Sideline rage rages on

(Published Evening News & Tribune, Sept 22 '09)

Every fall, there are parents ejected from high school soccer fields for unsportsmanlike behavior.

In the past few seasons, I can remember five ejections while doing my rounds at games. And I know there have been more.

The latest was during the Floyd Central/New Albany girls’ rival matchup last Thursday. The game, as you may already know, also served as a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness and research. Both teams wore pink for the occasion and a good crowd at the Highlanders’ field ensured that the event was a success.

However, an angry parent was requested to leave in the second half after some persistent verbal abuse aimed in particular at one of the assistant referees. It all started after a somewhat controversial decision which resulted in the rewarding of a corner for New Albany.

The AR – a very experienced match official – warned the parent he would be ejected if it continued. It continued, and the parent was ejected.

There were some other flashpoints in the game which annoyed the crowd, and, while not in total agreement with every decision made (whoever is?), I feel the three officials did a very good job in an atmosphere which felt at times far from friendly, making some in attendance uncomfortable.

Last year, a study was published that found ego defensiveness, one of the triggers that ignites road rage, also kicks off what’s known as parental “sideline rage” at soccer games.

Jay Goldstein, who studies sports psychology at the University of Maryland, analyzed 340 parents after they had watched their children play soccer matches ranging in age from 8-15. He asked the parents to fill out questionnaires about whether the game had made them upset.

There wasn’t too much uncontrollable rage -- some brief temper flares – but more than half of all the parents (53 per cent) reported getting angry during the course of the game.

Of those, a third actually vented their anger, and a quarter of them said the anger had to do with their own child, or the performance of their own child. Discourteous opponents, hostile remarks or gestures, coaches and illegal play were among other irritants.

These are just the ones who admitted to getting angry. Goldstein believes the number who actually got angry and “lost it” was probably much higher. The parents he dubs THOSE (Tempestuous, Harried, Overwrought, Self-absorbed and Emotional) tend to underreport negative behavior.

The study also found that those who lost it during games tended to be both control freaks and people who measured their own worth by criteria established by others: The kind of people who were willing to get themselves deep in debt to buy a luxury car to keep up with the Joneses.

They tended to see questionable calls by the referee, or poor performance by their children or their children's teams, as being personal reflections on their own honor.

Some US youth leagues are taking parental sideline rage seriously, and have introduced “Dum Dum” brigades -- people designated to go up to parents who can't shut up and stick a lollipop in their mouths.

Not a bad idea, but seeing that the officials prompt much of the sideline anger, some organizations are looking at more thorough referee training, as well as training parents better on the rules of the game. It’s a weak grasp of the latter which can cause most confusion and unnecessary anger.

Maybe schools could help sponsor courses for parents in conjunction with our local referees’ associations, while those ejected should be made do an exam on the laws before they’re allowed back to see a game. Actually officiating a matchup prior to their return mightn’t be a bad idea either.

Not only would that help bolster referee numbers, but it would also ensure that fewer referees -- especially younger ones -- are frightened away from the middle by the sideline ragers.