http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/23/football.dad.reut/index.html
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -- The father of a young football player pulled a gun on his son's coach because he didn't think the boy was getting enough playing time, Philadelphia police said on Monday.
Wayne Derkotch, 40, was charged with aggravated assault after getting in a fight with the coach over the amount of time the boy was getting on the field at a game for 6- and 7-year-olds on Sunday morning, said police spokesman Officer Raul Malveiro.
"There was a physical altercation about what child should play or not play and then he pulled the gun," Malveiro said.
There were no injuries and Derkotch fled before being arrested after a complaint was made by the coach, whose name was not released, Malveiro said.
Parental behavior at children's sports events has come under scrutiny from groups such as the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance. The group's study gave parents a D grade for their conduct and involvement at kids' games.
An Internet straw poll of nearly 3,000 by the Center for Sports Parenting found that 85 percent of the participants had witnessed parents or coaches becoming verbally abusive during games. Forty percent had seen physical abuse.
I really do not understand how or why things like this happen! I can remember being young and playing on an all girls softball team in the town I grew up in. All of our parents were involved with the team, helping out at practice or coaching, etc, but no one ever got violent about it. We would win or lose, sit on the bench, or play the whole game and no one ever reacted in any way other than to support the coach’s decisions.
I have friends now with small children who are just starting to play sports and go to school and some of what you see at their games is appalling! Parents are screaming at their children for missing plays or not being fast enough on the field. Parents are screaming at coaches and referees for bad calls or bad plays. Everyone feels like their child should be the star player and be treated as such. Well, unfortunately that isn't always the case. Who wasn't on a team where some players were better than others, or some players got more time than others? That's just the way life is when you play sports. What's so sad is the children I'm talking about are only between the ages of 4 and 6 years old! I've seen parents in the stands screaming so much at these small kids that the children just stop and cry because they are disappointing mom or dad by not being a good enough player. Does anyone really think that is helping these kids? To me it seems like they are getting set up at a very early age to think that they are not good enough even for their own parents.
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I totally agree. It's just a game. It's about having fun, not winning. These parents are being bad role models to their kids.
I am not a very athletic person, and it scares me when I go to little league games where all the parents do is critisize everyone else. I think that another problem with sports is that parents push their children too far, by making them play all the time. Parents do not understand how hard it is, especially like you said for 4 to 6 year-old children.