VIDEO: Little League Umpire Literally Walks off Field After Getting Heckled by Parents
After being heckled mercilessly by parents, a little league umpire completely walked off the field.
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Have you had any situations when you felt it really got out of hand?....If so, how did you handle it?My son showed me that last night and asked what I would have done. I know the guy was frustrated and at the end of his rope, but he should have handled it more professionally. I hate to criticize him because that was beyond ludicrous.
So many things to be disgusted about in the video, but the one that jumped out most to me are the adult hecklers acting like junior high bullies who think their behavior is excusable and the umpire should continue to take it.
This points out another fantastic reason why umpires should never work a game solo. This guy had no partner to try to be the buffer.
My advice: Call the coaches out to home plate and lay it out for them: we have three steps coaches. The first is this all stops now. If that doesn’t happen, we have passed the point of individuals being excused from the game, so step 2 is you inform the crowd that this game is being finished without them and you clear the park. Yes, they have to leave. Step 3 is this game becomes a forfeit.
@The Man In Blue, If I were him, I probably would have handled it the same way.
The parents from the rec leagues around here are, IMO, a bunch of self-entitled blow-hards and think their kids are playing for the Chicago Bandits at the rec level.
Several years ago I had a 12U TB team comprised entirely of rec players moving up to TB. I have a parent/player contract that totals 18 rules. One of those is "Parents and players are reminded that the way you act reflects upon the coaching staff, the team and the organization as a whole. You are expected to respect, at all times, the coaches, the umpires and our opponents. If at any time you fail to act with class and decorum, you will be asked to leave the team."
First tournament of the year, we had a very young (18-20 I'm guessing) and inexperienced umpire who blew a couple of calls early in the game. My parents started chirping but there was one father who started getting loud and obnoxious with his comments. After the second comment, I went out and told him to pipe down, After the third comment, I walked over to his daughter and told her to pack up her equipment. When she was done, I called time, took her out to the stands, looked at Dad and told him to please take his daughter home and to please not come back. You could hear a pin drop it was so quiet and the looks of consternation? It was bad. But for the rest of the year, the parents were model spectators.
As a side note, I took the player back the following week (after an apology and a little begging by Dad) but he wasn't allowed to be anywhere near the team at any time for the rest of the year.
VIDEO: Little League Umpire Literally Walks off Field After Getting Heckled by Parents
After being heckled mercilessly by parents, a little league umpire completely walked off the field.www.12up.com