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In the town of Morris, just south of Joliet, a soccer dad has been jailed for trying to choke the referee of a game involving 6- ad 7-year-olds. William Favretto has been sentenced to 14 days in jail, 2 years of probation, pay a $500 fine, seek anger-management counseling, stay away from the victim, and apologize to the referee and the Morris Soccer Association.
The incident began when Favretto's wife argued with referee George Wilhelmsen that her son had been fouled and a foul should be called. The referee repeatedly asked her to leave the field, but she wouldn't. Her husband then ran onto the field and attacked Wilhelmsen. Several adults pulled Favretto off Wilhelmsen. [S-T]
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Soccer dad is the new hockey dad
So the Dad ends up teaching him that Mommy and Daddy are there to fight all his problems and that life is always fair. "I will always be there for you, Son"! So much for figuring out how to deal with adversity.
On another note, I used to umpire baseball and have been harassed too many times to count. One example was being pushed from behind into the backstop for calling a kid out that never actually reached the plate (the catcher did a textbook job of blocking the plate). He just kept coming at me and I had to grab a bat and threaten to use it to fend off the Dad/Coach. It was incredibly frightening. People take games way too seriously.
The sad part is, the really great parents who would make great coaches seem to never have the time to volunteer so the kids get stuck with total whack jobs. I'll never forget a Coach yelling repeatedly at an eleven year old that he was "pathetic" for striking out. I wish I can get that memory out of my head.
Yeah...this is no joke. I enrolled my son in a hockey class when he was around 9 or 10. He was a really good skater, but (as we would soon learn) not much into the hockey scene (he lasted for like a month).
But at the practice sessions...and I'm talking PRACTICE, not even games (we quit before he even did an actual game)...the other kids' dads would be in the stands screaming and yelling and generally going ballistic. I really hated it.
These kids never learn that playing sports can be fun...they have their parents out there pushing and yelling and they make it all about winning and being perfect. It's sad and I'm glad that we were never part of that...actually it's way more than sad, it's frightening.
The sad part is, the really great parents who would make great coaches seem to never have the time to volunteer so the kids get stuck with total whack jobs.
In my case it's not about not having time, it's about not wanting to deal with the whack job parents. I'm not about to volunteer to be treated like shit by a bunch of Earl Woods clones. I actually was chided (albeit passive-aggressively) by another dad because I would read a book during my son's basketball practice instead of paying attention so I could give my son "pointers". Like Ingrid, we're talking about 4th graders here.
Prescott,
What kind of example is that for your child, reading a book, you sir better get your act together and start pushing sports or next thing you know your son could end up in collage or a few years later have a job.
I just think that sane parents/coaches are sorely needed to be a counter balance to all the insanity. I looked up to coaches that behaved reasonably and exuded respectability. I saw them take on the responsibility of showing kids how to handle difficult situations like standing your ground for what you know if right and being a leader, showing what reasonable behavior looks like, recognizing when they were wrong and above all, acting like an adult about it.
I've coached 5th, 6th, and 8th grade girls basketball summer league teams besides umpiring and have had similar conversations with unreasonable parents. I had no expectations that I was going to change the parent(s), but I wanted to be a voice of reason to impressionable kids ear's hot away instead of walking away and letting the lunatics have their way. To me, it is a matter of principle. I wish more would step up and not concede to the madness.
Yeah we lived next to some Italians once, man did they fight. One of my favorite quotes: (wife to husband, just before a MAJOR door slam) "Fuck You and Fuck yer fuckin' attitude!"