We all know that many sports situations tend to get heated and out of hand quite often. However, it seems that those involving kids can become even more dangerous because of one chaotic variable: parents. While most of the time these situations play out on their own, one referee in Florida decided that it was enough and gave some of these annoying parents a piece of his mind, silencing them on the spot.
The video comes from a TikTok user known as drpoulette, who shared a video of a referee at a kids’ soccer match in Florida losing it over some parents who attended the game. It is important to note that there isn’t much context for what led to the referee going ballistic. However, judged by any other kids’ sports match in the history of this country, we can imagine parents were fighting over some small thing that blew out of proportion.
In any case, the video begins with the referee asking the audience full of parents if he looked as if he “had to be doing seven games in 24 hours.” To which he quickly responds, “No. I don’t.” He then asks the parents if they know why he’s doing seven games in 24 hours, explaining that fewer and fewer people are willing to do what he’s doing. He also mentions that the main reason why people don’t want to be referees at kids’ games is because of parents.
To wrap up the lecture, the referee asks the parents to grow up. In that moment, the rest of the audience starts applauding, indicating that other audience members have also had enough with the behavior of some annoying parents.
As expected, many people praised the referee’s actions, as violent and annoying parents are a common cause of problems in many kids’ sports matches, which should ideally be peaceful.
“As a former tennis coach, I can say parents are the absolute worst.” Commented one user.
“Some of the refs in our league need training and education. Coach/parent frustration is real.” Said another person.
As you can see, this issue occurs almost everywhere in the country. Sadly, these matches become tedious for both coaches and players, while parents argue about meaningless things. Hopefully, this referee will inspire others to put a stop to these parents. Yet, it would be better if those cheering up for their kids learned to behave.
