HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME
Addressing Adult Violence in Youth Sports

By Kathleen Davis
FoxSportsBiz.com
Aug. 1, 2000

So your kid wants to play sports. But what about the potential for injuries bruises, black eyes, broken bones and that's just the danger to you if you go and watch the games! What long term impact does aggression among adults at youth sporting events have on the kids who play? Forget video games, is it Little League that is teaching our youth how to solve their problems with violence?

Recent incidents make us all wonder about the sound judgment of the adults who act as role models to our kids in sports. In an appalling display of violence, Thomas Junta, a Massachusetts father attending a youth hockey game, beat another father, Michael Constin, to death following an argument over the amount of rough-play taking place in the game. The fight, which played out in front of several youngsters (including the victim's children), makes you wonder about the damaging aspects of sports.

In another incident, an assistant baseball coach in South Florida threw a punch at an umpire when
he disputed a call during a Connie Mack PAL high school baseball game. The coach broke the jaw of the umpire, in front of both teams and spectators. The coach faces battery charges, while the umpire has hesitated to file a civil suit for fear that it would cloud his reputation as an umpire.

What has made these games so important that adults who support the teams are willing to risk
life, limb and jail over them? Something is out-of-whack.

What happened to sports as a fun way of teaching children the benefits to competition?

Do we need to ban these supposed adults from youth sporting events? How else are we going to
restore youth sports as a positive experience, from which kids learn good values and have good
fun?

Perhaps what we really need is a nationwide mandatory certification program for parents and
coaches, complete with a codes of ethical behavior deemed appropriate during youth sporting events.

In South Florida, these efforts are already underway with the creation of the Jupiter-Tequesta Athletic Association, the first youth sports league in the country to require parents to attend a course on sportsmanship. The 6,000 children in the league can't participate until at least one parent has taken the course.

The educational seminar includes a 19 minute video, distribution of a handbook and the signing of a pledge to "encourage good sportsmanship by demonstrating positive support for all players, coaches and officials at every game, practice or other youth sports event." In addition, league coaches have been trained to administer the course.

This is certainly a step in the right direction. Those of us involved in the business of sport must remain vigilant in policing sports ethics, as they affect leagues from the youth to the professional level. It is up to us parents, coaches and supporters of sports at all levels to remember: winning may be the desired result, but there's a lot to be said for "how you play the game." Competition is a serious thing, but let's keep it in perspective. Priorities, priorities.

Kathleen Davis is Executive Director of the Sport Management Research Institute and can be reached at kdavis@go-smri.com