In Lakewood, Colorado, a game between two teams of 7-year-old kids, officiated by a 13-year-old umpire, deteriorated into a fist-fight between a group of 15 to 20 “adults.” At this time, four adults have been cited for misdemeanors and a fifth adult, who inflicted serious injuries and then walked away is being sought by police. Parents are more than an embarrassment, an ethical meltdown at a baseball game.
The video loop of the game, obviously taken on someone’s smartphone, shows the adults wailing away at one another, a woman jumping on a person’s back, and multiple pushes, shoves and kicks.
The teams, representing suburbs of Denver, were hardly playing for anything meaningful. Being 7-year-old’s simply playing in a meaningless game, there were no collegiate, let alone professional contracts in the offing making the brawl even more absurd. One more fact before I move on: nowhere in the video was a child to be seen. Ultimately, this wasn’t about them at all.
A disturbing trend
If this were an isolated incident, where the shock was still reverberating throughout the land, it would be one thing. However adult fights at youth sports games, regardless of sport, are occurring with increased regularity. In addition to the senseless violence is the lack of empathy. The precipitating factor was the adults becoming angry at a 13-year-old umpire.
Knowing many officials and coaches as I do, I can freely share that unpaid volunteer official and coaches, and even those paid for their services in the high school ranks, are leaving sports in droves. It is hard to blame them.
While viewing the video loop (it is easily seen online) doesn’t suggest alcohol – though I wouldn’t doubt it – there are many more factors that contributed to this incident that is often overlooked in sports venues across America. Clearly, there is a disturbing ethical meltdown at hand helped along, I believe, by a lack of consequences for the choices to commit such violence.
The ethical meltdown is a long time in coming. Surely the opportunity to commit such violence and the license to commit violence are a repressed need to “be somebody.”
At this, and many other venues, there was no official oversite and essentially no rules. In a more organized setting, adult officials might have stopped any of this from occurring but that also might have been like erecting a mud dam to quell a tsunami.
Sadly, all too many parents and “friends” of parents frame their sports references in terms of huge professional contracts, sports programming, video gaming, social media, and their own life frustrations. They live their lives through surrogates; their kids, their teams, their dreams.
For the brawlers, the 7-year-olds on the field did not represent children having fun. They represented million-dollar homes, luxurious cars and “bling.” The umpire was not a 13-year-old child, but “the man.” He represented authority and power. The umpire represented an obstacle. To their minds, the umpire was the one who stood in the way of lucrative contracts and a better life. The incident was beyond an embarrassment or unethical behavior (though it was both) but goes straight to societal flaws in an age of anger, meanness and a lack of common sense.
Fixes aren’t easy
Unfortunately, fixes to these incidents are easier said than done. As long as some irresponsible parents are behaving in this manner it will be virtually impossible to eradicate it. However, as this behavior ultimately begins and ends with unethical behavior, it will be ethics training and ethical messaging that can help to curb it.
Clearly, both professional and collegiate sports could broadcast aspirational and ethical messaging encouraging everyone to stop the violence. Coaches in organized leagues could be ethically trained and obviously, all officials should have a greater cloak of protection by law.
Finally, I don’t know by what standard a 13-year-old was permitted to officiate. It was a terrible burden to place on him. He is a kid who was coaching kids. Responsible adults from both teams should have quickly stepped in and ended the game if it had come to that.
Children have a right to live their childhoods and not be surrogates for angry and frustrated parents.
