Do parents get a little "carried away" at their child's sports events?

Hi JenInTN.Well,I have to admit,I do get a little carried away when my child participates in any school event...but just a little...as much as possible I try to hold it in.She's not much into sports,by the way.I do see some parents,though,who can't help but scream so loud to the point that it really gets annoying.I've also seen some who get into some fight with other parents...now that's really going overboard. The story you mentioned is something else..attacking the referee,OMG.that is too much.The kid must have felt so embarrassed for what the father did. Thanks and Happy mylottin!

That is the worst as it could be! That would definitely not put his children in good state of mind. Aiming is good but putting pressure on your children to get that success in thier is bad. I am no parent now but I feel that there is a lost more pressure on today's children than us. We also went through pressures but these days it is enormous.

Nope. Yet to witness anything like that in real life. But seen it a lot in movies though. And here I am, thinking that it only happens in movies. It seems it happens in real life too. Was the guy charged for attaching the referee?

i didn't know you had ever been to a ballgame when i was there, jen" you described me to a tee except i didn't attack a ref but threatened a few. i know it's bad & does not set a good example for the kids . i really dread my grandson starting to play. lol

It is not just in sports. It in dance, cheering, martial arts, even school. Parents need to learn that these activities are their child's activities and just be there to support them, period. They have to stop living their lives through the kids.

Jen- It's honestly the reason why our son will probably never play little league. I can't stand the competition, nor the stuff that happens among parents. It ruins what is supposed to be a learning experience for children. They don't learn good sportsmanship, in my humble opinion. Oh, I will say there are some really good coaches, but they can't control parents. (Nor would I ask them to, parents should be smart enough). My sister-in-law's kids play sports, but I just can't see myself ever going through all of that. My son and I study martial arts with his father (my husband), and I imagine that as we continue we'll continue it as a family for our lives, as well as seeking training in other areas outside our area, such as Kung Fu. Namaste-Anora

I witnessed this myself on Sunday just gone. My daughter was taking part in her Judo Schools competition. There was a man sitting on the chair next to us and I assumed it was his son who was on the mat fighting. All he done was criticise him and when he lost his fight he was like 'You could have done better you should have won that one' I felt so sorry for the poor boy and was so tempted to make a comment but held my tongue. I don't know if someone had a word with him because by the time his son came on for his next fight he was a lot more supportive. Then a bit later on there was another man who didn't agree when the ref awarded the point to the other boy. He started shouting the odds and the ref went up to him and said 'come on then'. At this point another ref who wasn't referring at the time stepped in to try to calm it down. When we left about 10 minuets later they were still arguing. I do not understand parents like this, all they are doing is setting their children bad examples. The only time I do get carried away is when I am cheering my daughter or son on.

i thing we should let our children to choose their sport. that way it is more fun . a lot of children are sad for playing sports that their parents chose.

I have seen parents make terrible fools of them selves and I always wonder what their child is learning. Sometimes sports for children seem the most important thing in their world. I avoid these games just because of parents bad behavior. I'm so glad I don't have any children of that age now. My daughters both are very active with childrens' sports.

My seven year old is not too sporty like her mother but she has been doing ballroom dancing for the past three years and she may compete next year. I am a little thankful that she doesn't play team sports because I have seen first hand the crazy stunts over competitive parents can pull because my ex used to coach an under twelves football team. I used to feel so bad for the kids who were usually only there to please the parents anyway. My ex used to have to ban some parents from the games and the language that was used! Keep in mind these kids were all under 12 years old and some were as young as 6. I've been putting off my daughter starting competition dancing because I was afraid of what I may witness again from stupid parents although her teacher has assured me it is a different environment and there are no crazy mum and dads there. I sure hope he's right!

May be it is strange to you, and hard to conprehend. We used to have the slogon "Friendship First, Match Second." It is not that stressed any more, but kids are taught the essence of sports is to seek better health. Competition should not spoil the fun. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the team lost the game gained equal aplauses for their participation. We are proud of the event.

No, I don't think so. I don't witness any event like this before.

Well, i think that the reason why all the parents scream and get excited during the game is that they love to see their wonderful child perform... at the same time and they get excited because they will actually think that it is a really game like NBA.. hehehehehehe.. its ok.. ehehehehehe..

We also see this on a regular basis. I played a zillion sports growing up as well and remember noticing a big difference between parents who were simply too "into" the game and ones that went overboard on the emotions. I have always thought the parents that get out of control are reliving their own childhood in some way and that is why the emotions take over. The "into" the games parents are just competitive type personalities and usually calm down at some point. I gave up officiating at youth sports a long time ago because of parents. It is a shame because it is a way that I would really like "to give back". But there is no way.

oh my god definetly. i went to game for my friend's boy,and the display i saw out of the parents that day was just shocking.kids were crying and everything because a fight broke out between two of the so called adults.they ended up suspending the games for awhile,which only hurt the kids who just wanted to play.

My kids have never been in any sports, so I have never had the opportunity to get that out of line at a sporting event. When I was in softball when I was younger my parents never made it to my games. No that they were too busy most of the time, but just that they did not bother. So I guess my parents were the opposite end of the spectrum. I have seen parents go a little over board before, but nothing like what you saw on the news.

my son is still young but i want him to join somthing like that too. but i think it is natural if parents get carried away at their child's sports events. i get carried away when i watch sports on tv what else if that was my son out there. i might gone wild and very noisy. har har har i can imagine what i would look like....

I've seen some of those parents, but luckily I haven't seen many yet, even if I know there is parents like that. I've been talking with a lot of referees mainy in soccer and they say it can be awful! Even during games with young children. I've been talking to a qouple of referees after games since I use to pay them *lol* I pay for our team - not for anything else.... We've had one or two that we don't use anymore since they have been very not fair judgeing - when one team have kicked and hit our players (mind that our girls often is one/two years younger than the other team). During the game I don't say anything - it's up to the coaches. Some parents (and coaches) have been banned from the field and the things spreads quickly - eveyone knows in a few days and it's not good for them or the team.

I see it all the time. They don't care if the kid is having fun, all they want is for them to win!! They are so caught up in winning, their kid doesn't even matter anymore. Yeah, I used to get carried away too. EVERYBODY hated me. Not cause I yelled at the kids to do better, or hung over the fence, or threatened anybody. But I'd cheer any kid who did a good job. That didn't sit well when it was an opposing member. I figured we're there to help the kid's feel good, all the kid's not just our own!! I won't feel bad about it either. I'd still do it!!