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Parents,
Coaches, Fans and Officials
By Mike Stegall
Some of you may not know this, but I once was a High School football
player (Greenville), then College (Central Michigan University), then a
High school football official for 27 years. As an official, I
worked basically 3 leagues, The Midwest Athletic, the Greater Western
Ohio, and The Western Buckeye. In all of these years, I
have seen a lot of things good and a lot of things bad. Sports
are one of the best teachers about life that young people can be
exposed too. To this day, I urge all parents to allow their
children to be involved in some after school activity, no matter what
it is. Band, cheerleading, FFA, and other activities only add to
a child’s life. They are all great teachers on how to work with
others, how to sacrifice for a cause, and of course, what it takes to
be successful. Success does not necessarily mean only
winning. Success comes from getting better each time, turning out
good people, and eventually ending up with a successful, winning
program.
We have a new program starting up in football at Tri-Village. I
am glad to see this. I think football is the best sport ever! (of
course I could be prejudiced! ) Tri-Village will suffer ups and downs
along the way, but if handled correctly, they will ultimately be
successful. Since it is football season, and since our high
Schools are all starting up soon and some programs are new and some
just re-starting, I began thinking about what I have learned from
sports, mostly from an official’s point of view . I hope not to
offend anyone, but I think sometimes people need to be reminded of what
they see, and hear, and react to with young athletes.
When you attend a contest, please keep in mind that the players are
young adults. They are not getting paid. They are playing because
they like it. They are trying their best. That should be
enough for everyone. As you sit in the stands as fans, and
scream about how lousy that player is, remember, YOU ARE NOT OUT THERE,
THEY ARE. Football is a confusing game, it is also very
physical. You have heard the saying that football is a contact
sport. It is not: it is a Collision sport. Some players are
bigger and stronger, and smarter than others. That’s just a
fact. Football plays on those mismatches. So, while you are
screaming about how bad that player is, remember that other team is
doing everything it can to exploit bad matchups, and that player you
are screaming at is someone’s son or daughter. They could be
screaming at your’s on the next play!! The next person on the
scream list is the Coach. It is rare when an entire community can
support a coach for a long time. Usually at some point you will
start to hear that the coach is playing so and so’s kid because of his
name, social standing, parents wealth, blah blah blah. Learn this
now; No coach worth his salt is playing anybody because of those
things! Why? Because his job depends on his performance and if you
think he will play someone who has less talent, you are terribly
mistaken. Parents, the reason your son or daughter is not
playing is because THEY ARE JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BEAT THE OTHER
PERSON OUT! That is a hard lesson to learn. I hope if your
son or daughter is not a starter or does not play much, you can tell
your young athlete that. There is nothing wrong with telling them
they have to work harder, get stronger and faster, and make an
impression. Parents can be the best thing for an athlete,
or the worst. Let them learn that there are people with more
talent, just like in life. One other thing, the reason that coach
went from 8-2 last year to 1 and 9 this year is not because he took
stupid pills over the summer. Could it be he just doesn’t have
the talent he had last year. I would guess that’s it. So,
please do not call him an idiot. If you have any concerns about
why your child isn’t playing, or why the team is less than good, go ask
him. He will tell you straight up what the deal is. Give
him the respect he deserves by devoting his time to your child, trying
to make them better.
When I was officiating, there were a lot of great coaches around.
I enjoyed working with them. They did their best to bring out the
best in their student athletes. Yes, they sometimes screamed and
yelled, got upset, and disciplined kids. Most did it the
right way, some did not. Coaches, try to remember who you are
working with. You are not coaching the Green Bay Packers, you are
coaching young , impressionable humans who can LEARN if you TEACH
them. Make sure you are not on an ego trip, and it is not all
about you. It is about learning. Coaches put in a lot of
extra time because they love the job, and most love the students.
Some coaches can get to the point where they only care about winning
and losing, (which is important or they wouldn’t keep score!), but it
is also a life experience for the athlete. Don’t forget
that. Parents and students, if you think coaching is easy, then
get into the profession. Good coaches are hard to come by.
If you can do better, then do it. If not, support the coach every
way you can.
Parents, Students, Coaches and fans, if you think coaching and playing
and watching your child or team from the stands is difficult, try
officiating. Yelling insults and curses at officials is an American
tradition. It happens and we know that. This is the
ONLY group on the entire field that everybody hates at one point or
another! There is nothing worse than doing the very best you can,
having a very competitive game, and you and your crew have to be
ESCORTED off the field by Police Officers!! It is not
pleasant! I only had it happen a couple of times, I won’t say
where, but it is not fun and leaves a terrible impression about your
community, and that impression travels quickly among good officials and
Assigners . Assigning agents may not send a really good
crew to your community if it is too much of a hassle. That
does happen, and fans need to remember that when they start to
throw that hot dog or can at them when they leave!! Officials are
usually ex- athletes that still enjoy the game, and want to be a part
of it. They do it because they love it. They make enough
for gas, and a meal afterwards, and that’s about it. Most can
ignore the crowd. I was lucky, I could. Some can’t, and
they are usually not good officials. You have heard the term
“rabbit ears”? If that is you, get out. You will be too
worried about what is being said instead of focusing on the
game. Officials are not perfect, and they make
mistakes. They are human. The only mistake that should not
be made is thinking the game is about you. The game, or contest
needs to be officiated fairly without too much intrusion by
you. Let the athletes be the star, not you. If you
can walk off after the contest and nobody knows who you are, you have
had a good night. Do your job, regardless of the consequences. If
you make a mistake acknowledge it and go on, and be respectful and
courteous no matter the situation. If you have to throw someone
out of a game, it is possible that you let the situation get out of
hand, not always, but ask yourself that afterwards and learn from
it.
Football season is upon us, along with other school activities.
Let’s all work together, parents, coaches, fans and officials to
make sure the athletes have the most enjoyable and positive experience
as possible, and if they have fun, we will too!!
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