Treatment of Officials
Nationwide, overzealous parents/coaches and poor communication are the biggest complaints pertaining to youth sports. They are leading factors in less kids playing sports and less kids learning to officiate. It is the primary goal of Thunderbird Youth Sports to ensure those issues don't become problems for our own youth sports experience.
Below you will find quick explanations of the expectations all of us have in our treatment of our youth officials. These officials are largely young men and women who are a part of our community, are just learning to umpire, and are doing us a service to allow our children to compete. They should never be openly criticized and should be treated as if they are our family, whether at home or on the road.
Coaches: Please refrain from openly criticizing officiating. If you feel the officiating is a real issue, then have a calm conversation with the official during a break in play and out of earshot of spectators and athletes. I understand we all want to win and the kids work hard to do so, but we still cannot loudly criticize officiating for several reasons:
It gives our athletes and spectators an excuse and reason to complain, which can lead directly to situations growing out of control.
It is the reaction least likely to lead to officiating in our favor
Most importantly, it takes our focus away from teaching our athletes that we need to focus on the next play, no matter what. There will be bad calls in every game they ever play in and we need to train our athletes to compete and win anyways. This should be a primary focus for all youth athletes, as this is the #1 skill they can learn at this age that will translate to future success.
Parents: Open criticism of officiating is never acceptable. Again, these are often young kids learning a new skill just as our own athletes are. Even if it’s the worst call you’ve ever seen, cheer for your kid and let your coaches address the issue if necessary. Parents should also, outside of emergencies, stay clear of the bench areas at all times during games.
Athletes: There will be times where a bad call goes against you. Unfortunately, there will be times when it happens at the worst possible time in the game. This is where it's critical to understand that our response helps shape the outcome and, at that point, the only response that has a chance of helping you win the game is to move on and focus on the next play. This is a HARD skill to learn, but it is the most POWERFUL skill you can learn, on and off the field. Once you make yourself a victim, in this case a victim of bad officiating, you remove all power you have to make the outcome more desirable.
Poor treatment from officials will not be tolerated at our youth sports event. If it gets to the point where administration needs to intervene, the offending parties and their athletes will simply be asked to leave. Serious or continued infractions will lead to exclusion from future seasons. We want to teach our young athletes to be competitive, but it is paramount that we also teach them to be respectful.
