There are two types of youth sports coaches. The ones who coach for the love of the game and that love to work with kids and the other ones coach because they were picked on in high school. We all have seen the coach who loves to run up the score, argue with the refs and find every loophole in the rulebook. They usually manipulate their roster to get all of the good kids on their team and if they lose, they call the commissioner to complain.

I have seen a lot of ugliness in my twenty-four years as a youth sports coach. I think my least favorite moment was the game when my baseball team was down 25-0 and on the last play of the game the umpire called our kid out at home when he clearly slid under the tag. We would not have won the game, unless we had a twenty-four-run rally with two out, but it would have been nice to end the game on a positive note. As if that were not bad enough, five kids on the other team did not play a single inning.

When I was a soccer coach in Brighton, we had a parent punch his kid in the head because he missed a penalty shot on goal. We called the police on him; the kid never played another game with us. Another time an intoxicated parent was arrested for DWI as they pulled out of the parking lot. The woman was known for drinking martinis on the sideline. She actually brought a shaker and a martini glass to very game. That week one of the parents on the opposing team happened to be an off duty police officer.

The police were also called to a youth football game I was coaching because the commissioner wanted a coach from a nearby town arrested for scouting our team. The game was being played in a public park. The police politely handled the situation since “scouting” is not illegal in this or any other state.

I have had my fair share of clashes with refs and umpires. In a league I coached in Hamlin we had a running joke going about an umpire who never called a strike on his own kid. About two games into the season we started keeping track of it, and sure enough it was true. Since the kid could not hit and he was on our team, we did not complain.

And this brings me to last night in Lyndonville when an ump tried to kick me out of a game for arguing in favor of the call he made. Yes, I was arguing in favor of the call he made, not against and then he gave me a warning. Two seconds later, he attempted to eject me for a comment that a spectator made. After I informed the misguided youth that I did not make the comment or any other comments directed at him that evening, I informed him that I was not leaving and so a couple of parents actually “volunteered” to escort me off the field.

As I am writing about the event, it seems comical. Unfortunately, the event serves as a sober reminder about what is the biggest problem with youth sports, the adults. If we could just figure out a way to take the adults out of youth sports then maybe the kids could have some fun. Of course until we get rid of the adults, I am not leaving.