- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Having played, watched and umpired junior sport at many levels since I was nine in 2005, a constant common denominator of my sporting experience from the very start has been the presence of at least one and sometimes entire crowds of parents and supporters who suffer from ‘behind the white line fever’.
Similar to the ‘white line’ variety of the condition affecting many athletes, which unleashes a ferocious competitor on the field, ‘behind the white line fever’ can change even the most upstanding and loving Ned Flanders-style parent into a Damir Dokic impersonator in the time it takes for the umpire to blow the first whistle.
Letting their own hopes, dreams and egos get in the way, the sideline hero is created.
The sideline ‘hero’ is a not-so-hidden stain on the junior sporting landscape all over the world.
The father that likes to live his own unfulfilled dreams through his C grade football playing 13-year-old son, or the mother that wants nothing more than her daughter to become the next Nadia Comaneci. Both are all too frequent visitors to the sidelines of kids’ sport, and anyone who has attended a junior sporting competition would know them.
Whether it is an under nines girls’ football game, or a TAC cup semi-final, there’s a fair chance we’ve seen at least one. You might even be one of these heroes.
This hero shows their valour and integrity in a unique way, by choosing to overtly demand their child to “Do something!”, or asking questions of the 15-year-old officiating the game along the lines of “How the f**k is that a free!?.”
I myself was on the receiving end of the hero’s words of wisdom while umpiring an under 16 cricket match at the weekend, and not for the first time.
As a 15-year-old playing football I was berated by him in the form of an opposition supporter for apparently single-handedly costing my team the game.
At 13 I was labelled ‘weak’ by him, disguised as an opposition basketball coach. I could go on.
This hero has been around for a long time, and has overstayed his welcome. It’s time for a new hero to stand in his place. One who will prevent the ‘ugly parent’ syndrome, and maybe even remind people of why kids play sport.
Funnily enough, it’s not just for success or to fulfill mum and dad’s ego. A little thing called fun might have something to do with it.
The new hero to take this vacant position could be anyone. Anyone who would be willing to improve the sporting experience of all young competitors by standing in the way of the ugly parent and encouraging the supportive environment that kids who may one day become the next Chris Judd or Liz Cambage can flourish in.
You could be one of these heroes.
In an era where every public ‘role model’ – be it sportsmen and women, movie stars or even politicians – have their every move followed and scrutinised by the constantly-ready media scrum, surely it is time for a greater spotlight to be placed on the skid mark on junior sporting competitions everywhere that is the ugly parent.
While this ‘ugly parent syndrome’ is by no means a new phenomenon, the overall lack of accountability for parents or other observers who insult, pressure or threaten young competitors and umpires should be a thing of the past.
Be it as appalling as the murder of 12-year-old Luke Batty at his Tyabb Cricket Club training only recently, or simply the common story of a child not wanting to compete any longer due to the pressure placed on them, it’s society’s time to stop the ugly parent epidemic from spreading any further, and to find the cure.
What’s your best bet? For great odds on all your favourite sports check out PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.