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 My Site News: Parents, It's Only a Game (Win or lose, it's still just a game - Let's remember that!) |
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Parents, It's Only a Game (Win or lose, it's still just a game - Let's remember that!)
This editorial, written by Anne Calos, was published in the Tonawanda News on Saturday, January 18, 2003. It is reproduced here with the author's permission.
Anybody who's ever been to a youth sporting event has seen them - parents behaving badly.
They go way beyond supporting the team - they're loud, obnoxious and critical. They make a spectacle of themselves at every game, yelling at the kids (usually their own), and criticizing the coaches, officials and other parents.
As a parent, I've attended countless games - soccer, baseball and hockey. And I've seen these people at every sport, they're not just limited to hockey.
Through the years, I've witnessed parents scream, yell, swear, threaten officials and get kicked out of games.
On at least two occasions, these parents have been banned from attending future games - with one dad being threatened with arrest if he entered the complex where the games were played.
This not only reflects poorly on the parents, it makes the whole league look bad.
A Lockport man was arrested over the weekend on assault charges after allegedly breaking a teenage hockey player's nose after a game between North Tonawanda and Lockport at the Hockey Outlet on Niagara Falls Blvd.
As a former hockey parent, I've seen plenty of fights between players. They may start with a cheap shot during the game, and eventually a fight breaks out on the ice. Frequently, the players are ejected from the game for their misbehavior, giving them time to cool off. Occasionally, the bad blood between teams escalates and the whole thing gets out of hand, even after the game ends.
The problem with the Hockey Outlet is that both teams exit the ice down the same narrow hallway. The kids sometimes carry their grudges after the game ends, and problems are carried out into the hall.
At a couple of particularly heated games I've attended at the Outlet, one team has been kept on the ice until after the opposing team has entered their own locker room so they can't fight in the hallway.
But apparently, fighting did break out in the hall at the NT/Lockport game, and resulted in some pushing, shoving and "trash talking," according to witnesses.
Unfortunately, a 44-year-old man got into the middle of things, punching an NT player in the face and breaking his nose.
Now, I know things can get heated, and these aren't little kids we're talking about here, they're big teenage boys. Things can and do get very dicey, but under no circumstances should an adult take matters into his own hands and make a bad situation worse. Not ever.
We've received at least one call (anonymous, of course), saying we didn't hear "the whole story," and we shouldn't have made a big deal out of it.
Excuse me? What whole story could possibly make this right? It doesn't matter what was said or done between kids on a hockey team. These are kids, they're playing a game and they're going to get carried away, because that's what kids do.
Adults are supposed to be smarter than that. They're supposed to know how to control their emotions and set a good example, especially when things are hot.
Last year, a youth baseball league in another state was requiring parents to attend a class on good behavior before their kids were allowed to sign up.
And we all know about the hockey dad in Massachusetts who ended up killing a parent from a different youth hockey team.
Listen up parents! It's time to get a grip. These are kids playing a game here, not the beginnings of a huge worldwide event. No matter who wins or loses, it's not going to change anyone's life.
According to Lockport Assistant Coach David Wasiura, the incident was discussed with players at practice earlier in the week, and now they're turning their attention to the next game, which is the right thing to do.
Hopefully, this will serve as a reminder to parents who attend youth games, whether it's hockey, baseball, soccer or some other sport. Get out there and support your kids, but remember, it's only a game.
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