had a lousy race and was sobbing devastated in the locker room. Again the children are doing nothing wrong, or in this case the absolute right thing, and their parents are making them as a result. Though the aforementioned events are enough of a tragedy at least two worse events have occurred, one leaving a man crippled and the other leaving a man dead. In the first event John Hills, a Lemont little league coach, complained that the other coach, 16-year-old George Loy Jr., was making the calls before the umpires and influencing the game. As the game progressed George Loy Sr. began to tease and antagonize Hills, going so far as to promise to get him after the game. As the sixth inning ended, Hills bent over to pick up his scorebook, only to be driven to the ground with punches and kicks by Loy Sr.. Loy Jr. soon jumped in and was also joined by his uncle, Ted Loy. Together the three of them beat Hills unmercifully. Harry Keeler, a third base coach, helped Hills to his feet only to be assaulted himself. The Loy’s launched one last offensive in which Loy Sr. hit Hills in the face breaking his nose, and Loy Jr. smashed his left knee with an aluminum baseball bat. Hills did not regain consciousness until he was in intensive care. There he was diagnosed with, in addition to the broken nose, fractured ribs, a bruised kidney, a concussion, and a scratched cornea. To this day his knee still ails him. The Loy brothers were charged with battery and sentenced to supervision and 40 hours of community service. The Hills were awarded $757,710, hardly a fair price for the loss of a knee. Reading, Massachusetts was a quiet suburb of Boston until recently when it became home to perhaps the most violent event to date in youth sports. On July 5 Michael Costin, a single father of four, was out on the ice supervising a practice for 10 to 12 year-olds when Thomas Junta, one of the children’s parents, began to complain that the action was getting too rough. He says that he saw his son get checked and then elbowed in the nose, then upon bringing it to Costin’s attention, Costin told him “that’s what hockey is all about”. When Costin came off of the ice, an irate Junta ran towards him and the two engaged in shouting and a shoving match. The 6’2” 275 pound Junta easily controlled the smaller 5’11” 175 pound Costin, tearing off his shirt and ripping a gold chain from his neck. The fight was short lived and broken up by a rink employee, and really surprised no one as parental behavior like this had become almost commonplace in the town of 23,000. After finishing up with his children in the locker room, Costin took them to the vending machine to get something to drink. Junta appeared, with fists clenched, and knocked Costin to the floor holding him down with a knee on his chest. He then began beating Costin’s face with his clenched fists and beating his head repeatedly into the hard rubber mats that surround the machines. The beating did not stop until a bystander pulled Junta off, but by now Costin was unconscious in a puddle of his own blood, face misshaped by the beating, and without a pulse, never to regain consciousness. Junta was arrested on charges of misdemeanor assault but the charge was increased to manslaughter after Costin died two days later. If convicted Junta could face up to 20 years in prison, however, he is currently out on $5000 bail. This beating death of a youth sports parent has caught the attention of the entire nation, having many people ask what caused things to escalate to such a level. While there is no concrete answer to what causes this behavior to occur, there are many theories. One of the popular theories has to do with the parents believing that there child is the next superstar, or that some parents believe their child to a rising star. This idea is ridiculous when one looks at how few athletes are actually gifted enough to make it all the way to the professional level. Some parents also look at sports as a way to get their children through college, especially considering the rising costs of tuition today. With all of the elite, club, and travel teams that exist today, youth sports have become as deadly serious as any sport out there, at least to some people. While no one would blame a parent for wanting their child to succeed, or to even possibly get a scholarship or better, but everyone will blame a parent who pushes their child unnecessarily hard, or to unattainable levels. A second possible cause of this violence is the “Fantasy Theory”, the idea that some parents are trying to live out their own sports fantasies through their children. The idea is based on the premise that many parents see themselves in their children and when their children are on the field, the parents feel as if they are on the field. The parents then try to push the child to succeed, especially in the areas where the parent may have lacked. If the parent was frustrated as an athlete, was never picked to be on the team, or just never succeeded in sports, they have a source of energy within them just waiting to be tapped. This causes a very unhealthy practice of the parents wanting their children to live out the parent’s dreams and strive for the lives that they were never able to achieve. This phenomenon is known as a “reverse dependency trap”, when the parent over identifies with the child and in some extreme cases actually looks up to the child. Such a scene was perfectly illustrated in the MTV movie Varsity Blues. Johnny Moxon’s dad says to him “This is the opportunity of a lifetime”, in return Johnny says to him “Playing football at west Canaan was the opportunity of a lifetime for you, but I don’t want your life.” This scene perfectly illustrates how parents can easily, and often unknowingly, try to live vicariously through their children’s lives. The third theory is that the current behavior trickles down from the professionals, to college, and so on. At these college and professional events multicolored hair, body paint, drinking and foul language are not only allowed but in many cases encouraged. At these events people become very emotionally involved, and so when watching their own flesh and blood, they become even more emotionally involved. Parents that are normally very well mannered may become very involved and vocal and in less than acceptable ways. Parents often don’t believe some of the things they have done when told about them later. This emotional involvement only increases exponentially when a parent sees their child get injured, especially if there is blood. Few things can bring out the rage within someone than seeing the bloodshed of one of their own. These parents often overlook the fact that contact, penalties, and even sometimes injuries are just part of the game and must be dealt with in a reasonable manor. As more and more people become aware of the growing problem, more people want to know what can be done to combat the growing plague that is overrunning the youth sports that used to be. A U.S. Government class in a Phoenix suburb high school recently created a bill called the Youth Sports Official Protection Act, which would stiffen the penalties for violence against youth-league officials. It passed the House of Representatives, but was defeated in the senate. However, as a result of their actions, 14 states have boosted the penalties for assault on officials in recreational, interscholastic, and college level sports. A more hands on approach that focuses more on prevention that deterrents is the idea of training coaches and league presidents on how to prevent and deal with such parents and their behavior. The training focuses on how to disagree with a referee’s call and most often requested, how to deal with parents. To go along with this many people believe that more than coaches must get involved, every parent must get involved. When someone in the stands gets out of line, it is everyone’s duty to tell that person that he or she is out of line, that they must control themselves or they have to leave. In 1995 one could expect 5% of a crowd to get out of line, but now just five years later that number has tripled to 15%. At this rate, by 2008 the sidelines of our youth sports fields, pools, and rinks might resemble something out of a Jerry Springer show, if not worse. Parents are ruining the sports that they themselves grew up loving and enjoying, and for what reason, to get one more chance at the greatness that they never achieved? Parents need to understand that kids play sports to have fun, they need to take the perspective of a child and see what their inappropriate behavior is doing, not only to the child, but to the game, and youth sports in general. Most incidents that occur at sporting events do not make the headlines, but that too was true of school violence until the massacre at Columbine High School, let us all hope that this is not the tipping point of American youth sports. As supporters of youth sports we must hope that the incident in Reading, Massachusetts will not be the opening of the floodgates that will let forth the stream of bloodshed on our sports fields. Bibliography: Bibliography 1. Newsmagazine (Alberta Edition), 10-09-00, Vol.27 Issue 11, p50. 2. Sports Illustrated, 7-24-00, Vol.93 Issue 4, p86. 3. U.S. News and World Report, 7-24-00, vol.129 Issue 4, p28. 4. Varsity Blues, Music Television Productions, 1998. Word Count: 2106
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