Fab1b;408021 wrote:That is why I only ref High School in season and only National level High School out of season, I stay away from the youth stuff anymore!

I'm telling you its horrible.

My kid is a darn good wrestler, places at about every tournament, but not quite the "state champion" level yet.

So he wins a good amount of matches, and I've seen dads screaming at their 6 year old kid because they lost to my kid. I've also seen them yelling at the referees due to some perceived bad call.

Its plain stupid.

Everybody thinks their kid is the next A-Rod, Joe Montana, or Wayne Gretzky. After never being shown reality their whole life, they can't fathom little Johnny isn't the best player/student/worker/artist/etc ever.

I remember watching my youngest daughter run track in the 7th or 8th grade. She was good at distance, but liked the glamour of the speed races. She got absolutely smoked in the 100. She cried as she saw everyone pass her, but she finished. In my heart, I cried with her too. But I was proud that she didn't quit. What she couldn't do in the 100 though, she could do in the 100 hurdles. She made up for the loss doing that. That made me proud too. She didn't run track in high school though. She got girly and got into cheerleading instead. As a parent, you should let your children find their way instead of trying to live vicariously through them. That's the general problem with a lot of parents that cross the line with their children in sports. Killing the kid's dream puts that final nail in the coffin of their dream.

And they wonder why kids are such pussies now days.

You can't spank them, yell at them, or cut them from a team.

SMH