Friday, July 18, 2008

Parents banned from being spectators

Just recently this year, in my province, parent spectators have been banned from watching their children compete in the sport of Lacrosse.

In British Columbia, the lacrosse league implemented a "Silent night" where parents were not allowed to clap, yell, or cheer during the competition.

In Los Angeles, coaches are held responsible for the behavior of the fans of their team in Youth Basketball.

In Soccer, "Several soccer coaches are dishing out lollipops to rowdy parents, with firm instructions to keep their mouths shut until the candy has dissolved. "

In Northern California, the city of Roseville will require parents of children in municipal sports leagues to attend lessons in sportsmanship.

There seems to be developing a general lower tolerance for unruly parents in the sporting areas.

Will this type of thing happen at Martial Arts Tournaments?

I have seen unruly parents at various Tournaments. Will we be seeing a similar ruling in Martial Arts as we have seen exhibited by the Lacrosse League? I'm talking about the rule of banning spectators from attending. I can't see that happening as the tournament would loose profit in this manner. Each competitor brings in a registration fee, and usually at least one, or two spectator fees.

I have seen "closed" belt rank tests where parents were not welcome to watch their child testing for the next rank. I don't understand the reasoning behind this from an onlooker's perspective. I have yet to see an unruly parent during a belt rank test. But then, I don't know what happens after the test. Perhaps the parent becomes upset that their child did not pass their test while another child succeeded.

4 comments:

Steve said...

Ridiculous that it has come to this. If parents are THAT rowdy and disrespectful, we're in big trouble as a society.

Surebor said...

in my country, parents of kids who lost a sparring competition, overturn the judges tables and throw chairs

Mir said...

Wow! I haven't heard, nor seen this type of behavior Hungkeykwun, but I wouldn't be surprised if it evolved to this.

Mir said...

I agree with you that it is ridiculous, but it is happening in many children sports. Parents are being bad examples for their children.