The 13-year-old had an away basketball game today.
It started out well enough, a very low-scoring game; at halftime I believe it was a whopping 7 to 5.
In the 4th quarter, though, things got heated. The score was tied. The teams were trading the lead.
All of this could only mean one thing:
emotional parental overinvolvement from the stands.
As the boys played their hearts out, the boys gave it everything they had... and so did their dads.
"What do you mean, out on blue. It was CLEARLY out on red!!"
"Are you kidding me? How is that not a TECHNICAL?!!"
"Seriously? His foot was a foot behind the 3-point line!!"
The ref kept his composure, didn't miss a beat.
During a time-out the ref casually wandered over to the stands. He gave a friendly, sideways glance to the vocal Dads and remarked, quite casually: "hey, guys. Quite a fan base here. I appreciate the help."
Everyone burst out laughing. And that was that.
Could there have been any better way to approach the situation, I ask you?
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That guy is a pro. Glad he can dish it and take it.
ReplyDeleteSounds like that a ref with some experience. It really is all in how you approach the situation.
ReplyDeleteGood for him!
ReplyDeleteThe parents scare me.
Nope - that's about as good as it gets. I've been to some baseball games where the parents are equally "involved" but where occasionally an insecure umpire will let them get under his skin - then it gets ugly.
ReplyDeleteThere's no way those guys get paid enough.
I can remember playing sports as a child and figuring out pretty quickly that the parents cared more about the game than most of us kids did. Most of our energy was spent hoping our parents would stop embarrassing us. But we did put a lot of effort into spitting at each other.
ReplyDeleteOMG... 3 guesses who was the ring leader
ReplyDeleteThe score was tied?! Like, what, 10-10?!
ReplyDeleteHow do you not elaborate on this pressure cooker?!
What? No fisticuffs, no hurled objects, no death? Boring.
ReplyDeleteGreat story!
ReplyDeleteThat is an awesome ref... don't see that too often..
ReplyDeleteLove to you
Kelly
http://www.ivebecomemymother.com
I am glad the ref was able to defuse the situation! I guess parents can sometimes act worse then the kids.
ReplyDeleteThat was awesome. As an "enthusiastic" sports dad myself (my daughter's the basketball player), I can admit that sometimes we just need someone to point out how ridiculous we look.
ReplyDeleteThat ref is outstanding.
well done Ref! I love parents who sit smack in front of signs that say "POSITIVE COMMENTS ONLY" and yell at refs and players. Nice role models. pfft.
ReplyDeleteGood story. Overzealous parents ruin kids sports. If more people focused on kids having fun, being on a team/with friends and learning skills -- rather than winning -- more kids would play sports.
ReplyDelete