Parents Attacking Umpires

[radness]

I do like the signs I see at some parks that say things like:

"College Coaches are not giving out scholarships at today's 12U game"

Do get the gist of what that sign is saying...
calm down College future is not on the line.


However Interestingly notice that when there are a bunch of college coaches around parents seem to behave better...not always
but mostly better.

 

[PapaBear]

Taking a stance against stalking umpires is a pretty safe place of agreement.

Absolutely. We all have stories of bad umpires, but after the game it's over. Too many other variables go into a full game that change the dynamic of the game.

 

[Tatonka]

Semi-related off shoot of this topic - I once had a couple of umps ask me after a HS game (they had each umped Rec/TB and other HS games of my DD's) as they were changing in the parking lot near were I was sitting, if our HC new what she was doing. There had been numerous egregious displays of ignorance, rudeness and disdain for players/parents/umpires and even the American Flag. Of course my immediate response was....

We had a good laugh.

 

[Justplay]

Over the past few years it has gone off the deep end not only in the softball world but everywhere. Specifically on the softball field we see it with the parents, including the coaches, which pours into the way the kids act as well. Too many instances to list but it is at all levels of the game out there (whether rec back or so called A ball which has players from 10 states across 3,000 miles to fly around and play with coaches that act the same with no repercussions from the tourney directors or org leaders.) It is a societal issue which isn't getting better at this point based on where it is trending. Sad but fixable but that is on us as parents as a start.

 

[SeniorUmpireTim]

Spectator behavior is obviously getting worse. If the respective administrative organization(s) fail in tightening up in this area, the future of youth sports will become increasingly dismal and show little hope for the not-so-distant future. It's time for the zero-tolerance rule...!

 

[sbmom19]

My DD is now an assistant Varsity coach at a local HS (in addition to being a full time NICU RN - she's a busy girl at 23). I go to the games to support her and the team as well as being another set of eyes and ears. The last two games that I have been at the umpires have not been very good. And by not very good I mean not knowing the rules or mechanics of umpiring. And a lot of the parents don't know the rules either. In my opinion, you can't argue judgement calls (i.e. strike zone, safe/out calls etc.) - those are just part of the game. But when an umpire doesn't know the rules - well that is frustrating and hard to excuse. We had one umpire call "umpire interference" (what????) on a ball popped up behind the plate and call the batter out. Hard to keep quiet when an umpire makes up a rule like that. Had the home plate umpire last night, after our batter laid down a perfect bunt, ran down to first base and was safe say that the pitcher threw an illegal pitch (she was throwing illegally every single pitch - out of the lane, not presenting and replanting - and what the heck was the plate umpire doing calling illegal pitches anyway) and that it was a ball. Now I should probably mention that DD has also been a USA Softball certified umpire for 5 years) so she knows the rules better than most and she argued that since the illegal pitch was not called until after the play was completed that they had the right to accept the outcome of the play and he let the play stand. I also felt the need to explain some rules to the parents in response to their harassing the umpires (it was embarrassing when they were trying to argue rules that didn't exist). But these are just a couple of examples of the bad umpiring that we have encountered. DD did not umpire the past two summers (she was finishing up her nursing degree and then last summer she started her NICU job and was renovating the house she bought) but she is highly considering umpiring this summer despite being approached by several high level organizations to be part of their coaching staff - because she feels that these girls deserve better umpires and she believes that umpiring makes her a better coach.

 

[SeniorUmpireTim]

We can appreciate your daughter's credentials & experience with both coaching & umping, but let's face the fact as there are (a few) 'bad' cops, politicians, service personnel, etc. ; let's be grateful that the vast majority of (all sports) officials put in the time for rules, mechanics, & professionalism training/clinics to provide their devoted services & support to our youth & young adults on the field & courts of competition. What will we do when they're no longer around due to attrition with no replacements? Will the parents and spectators be ready to step onto the field when a credentialed official is a no-show...?

 

[Mike-Oviatt]

There are a couple of issues to consider.

1. How do you control/stop the offending fan from continuing to heckle the umpire?

2. How do you stop the neighboring fans/spectators from laughing and high fiving the out of hand spectator? Saw this at a recent college games with other fans/spectators laughing at the idiot yell at the umpire. Quit laughing at their comments and giving high fives to reward their crappy behavior and hopefully it stops after a yell or two.

