In the past, youth sports used to be fun for everyone. Everyone would have an equal amount of playing time and winning wasn't everything. As Doug Abrams, a law professor at the University of Missouri scans through databases for reports of outrageous behavior at amateur sports events, he claims he has come across hundreds of episodes since 1998 and they are happening at an increasing rate (R. Wolff "Let's" 1). Whether it's a dad who punches a hockey coach or a mom who verbally abuses a ref at a soccer game, it's clear that too many people have lost sight of the purpose and value of youth sports programs. .
Six years ago, Rick Wolff began writing Parents" Guide to Kids" Sports from the perspective as a parent, coach, former athlete and pro team psychology advisor. Six years ago, there was great interest in the subject of youth sports but now, Wolff claims that the issues are getting more important and more serious. Too many parents and coaches feel that anything goes when it comes to their kids in sports. The thoughts of college athletic scholarships and pro contracts make the stakes higher (R.Wolff "Let's" 1). .
The trend these days is that parents are becoming more confrontational which is directly causing coaches to lose their cool and burn out. One good example of a coach who burned out from the pressure of parents was John Nicol who was a boys" lacrosse coach at Yorktown High for five years. Under Nicol's coaching, Yorktown became one of the nation's elite lacrosse programs and sent tons of athletes to play in college. But with success came a nightly stream of phone calls from parents. They would constantly call his home to ask what he was doing to get their kids scholarships or to nag about their kids" playing time. These phone calls aggravated Nicol so much that he decided to leave Yorktown High (R. Wolff "Pesky" 1). .
Other reasons coaches are quitting their jobs is the threat of being sued.
