IHSAA Memo to Parents on Behavior
- Thread starter Fitzy
- Start date
I agree with Kobe Bryant that they are destroying kids sports.
Employment options now are either professional sports or youtuber.
This parent stuff isn't new...just seems more prevalent today.
Roughly 15 years ago, I remember a dad from my home town getting upset that his kid didn't play varsity QB as a high school freshman, and then went on to tell me if he wasn't sure if he wanted the kid to go out of state (Ohio State) or stay around home (Iowa) for college ball.
This kid was a good athlete, and a good kid, but was not remotely close to D1 caliber and really wasn't ready to play varsity as a freshman. And eventually, I don't even think he played through his junior year as an ode to his dad's pressures.
This thread reminds me of a parent and fellow teacher that had a problem that I was not playing her 2nd son enough in the BB games. After one game, she and the AD wanted to talk about the reasons her son was sitting on the bench and not on the floor. She said "all the kids deserve to play at least one quarter for all the work they put in.". I just looked at her, and said, "really, it did not seem to bother you last year, when your oldest son started every game and was on the floor most of the time, but now you have a problem with playing time for your 2nd son and the other kids?"
She just put her head down, and walked away. Sometimes these parents just need to hear that their little darling is not nearly as good as they think they are.
She just put her head down, and walked away. Sometimes these parents just need to hear that their little darling is not nearly as good as they think they are.
No just MS BB, our school has a rule that every kid had to play every game unless he had missed practice or was held out for grades. I would remind the kids every year of the rule, but then tell them "I am the one that decides how long you play." If you want to play more, than you need to impress me, get rebounds, score points, get steals, D it up. I could care less which kid is playing, I was trying to teach them basketball and trying to win games. After 29 years, I am really glad I no longer coach, not really worth the headache.
Yes there are bad fans out there. There are also many good refs in this state. Fans expect them see everything and make every call, something that is not possible. But there are bad refs out there also that need to be held accountable. There have been a few times the last few years that some crazy stuff has happened at games that just should happen.
as a parent and coach of a recent grad that played HS Sports.
-I think people are having a really hard time drawing the line between a college/pro game and a HS game and what they are saying from the sideline.
- the funny thing to me is all the blood, sweat, money and tears that are put into "little johnny' playing basketball or baseball etc starting at age 8. I am guilty on this, but looking back I would just let my kid play little league baseball and put the money for AAU/ USSSA into his college 529 instead.
fun times, but jeepers all this is getting out of hand.
-I think people are having a really hard time drawing the line between a college/pro game and a HS game and what they are saying from the sideline.
- the funny thing to me is all the blood, sweat, money and tears that are put into "little johnny' playing basketball or baseball etc starting at age 8. I am guilty on this, but looking back I would just let my kid play little league baseball and put the money for AAU/ USSSA into his college 529 instead.
fun times, but jeepers all this is getting out of hand.
Our neighbors played D3 basketball. They have 3 boys. The first 2 weren't nearly good enough to make a varsity team in any sport. Their 3rd one isn't really athletic enough to help the basketball team but it's really important to them that one of their kids letters in a major sport. I'm frightened by how much time and money they are spending on training to, hopefully, get their kid on the basketball team and be the 14th or 15th player on the team. It's sports. It just doesn't matter that much.
Just wait. Soccer parents have become just as crazy as other parents. They just don't turn crazy until the kids are about 12.
I hope that isn't true. In my experience, the soccer parents were far worse before U13. The smaller fields and closer proximity to the players and refs made a lot of parents experts. Plus, you usually get younger and less experienced refs for those ages.
I'll consider myself fortunate.
Two thoughts from the parent of kids who probably don’t need to worry about being professional athletes. One: it’s great that they put this out there. However, why is no one talking about the associated pay? From previous threads, I’m under the impression that, once you include travel costs, refereeing can be a sub-minimum wage gig. Dealing with obnoxious parents sucks, but a decent check might make it tolerable.
Two: what’s up with the proliferation of travel teams? I overheard another parent talking about their 1st grader’s travel baseball team. I... huh?
Two: what’s up with the proliferation of travel teams? I overheard another parent talking about their 1st grader’s travel baseball team. I... huh?
Simple. Teams from other cities also have first graders that play baseball. It just makes fiscal sense to shell out hundreds of dollars travelling to other cities instead of playing other kids with similar skill levels that are 10 minutes away.
Plus, college recruiters are camped out at 7 and 8 year old baseball games. You can't fall behind.
The referee shortage is happening. I'm registered as a HS football official, and I've seen several emails in the past 4 weeks about refs who are injured or for whatever reason can't work the first couple games of the season, and they're BEGGING for subs! Like, there are varsity games that either (a) may not happen, or (b) will have rookie officials forced into competitions they aren't even close to ready for. And that's not even talking the Jr. High and Sophomore games, etc. They're having a very hard time filling those.
So, don't be surprised if you try to show up for a Football game this fall, and it gets cancelled or postponed because there are no officials to work it.
So, don't be surprised if you try to show up for a Football game this fall, and it gets cancelled or postponed because there are no officials to work it.
This is true. Say you work a varsity FB game on a Friday night -- anything other than 4A is probably going to be an hours drive away. So, leave work early at 3:30, meet at 4:30, drive an hour+ one way. Get home at midnight. 7 1/2 hour commitment for (on average) about $90 gross. Give $10 to the driver for gas, average about $20 per game for offsetting meals, uniform, registration ,etc. You're netting maybe $60??? -- That comes to about $8 per hour for the whole commitment. If you earn $20 per hour at your regular job, you can just work 2 hours of overtime and get the same amount of money, plus have it count towards 401K, pension, any bonus, etc.
Unless you're very low income or a college student, there isn't much financial incentive to officiate. It's a hobby that pays you enough to break even, that's about it. Not many people want a hobby where they get berated.
I think about tripling the pay would go a long way towards official's retention, and help with quality of officials.
Some states are worse. Louisiana and parts of Florida have gone through official's strikes recently, where they are paid maybe $60-65 gross for the same work as above.
The "feeder" football program here in Cedar Rapids actually has a pretty solid policy and I've seen them act on it. Each coach is very clear about it with parents and kids at the beginning of the season.
1. First time someone associated with a kid playing, acts inappropriately, they get a warning.
2. Second time it happens, the kid is done for the game and "suspended" for the next.
3. Third time it happens, both the kid and person are done for the remainder of the year.
I really do feel bad for those kids who have psychotic parents without any filter, but I can't think of a better way to deal with it. Just removing the parent doesn't always solve the problem, but I would think in most cases, the threat of Little Johnny getting booted from the team would keep most mouths shut.
It's such a liberating feeling knowing that these other families are so maniacally devoted to such a trivial pursuit and you're all, "Have fun, pal!". The club basketball bullsh*t started last year for my THIRD grader. He asked to do it and his buddies are all in it. Little does he know I couldn't care less if he quit and never picked up a basketball again. I don't tell him that, and we play one on one and I try to coach him up when we play but I'm so over the hyper-competition. I'm of the age where we really didn't have all this AAU and club BS when I was his age. Now, if you want a spot on the HS team you join the system at age 8-9. F*ck that. The psychos can have high school sports. We don't need them.
