coachKidsSports.com

For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name,he marks-not that you won or lost - but how you played the game. - Grantland Rice

As great as youth sports are for the kids, every year gives us examples of what happens when parents lose sight of what youth sports is truly about.  Here are the bottom 5 youth sports moments from 2006:

1. Utah Little League "Winners"
   Coaches for the 9-10 Mustang League Yankees order an intentional walk to the Red Sox best hitter to bring up a cancer survivor who still had a shunt in his head to drain fluid from brain surgery.  The fact the batter was a cancer survivor with obvious physical limitations is what got this story national attention.  But what caught my attention was the intentional walk.  That just isn't done at that level.  Not because the coaches don't care about winning, but because it's obviously over the top.  These leagues have rolling batting orders — everyone bats, regardless of who plays the field.  If a team calls for an intentional walk, the team at bat can't substitute another batter, so there is no balance to the strategy.  Plus — the kid had a shunt sticking out of his head!!  C'mon, have your kids win rather than force the other team to lose.

   Here's my take on Little League and intentional walks: link
   

2. Corpus Christie Football brawl
   I know football is important in Texas, but these kids were five and six year olds! I think this says it all:

   (T)he coach had been warned several times about cursing on the sidelines before his ejection from the game between five- and six-year-olds.
   

   Here's a link for those of you who would like to see the brawl.  The video is on the left bar.  Watch for Mom running into the frame around the :30 mark…

3. Parents get what they want, then sue
   Parents love their kids.  They want whats best for them, sometimes even if it isn't…  A group of parents in Castro Valley didn't like the Girls Basketball Coach - Nancy Nibarger.  They felt she played favorites when picking the team — because their kids weren't picked for the team.  They pressured the school board to order the coach to use a six person panel to select the team.  When the roster was posted - and none of their kids were on the team - the parents erupted, again.  Geez, almost makes you wish for a good old fashioned brawl…

4. Coach Protects Son By Tackling Another Kid
   Parents can get protective when their kid gets hit, especially if it's a late hit.  But few go as far as Corey Petero.  The Stockton, CA coach was suspended for hitting an  opposing player.  He rushed the field after a player hit his son after the whistle.  The referee called a penalty on the play but I guess 15 yards wasn't enough…

   You've probably already seen it, but click here if you want to see video of the play

5. It's My Ball and I'll take it home if I want
   The common theme here seems to be parents going overboard trying to "protect" their kids.  I recently wrote about the Northern Virginia dad who owned a football league.  He's not in it for the love of the game or encourage kids to play his favorite game.  He's actually very upfront about why he created the league:

   This entire league exists so he (his son) can play defense on the best team in his weight class. . . . He is my son, I own the league, and he plays every snap on defense."

   Well, in the last game of the regular season the coaches thought the son would help the team more on offense.  Apparently they were right because the team won and advanced to the playoffs.  But they didn't get to play in the playoffs because the coaches were fired.  All the other kids, all the coaches, all the parents were only set dressing so a 12 year old can play were he (more likely his dad) wants.  What are the odds he thinks the Castro Valley parents aren't going far enough?

There were other contenders such as the Utica, NY hockey brawl, or the father tasered when he rushed the field at his 8 year old's football game and of course the parent riot in New Castle, Pa.  Yes, it was quite a year.  Let's hope we don't have another one like it in 2007… but I won't hold my breath. 

Reading this list can make you cynical about youth sports.  But I know these stories aren't representative of all the positive things sports brings to the kids who play.  So share with everyone the story about the kid who scored her first goal, the shy kid who came out of his shell, the walk off homer or the game saving tackle.  Thousands of those great things happened this year — and everyone of them was more important than any of the over involved parents listed above.