Newspaper Page Text
Parents urged to show sportsmanship
behavior at summer ball games
THURSDAY. APRIL 22. 2004 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
By Dan Pool
Recently hired recreation
director Greg Walker said the
behavior of parents, coaches and
the community was exemplary
throughout basketball season and he
sees no reason that the crowds
won’t be equally sportsman-like
during his first baseball season
here.
But, the 22-year veteran of recre
ation programs isn’t taking any
chances.
Walker brought with him a 12-
point “Parents Promoting Positive
Sports” contract which parents must
sign before their children can play.
Under the contract, any adult who
acts infantile at a Recreation
League game can be banished from
the park for the entire season.
“There is no doubt that recre
ators throughout the nation have
identified this as one of the biggest
problems at parks,” he said. “The
games are supposed to be fun, but
because of parents, the games turn
into a tense environment very
quickly.”
Walker said during his more than
two decades working with youth
sports, he’s seen or averted any
number of fistfights and in Georgia
there have been at least two stab-
bings by parents against recreation
league officials over calls made in
the games.
In a highly publicized national
incident, a hockey coach was beat
en to death by an enraged father a
few years ago.
“The Georgia General Assembly
passed a law making it a felony for
anyone to physically contact an
umpire or referee,” he said. “That
ought to show how serious the issue
is viewed.”
Walker said the problem is the
behavior and attitude of parents
today can be much more “mean-
spirited” than occasional jeering or
booing a call.
“There has always been banter
with sports just like hot dogs,
peanuts and popcorn,” he said. “I
tell our officials to not have rabbit-
ears — don’t listen to what’s being
said.”
But, according to Walker during
the 1990s when pro athletes such as
Charles Barkley proudly pro
claimed, “I’m not a role model,”
and baseball player Roberto Alomar
spit on an umpire, things began fil
tering down to the younger leagues.
Walker said the trend across
Georgia has been to not keep score
in tee-ball partly to avoid the prob
lems associated with competition.
The worst divisions for poor par
ent behavior are the youngest where
scores are kept.
“It’s all fun and games until that
scoreboard lights up,” he said. “I
call it a Jekyll and Hyde syndrome.
“Together We Prepare”
Local Red Cross Chapter promoting emergency preparedness
“Together We Prepare” is the motto the American Red Cross is using in conjunction with Home
land Security to help the general public prepare for disasters both manmade and natural.
Our local CVS Pharmacy is helping the American Red Cross by selling Tornado Squares for $1.00
and one lucky person will win a complete home disaster kit. This kit contains the essentials for any
family, school or business to have on hand in case of an emergency.
“A kit like this can be a real life saver in an emergency,” said Andy Thompson, the local Red Cross
official. “We all know we need these things but we too often hesitate putting things together and hav
ing them prepared for use. ”
Pictured here is CVS employee and Red Cross volunteer Andres Downes, a senior at Pickens High
who is helping promote the sale of Tornado Squares. All money raised goes to disaster relief for Pick
ens County. The drawing for the winner will be this Friday at 5:00 p.m.
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The parents will sit down and talk
about how they want a good positive
atmosphere. Then they’ll go out and
lose it, when a bad call is made.”
Walker said poor sportsmanship
seems to cut across all social and
economic categories. Walker said in
an earlier job, he saw an Elementary
School Principal and “pillar of the
community” come completely
unglued when a team he was coach
ing lost a close game.
In another incident Walker said
two kids on the same team got into a
fight in the dugout and their mothers
got into a fight in the stands at the
same time.
Walker said with the “human ele
ment” of umpires’ and referees’ bad
calls are part of the game.
“I see bad calls which affect
games made at the recreation level,”
he said. “But I also see them at a
Braves game.”
He said this year Pickens County
has 15 umpires to open the season,
many are entering rookie years and
are high school students, lacking
both game experience and experi
ence dealing with angry fans —
something the director hopes parents
will keep in mind.
“We have done some training
with them,” he said. “But experi
enced referees usually move on the
high school level, which pays more
than the basic recreation umpire
gets.”
Walker said he has dealt with
angry parents and coaches all
through his career and he always
points out that bad calls happen at
all levels of sports.
The director said the hardest
aspect to deal with is spectators who
believe there is intentional cheating
behind a bad call.
One point Walker made that par
ents need to keep in mind is once a
call is made, even one that is bla
tantly wrong, the call stands —
regardless of heckling or taunts from
the crowd.
“The officials are instructed to
not go back and change calls,” he
said. “Once they make it, they stick
with it.”
Walker said through the recre
ation authority, they have the power
to eject parents for the whole season,
but it’s something he really hopes
he’ll never have to do.
“The most important thing to
remember is that it’s a game out
there for kids,” he said.
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