3. How do we make it clear to spectators that umpires umpire, coaches coach, players play and the fans /spectators are there to watch and cheer for the teams. Umpires shouldn’t coach, other than to explain rules and their application as needed. Coaches and players should know the rules. Coaches should coach players on their mechanics and skill set improvement. Players need to play the game by the rules and accept the outcomes as the occur. Players are going to make mistakes/errors/strike out, non of that should cause a coach or parent to malfunction and start yelling at a player, coach or umpire. Just like a coach or player can make a mistake (or not see something) so can an umpire. Constantly yelling at an umpire for a ball call or a strike zone you don’t like will never improve the umpire or the game.

4. Spectator v spectator issues. There are examples of fans/spectators getting into fights in stands/bleachers, near and even on the field during games. Why are parents fighting at a t-ball game, why are parents yelling at each other at a youth wrestling event, why are parents fighting in the bleachers at a youth football game (pre-game). I read about a youth football program that was canceled this year not because of lack of coaching, lack of players or a lack of officials. It was canceled for public safety because the parents could not control themselves and were fighting in the bleachers, parking lot and around the playing fields. Parents should be ashamed of their crappy behaviors.

So what are the possible solutions?

1. As with COVID restrictions do you go without fans/spectators? It is team staff, players and officials only? I don’t like this solution because I LOVE to watch my daughter play. I LOVE the game and watching all the players play.

2. Do nothing? We have seen in social media that isn’t working. There are plenty of examples of umpires/referees/officials being excessively yelled at and worse, assault. It doesn’t seem that these fans can control themselves.

3. Tack on a fan behavior fee to each event/tournament? I recently read about a soccer organization that is now adding a behavior deposit fee to their tournaments. On top of your team fees and individual tournament fees (and gate fees) now the team has to pay an additional fee. The behavior deposit will be returned to the team if there are no reports of negative behaviors by the coaches/players and spectators. I personally like this one for the tournament situation but this doesn’t help the rec ball or high school sport situations.

Bottom line is if people don’t start cleaning up their behavior there will be fewer and fewer umpires/officials to work games. With the lack of officials the few that are there will get overworked and likely (due to their exhaustion) make some bad calls and with all the heckling they are likely to stop officiating soon. People need to read and understand the rule for the sport and governing body their player is playing and quit yelling at officials for doing their best out there. Better yet every parent should read the rule and officiate/umpire youth (recreation) events in their area so they understand how difficult it can be to watch all the stuff you need to watch, know all the rules you need to apply.


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[ang2bmd]

If a fan was constantly heckling the AD staff at our events would address the issue. Sometimes this is at the request of the umpire, other times it’s because they’ve noticed. It’s nothing over the top and no scene made they are advised to tone it down and if they do not they are escorted out by our security staff. It’s been everything from rowdy teens to grown adults. We certainly don’t have the most well behaved fans around so I don’t think they are extreme with their enforcement but they are there if needed.


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[wdleggett]

I ran into a much less serious situation than the OP described but long story short the plate umpire and I talked about fan/player interaction with umps and basically about how now even players are chirping or giving silly looks when they don’t agree. Lo and behold, last inning my player is sliding into 2nd gets called out. Field umpire was in position just botched the call but what upset me was my player immediately throws her hands up and just stares the umpire down. I just said “no” sternly a couple times and told her to get over here and she sulked the rest of the game but regardless it’s kid vs adult and I wasn’t having it. Between innings, in tears the umpire apologized profusely and admitted she blew the call but my opinion was she made the call, sold it, plate umpire didn’t have a better view so it was done. Afterwards we find out the umpire’s best friend had died recently and it was weighing on her. Didn’t have an effect on the play but it goes back to we’re all humans and sometimes just make mistakes. Just a few weeks ago I got pretty upset because an umpire was calling strikes literally over my daughter’s head so I told him it was a bad call and just walked off the field. On the other hand I’m not for giving them a free pass. They’re paid and trained where I as a rec coach lose time and money and don’t get paid. When you’re calling strikes that are bouncing in front of a plate I’m gonna let you know.