punk_lawyer
Habeas Punkus
- Joined
- May 6, 2008
- Messages
- 2,060
Gentlemen (and a lady or two),
My apologies for not being very active on CP over the past couple of months. In addition to being my 'busy season' in the office, I also coach and coordinate our local lacrosse club. It seems like every minute of March and April is consumed.
I know that many of you are active in coaching youth sports or have kids who play. I think that some of you may referee games. There is no doubt that youth sports can have tremendous positive effects on kids. The friendships, the ability to work as a team, the self esteem, that list can go on and on. I love to coach and I love to help players progress. But sometimes the parents of kids amaze me. Sure, one rotten apple can spoil the whole bunch but I am really amazed sometimes.
On Sunday my son was knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion by a violent, vicious, illegal hit during a lacrosse game. (Mind you, this is at the 4th grade level). The father of the kid who knocked my son out cheered the hit wildly and, while my son was being transported to the hospital, he nearly got into a fight with two of our coaches. As a result of that dirty hit, my 11 year old son has had to miss school, is going to miss several weeks of lacrosse, cannot participate in a 5k race that he had trained to run, and generally has to make sure that his brain works. He will be okay in time. The thing that burns me up the most was that the hit was clearly intended to take my son out of the game but it was cheered by the offender's father. Clearly dad had told the kid to play like an assassin.
I believe that all of us involved in youth sports have a responsibility to control the behavior of the players, the coaches, and the parents. If any of you have an out of control parent on the sidelines or an out of control player on the field then do what you have to do in order to insure player safety and a positive environment for the game. There is no greater priority than safety.
My apologies for not being very active on CP over the past couple of months. In addition to being my 'busy season' in the office, I also coach and coordinate our local lacrosse club. It seems like every minute of March and April is consumed.
I know that many of you are active in coaching youth sports or have kids who play. I think that some of you may referee games. There is no doubt that youth sports can have tremendous positive effects on kids. The friendships, the ability to work as a team, the self esteem, that list can go on and on. I love to coach and I love to help players progress. But sometimes the parents of kids amaze me. Sure, one rotten apple can spoil the whole bunch but I am really amazed sometimes.
On Sunday my son was knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion by a violent, vicious, illegal hit during a lacrosse game. (Mind you, this is at the 4th grade level). The father of the kid who knocked my son out cheered the hit wildly and, while my son was being transported to the hospital, he nearly got into a fight with two of our coaches. As a result of that dirty hit, my 11 year old son has had to miss school, is going to miss several weeks of lacrosse, cannot participate in a 5k race that he had trained to run, and generally has to make sure that his brain works. He will be okay in time. The thing that burns me up the most was that the hit was clearly intended to take my son out of the game but it was cheered by the offender's father. Clearly dad had told the kid to play like an assassin.
I believe that all of us involved in youth sports have a responsibility to control the behavior of the players, the coaches, and the parents. If any of you have an out of control parent on the sidelines or an out of control player on the field then do what you have to do in order to insure player safety and a positive environment for the game. There is no greater priority than safety.
