"Parent gets into fist fight with coaches when child doesn't get enough playing time in midget league football game." Does this happen everywhere?

It happens more often than we’d like to see.

About 14 years ago I was the commissioner of a youth soccer league in Michigan with about 1200 kids (at the time; it has probably grown since then). But since it was a “rec” league and not one of the leagues of “select” teams we had pretty strict rules about playing all kids equally, and all over the field. (In other words, don’t just stick the big kid in goal because he’s big and can’t run fast.) So our rules pretty much mandated that coaches were bound to put in all players as much as practical (because rules of substitution apply, too) throughout the game, and not run up the score and then put in the scrubs. Parents knew that, and kids did, too.

We didn’t have much of those problems. In two years of “being the commish” the worst dispute that I heard about was when two coaches in the Under-16 league got into a shouting match during one game. Even if the kids aren’t all the best players, the coaches can get competitive as hell and push the rules. One of the coaches accused the other of cheating, and it went on from there.

I called them both to a Saturday morning breakfast meeting to discuss the incident (since I hadn’t seen it) and adjudicate, somehow. I can hardly recall the details.

The coaches left the meeting still unhappy with each other, but at least I was able to settle the “cheating” question: it was just aggressive coaching that might have violated some of the “spirit of the league”, but didn’t rise to a level of cheating. Case closed; no resignations, no dismissals. I think I let them pay for breakfast.

EDIT: I nearly lost track of my point. I can understand the passion of wanting your child to play and be able to do well, and I can understand that as kids (and their coaches, who are more often than not parents of some of the kids on the teams) get older and become more able, everyone wants to improve the level of play. But kids at the 5–7 bracket? They should just be out there (as many as can fit on the field at a time!) just bouncing off each other and having a ball.

I think it happens everywhere there are fanatical parents with children in extracurricular activities. People have even been killed during these ridiculous fights. Remember the hockey rink fight outside of Boston when the dads were fighting, one got knocked down, hit his head and died? I think it is really pitiful.

I think it happens everywhere. There was another interesting situation here a few weeks ago. A kid was cheering for his team and the adult male in front was for the opposing team. At one point the adult turns around, grabs the kid and tells him to shut the fuck up. But don’t worry, the crime rate is going down so you are safe!

It’s so crazy! I never saw a physical fight, but when my kids played on sports teams (as little kids!) there were plenty of super obnoxious parents around. They’d yell at coaches and umpires, yell at their kids on the field if they weren’t playing well enough, and just generally make things unpleasant all the way around. At least one was ejected from a game because of their bad behavior. It wouldn’t surprise me if one of those parents took it to a physical level later on, honestly. I can’t quite wrap my head around these parents.

I agree, it is crazy. Bah! What lunacy.
I had a friend some years ago that was a fanatic soccer mom, OMG….insufferable!
I couldn’t STAND to listen to this women bitch about her sons coach, the team, her cut throat attitude about the kids and worst of all, how she pushed her son and was verbally abusive towards him. I think these parents need serious help, really I do.

It usually happens when the parents are living out their own childhood fantasies through their children. If the Dad (or Mom) was involved in the activity they are more likely to be emotionally i
nvolved.