Tim Peel was recently in the news for his behaviour at a minor hockey game in Missouri. Matt Drake shares some thoughts on that, and hockey parents in general.
My father was a minor league pitcher as a late teen (back when they had all sorts of lesser minor leagues) and thought about trying to go pro as a baseball player, but went to grad school instead. He umpired Little League games before I was born, quitting after he got chased into the parking lot by parents carrying bats. He refused to sign me up for Little League years later, and I didn’t understand why until years after that. This is not a new problem, and it’s not just hockey. People lose perspective around youth sports - maybe it’s a “Glory Days” kind of thing. Sad to see it, good work calling this out.
It definitely extends to other sports, not just hockey. My little brother used to umpire some baseball and never had anyone come after him with bats but he had some ridiculous stories from it.
I think the whole living through your kids vicariously becomes a group phenomenon and they feed off each other to act as if those games are life and death, ruining the fun for their kids in the process.
My father was a minor league pitcher as a late teen (back when they had all sorts of lesser minor leagues) and thought about trying to go pro as a baseball player, but went to grad school instead. He umpired Little League games before I was born, quitting after he got chased into the parking lot by parents carrying bats. He refused to sign me up for Little League years later, and I didn’t understand why until years after that. This is not a new problem, and it’s not just hockey. People lose perspective around youth sports - maybe it’s a “Glory Days” kind of thing. Sad to see it, good work calling this out.
It definitely extends to other sports, not just hockey. My little brother used to umpire some baseball and never had anyone come after him with bats but he had some ridiculous stories from it.
I think the whole living through your kids vicariously becomes a group phenomenon and they feed off each other to act as if those games are life and death, ruining the fun for their kids in the process.