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Little League PSA Benches Obnoxious Parents
by
findingDulcinea Staff
A new Little League commercial asks parents to clean up their acts in the stands. But will sideline offenders listen or just keep yelling?
30-Second Summary
Not a season goes by without reports of some unsavory incident between parents and coaches at a youth sports event.
Some incidents have involved violence, like the Philadelphia man who pulled a gun on his son’s peewee football coach because the boy wasn’t getting enough playing time. A more typical example comes from parents in Concord, N.H., who, unhappy with a series of calls made by the umpires at a Little League Baseball game last year, “expressed their displeasure with the umpires by showering them with vulgarities, threatening them and confronting them face-to-face after the game,” Fox News reported.
Now, as the little boys and girls of summer pile into dugouts all over the country, Little League Baseball hopes to discourage the obnoxious habits of some parents by airing a 15-second public service announcement on ESPN. The PSA depicts a 10-year-old boy berating his father for his lackluster cheering, and ends with the message, “Now you know how it feels. Just let them play.”
Kevin Smith at The Angry Fan blog blames parents for the degeneration of fan behavior. “Parents and youth coaches are regularly setting a horrible example for future generations,” Smith writes.
Even the children have begun speaking out. Volleyball player Alex Yensen, 16, told The Washington Post that parent yelling “affects the way you play and the way you think about the game … even if it’s not your parent or the parent of someone else on your team.”
Unfortunately, Little League’s ad may not be enough to get through to some offenders. “This spot is a game effort, but boorishness is not an affliction much sensitive to consciousness raising,” writes Bob Garfield of Advertising Age.
Some incidents have involved violence, like the Philadelphia man who pulled a gun on his son’s peewee football coach because the boy wasn’t getting enough playing time. A more typical example comes from parents in Concord, N.H., who, unhappy with a series of calls made by the umpires at a Little League Baseball game last year, “expressed their displeasure with the umpires by showering them with vulgarities, threatening them and confronting them face-to-face after the game,” Fox News reported.
Now, as the little boys and girls of summer pile into dugouts all over the country, Little League Baseball hopes to discourage the obnoxious habits of some parents by airing a 15-second public service announcement on ESPN. The PSA depicts a 10-year-old boy berating his father for his lackluster cheering, and ends with the message, “Now you know how it feels. Just let them play.”
Kevin Smith at The Angry Fan blog blames parents for the degeneration of fan behavior. “Parents and youth coaches are regularly setting a horrible example for future generations,” Smith writes.
Even the children have begun speaking out. Volleyball player Alex Yensen, 16, told The Washington Post that parent yelling “affects the way you play and the way you think about the game … even if it’s not your parent or the parent of someone else on your team.”
Unfortunately, Little League’s ad may not be enough to get through to some offenders. “This spot is a game effort, but boorishness is not an affliction much sensitive to consciousness raising,” writes Bob Garfield of Advertising Age.
Headline Link: ‘PSA Won't Change Perennial Parental Bleacher Creatures’
Bob Garfield of Advertising Age applauds Little League’s efforts, but doubts whether a cleverly produced PSA will be enough to inspire change in the most obnoxious parent fans: “This spot is a game effort, but boorishness is not an affliction much sensitive to consciousness raising.”
Source: Advertising Age
Background: Combating crass behavior
Pennsylvania’s Mansfield University has been doing its part in fighting poor behavior at sports events by hosting The Mansfield Sportsmanship Institute. Steve Brion, athletics director and assistant principal of area Troy High School, said that he wished “more students and parents could have been involved...The lack of sportsmanship by parents as well as athletes is a major concern of mine.”
Source: Mansfield University of Pennsylvania
Last summer, St. Petersburg Times writer Bob Putnam highlighted a number of efforts by Florida youth leagues to curb obnoxious parents: “In Naples, parents can draw fines as high as $45 every time they open their mouths … A soccer league in Weston has implemented a “Silent Saturday,” a program in which coaches are asked not to coach and parents are asked not to cheer or guide their children in any way. … In Duval County, parents, players and coaches all sign a sportsmanship contract before the season begins.
Source: St. Petersburg Times
In September 2006, the Central Pennsylvania Youth Soccer League “asked parents and coaches to forget about the yelling, cheering and dissing the refs” for an entire weekend of games.
Source: Oklahoma City News Station KOCO 5
Analysis: ‘For Whom The Yell Tolls’
In March 2007, The Washington Post interviewed a number of area child athletes about how parent behavior affects their sporting experience. Alex Yensen, a 16-year-old volleyball player and swimmer, said the yelling “affects the way you play and the way you think about the game . . . even if it’s not your parent or the parent of someone else on your team.” Cedric Watkins, an 11-year-old football player, said that parents of an opposing team “used to yell at our team, and they’ll throw stuff at the field...We felt kind of bad about it.”
Source: The Washington Post
Opinion: ‘Mob Mentality’
Kevin Smith at the blog The Angry Fan writes that “over the last 20 years we have witnessed a decline in etiquette from fans while we have progressively become a society of entitlement. … People feel that the money spent gives them the right to throw syringes at Barry Bonds, batteries at JD Drew, beer bottles at opponents in Cleveland, and curse and spit at children and adults wearing opponents' uniforms in Philadelphia and Baltimore. … Unfortunately, parents and youth coaches are regularly setting a horrible example for future generations, engaging in this same behavior at little league games and pee wee football.”
Source: The Angry Fan
Related Topics: The dark side of fandom at youth games and in college
In July 2007, a group of parents and fans at a Concord, N.H., little league game “expressed their displeasure with the umpires by showering them with vulgarities, threatening them and confronting them face-to-face after the game,” Fox News reported. The players said that their parents “should learn to control themselves more.”
Source: Fox News
During an October 2006 altercation, a father in Philadelphia pulled a gun on his son’s youth football coach because he didn’t think the boy was getting enough playing time. The teams were made up of 6- and 7-year-olds. The father, 40-year-old Wayne Derkotch, was charged with aggravated assault and other offenses, according to the Associated Press.
Source: ESPN (Associated Press)
In January 2002, Thomas Junta was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after he beat Michael Costin to death at a hockey practice attended by the sons of both men. The incident took place on July 5, 2000, at an ice rink in Reading, Mass. According to CNN, the two men fought over “what Junta described as rough play during hockey drills.”
Source: CNN
Jeering at rivals is nothing new at college sports events. But death threats and postgame riots are a whole different ballgame. FindingDulcinea explores the growing epidemic of violence in college sports in an article titled “Violence Grows Among College Sports Fans.”
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: Little League’s Parent Pledge and tips for parents of child athletes
The official Little League Web site contains a Parent Pledge that reads “I will teach all children to play fair and do their best. I will positively support all managers, coaches and players. I will respect the decisions of the umpires. I will praise a good effort despite the outcome of the game.”
Source: The Little League official Web site
Kim and Ed Cristofoli offer tips and advice to parent fans on their blog, Your Child Athlete.
Source: Your Child Athlete
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