Angry Soccer Parents Given 100 Yard Penalty

Parents of a Bethesda, MD (which just happens to be where yours truly’s office is) soccer team have been ordered to come no closer than 100 yards to the field while their daughter’s team is playing.

The Washington Post reports:

“The trouble began when a parent from the Springfield Youth Club’s Xplosion working as an assistant referee raised a flag in the air and called an offside violation on a Bethesda player, according to the minutes of the disciplinary hearing. After the game, a Bethesda parent approached the referee and accused him of making the wrong call, the report says. The parent “started to raise his voice,” according to the report. More sniping occurred, and “the tone and behavior of the parents was aggressive.” Then another Bethesda parent allegedly yelled at the referee’s daughter, “Your father should be fired!”

The league’s disciplinary committee ruled that the Bethesda parents had violated the league’s code of conduct — which asks parents to refrain from questioning referees’ calls — through “egregious” behavior that “has no place in youth sports.” They ruled that the parents could not be on the sidelines for the first two games of this season.

“There was a game where our parents were a little bit vocal about the refereeing. . . . Things can get emotional, but you have to keep up the sportsmanlike spirit,” said Legacy’s manager, Mark Lauda, an Olney resident. “We’re not a problem team at all. It was just one thing that happened.”

As anyone who has been to a youth sports game can attest, this is not an isolated incident. According to a Sports Illustrated Kids poll, 74 percent of children have witnessed out-of-control parents at their games.