his are happening all over the United States. In Ohio, a soccer dad punched a 14-year-old boy on the opposing team for getting into a scuffle with his son, and in Pennsylvania, a baseball dad gave a 10-year-old Little League pitcher two dollars to hit a batter with a fastball. In America today it has become commonplace to hear parents and coaches screaming and swearing at each other, the kids, or the officials at youth sporting events. Parents are slowly turning the playing of sports into a joyless, negative experience. According to a survey conducted by Michigan State University, a little less than three-fourths of American kids who participate in organized youth sports will quit before the age of 13 and they will say they dropped out mostly because of their own parents or adults in general. In a column in Sports Illustrated titled “Ask the Coach”, that appears in every couple issues, “the Coach” gives advice on sports, and in many cases the questions are about youth sports. “The Coach” answers questions on youth sports, like how much a parent should get involved in their child’s sports, and in many other sports related subjects. In one of the issues a frustrated football father asks “the Coach” if he should push his son harder because he does not believe that his son is giving 100% effort. The man’s son is a sixth grader. If this kid continues to be pushed to limits that he doesn’t care to achieve then he will do what most kids do and quit the sport altogether. In another letter to “the Coach” a father is thinking of asking an official of an eight-ten-year-old youth baseball league to do an age check on one of the players in the league because the father thinks that the players skills are too advanced. This is another case of a parent wanting their child to be the best, so they are trying to cause trouble for an innocent kid who has just matured f...
