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Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires (James 1:19-20, NLT).
As a grandparent, I get a second chance, having totally enjoyed my children’s athletic events, to watch my grandchildren in soccer, basketball, and gymnastics. A two-point (hopefully a three-point) score by a grandchild in a basketball game becomes a highlight of my week.
I’ve also been shocked at the behavior of adults at kids’ games.
Youth learn the grown-up lessons of teamwork, emotional control, and determination to achieve through adversity — adult lessons of life. Obviously, lessons that many parents and grandparents in the stands haven’t learned.
This past basketball season, I’ve watched parents get upset and yell at refs, yell at kids, yell so loudly at a coach’s decision that the entire gym could hear, question players, question why their kids aren’t playing, and question why someone else’s kid is playing.
And all of this at a Christian school. HHHHMMMHHM!
Some parents and grandparents live out their failed sports ambitions now through their children, placing undue pressure on the kids while becoming a nuisance at games. Nothing is wrong with wanting our children to succeed in the areas we failed in, and wanting our next generation to improve and enjoy life better than we did.
But does anger help?
Youth soccer, basketball, and other sporting events provide an opportunity for the boiling-under-the-surface anger to be vented. We all get intense, having difficulty holding our tongues, and I admit to the temptation of unleashing an invective at every game this past season. But controlling our tempers, seeing the big picture, realizing it’s just a game, and resisting immaturity should be the goal for youth and adults.
Perhaps it’s today’s victimization milieu, with the undergirding motto: “It’s always someone else’s fault.” Yet these outbursts occurred among professed believers at a Christian school.
Unruly parents in youth athletics now attract articles in the Wall Street Journal — they may be expected in Sports Illustrated, not the esteemed Wall Street Journal. The article titles include…
The Angry Parent at the Youth Sports Game
Let’s Put Bad Sports Parents in a Box
What To Do About That Awful Parent at the Game
Several of my favorite quotes from these Journal articles…
What’s the penalty for the decline in moral fiber in society? It’s got to be at least 15 yards.
Nice at home, angry at a game, I call them the ‘Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Fan!”
One of the worst things about watching your kids grow up is that you no longer get to witness the uniquely idiotic, yet oddly entertaining, behavior of parents at kids’ ballgames.
I’m sure the kids will grow up to be fans at their own children’s games, but hopefully not like their parents. And I can’t help thinking, “All of this at your local Christian school.”