Junior sport rage crisis deepens: Parents abusing cadet referees and even their own kids
OFFICIALS are fed up with threats of violence and abuse against young referees, which have become a weekly occurrence in this junior sporting comp.
Young referees regularly abused by parents on sidelines
Huge drop in volunteer refs due to sport rage from mums and dads
Parents even witnessed abusing their own kids during games
Club officials taking a stand to stamp out bad sideline behaviour
PARENTS regularly abuse their own children and cadet soccer referees as the Central Coast junior sport rage crisis deepens.
A week after three men copped life bans over a punch-up at an Ourimbah under-10 rugby league match, junior soccer officials confirmed threats of violence and abuse against referees were a weekly occurrence.
In the first of a two-part special report, the Express Advocate throws the spotlight on soccer and netball, which have the highest junior participation rates.
FIGHTING FATHERS SLAPPED WITH NATIONWIDE LIFE BANS
Officials say there has been a big drop in volunteer numbers as many of them are “fed up” with the “constant” abuse.
The region’s biggest soccer club, Terrigal United, reports that volunteer numbers have nearly halved in the past three years.
“We’ve got 1150 players in our club and our committee has less than 20 people in it,” club president Sharon Baxter said. “A few years ago, playing numbers were less than a thousand but we had 35 on the committee.
“I’m the club president and also in charge of the canteen because our volunteer numbers have dropped.”
I had to deal with a punch-up between two dads on a sideline at an under-8 game and I had to call the police
Central Coast Football general manager Darren Sprod said there were incidents “just about every weekend” involving rogue parents.
“This varies from intimidation to abuse of opposition players and match officials,” Mr Sprod said. “I wouldn’t like to say there’s an epidemic of it, but there are incidents we deal with on a regular basis.”
Just minutes after the Express Advocate arrived at Duffys Oval at Terrigal on Saturday morning Ms Baxter was forced to console a child who had been abused by his mother.
“I heard this mother going mad at her child because he didn’t score a goal in that game. And that was on a non-competition field. I just couldn’t believe it,” Ms Baxter, who is also the football business manager with Central Coast Mariners, said.
“The child was clearly upset so I invited him over to the canteen and we gave him a cheese and bacon roll to cheer him up. You see at least three cases of this type of bad parent behaviour each weekend (at Duffys Oval), which is really disappointing.”
Ms Baxter said it had been an “ugly” year for parent behaviour at junior soccer games.
“I had to deal with a punch-up between two dads on a sideline at an under-8 game and I had to call the police. It became a court matter and we had to bring our member protection officer into it. What they forgot is that under-8s is non-competition and there is no score recorded,” she said.
Even junior netball has had a drama-charged year. Wyong District Netball Association officials have confirmed a police report was lodged after an incident earlier this season.
“A couple of dads got a bit vocal and a bit physical and an off-duty policeman standing next to them moved them away,” association secretary Chris Miles said.
In response to increasing reports of unruly parent behaviour, Central Coast Football has distributed a code-of-conduct board among the region’s 23 clubs.
ARE PARENTS BEHAVING BADLY AT GAMES?
Kate Homan-Corless, Terrigal:
“I’ve seen parents behaving very badly recently. It was during a girls’ under-15 soccer game where two of the dads approached the coach and wanted to punch him. Everyone was shocked who saw it, including the kids.”
Vince Cairns, Erina:
“Absolutely. Not long ago there was this coach and his father who got upset that our team won by one goal. Apparently our kid was off-side who scored the goal but there’s no off-side in under-8s. At the end of the game their coach just walked off and didn’t acknowledge our team.”
Julie McFadden, Terrigal:
“I’ve seen some bad behaviour, yes. I’ve noticed the coaches have a big impact on parent behaviour. If they are seen to be doing the right thing then it rubs off. But I have seen some local soccer teams where the culture is a bit toxic, and that’s disgraceful.”
Paul Sheldon, Tascott:
“It’s generally pretty tame here at Gosford netball. Parents will often get loud but they don’t get too abusive or pushy. The worst I’ve seen is a parent shouting at a ref but nearby parents shut it down quickly.”
Anthony Patrick, Umina:
“The worst I’ve seen is vocal behaviour towards umpires making bad calls and unfortunately towards players who were playing badly. But generally parents’ behaviour at the netball is pretty good.”
LIVING LOST SPORTING DREAMS THROUGH KIDS
SOME parents are trying to live lost sporting dreams through their children.
According to a netball chief this is what is behind many dummy spits by mums and dads at junior sport.
“We definitely see that a lot,” Gosford Netball Association president Sam Gribble said. “I’ve been a member of Gosford netball since I was seven years old.
“And there are people who are still around the local netball scene that I played against.
“Some of them are now living their lost dreams vicariously through their children.”
There was no sight of unruly behaviour around the 27 courts at Adcock Park at West Gosford on Saturday morning as many of the region’s 1400 junior netballers and 160 teams faced off.
But Ms Gribble said parents behaving badly had made it “difficult” to retain volunteers.
“Numbers are definitely dropping off for that reason,” the 42-year-old said. “We’ve had some minor incidents this season. But we encourage players and coaches to identify a problem early and then report it.
“We then make sure there’s an official presence at that particular court, which tends to calm the situation.
“And we’ve also found that other parents tend to step in themselves to address the problem.”
Ms Gribble said signs were placed around courts to remind parents, coaches and players about behaviour expectations.
“Netball is the biggest participation sport for girls, so it’s important we set high standards on and off the court.”
Meanwhile, Wyong District Netball Association is also taking a stand against unruly behaviour.
While the association has a zero-tolerance approach to bullying of umpires, member protection officer Jan Addison said some umpires had been lost to the game after being “abused”.
Association secretary Chris Miles said she thought the biggest problem for netball was cyber-bullying, before and after games. She said people were now more aggressive than previously.
“Sometimes with the younger ones (parents) want them to be Australian players at age seven and get a bit carried away,” she said.
NEXT WEEK: Junior rugby league.
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