Port Coquitlam moms and dads must be quiet during kids lacrosse games: officials

[Sportsdude]

 Stop Yellin'!
lol

 Port Coquitlam Minor Lacrosse Association has declared "silent stands" during five games this season, meaning fans can't yell, cheer or even clap.   Head referee Craig Labranche said it's hoped the silence will reduce stress on players but the measure is primarily aimed at stemming the abuse heaped on young, inexperienced referees. [/p]"They leave the game because of the abuse," Labranche said. "That was the probably the initial reason we did it, is for respect to the referees and to give them a night off from being harassed."   Labranche said many sports, such as lacrosse, hockey and soccer, have trouble keeping young referees because they quit rather than endure jeering from unhappy fans. [/p]Two games have been played under the "silent stands" rule and three more are scheduled Thursday night.   Association president David Clarke said the purpose of the games is to raise awareness of the behaviour of parents and fans, and how it affects the players and the young referees. [/p]In the 10 years he's been involved in minor lacrosse, Clarke said he's seen the behaviour of parents deteriorate.   "Unfortunatley, I'd have to say it's escalating, not to the violent point but I think with all of us working 50 hours a week, 60 hours a week, for some reason people tend to think this is a good place to get your stress out, everything that upset you - the ride home and the traffic," he said. [/p]Minor sports leagues all over are having trouble keeping teenaged referees involved, Clarke said, and "no refs, no games."   "We needed to do something," he said. "You toss out the odd parent and it seems like they're always getting replaced by another irate parent."[/p]---------------------------------------------------------------
[/p]Wow parents really need to settle down, Silent Games?! LMAO What is this The Italian Football League?[a href="vny!://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080528/koddities/oddity_silent_game"]vny!://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080528/koddities/oddity_silent_game[/a]

[Marik]

I guess this idea is okay just once, but if they decide to keep this no cheering, no clapping, no nothing policy all the time, it's going a little too far. But with that said,

Angry parents really are a problem. Same goes for coaches, and to a lesser extent, players. I referee soccer games and they just never shut up.

Of all the games I've refed, I bet the number of complaints vs the number of compliments outnumbers it by ten to one.
The moms are the worst too: (in a nasal, whiny voice that grates on the ear) "HEY REF!!! Are you blind? My son just got pushed by that player! Where's the whistle?!"

In my experience, Burnaby teams are the worst. Parents, coaches, players, they all whine.

My friend refed a game once, and he was doing the lines, and some huge guy slowly walks up to him, visibly upset, and says in a low voice, "That was NOT a goal..."  Friend asks if he needs to call the ref over, and the guy says "No, but I'll be watching you..."
And the huge guy actually followed him around after the game in his car...

Some people...

The good thing is though, there's a shortage of referees (at least in soccer) so I can get away with things like mouthing off to parents, and inviting kids to repeat what they said to me under their breath - usually something like "that call was shit!" This is always a fun one, since if they do mouth off, I can give them a yellow or red card.

I love my job!!!

     

[Sportsdude]

Hahaha I did the umpire thing for baseball games when I was 14/15. A coach from a kindergarten aged softball team went insane on me. I didn't understand why, this league everybody got a turn to bat ever inning and it was super slow pitch machine. Booggled my mind.

I was the head ump behind the plate once. After 1 game I never did it again. I was afraid some parent was going to attack me afterwards with all the yelling directed at me. Saying I was full of shit and a f*cking dumbasss etc.