Who's at fault, the parents or the coach?

[katyseagull]

Question: Who's at fault here and would it bother you if a coach manhandled your son?

This story caught my eye today. I remember reading about it when it happened and when the YouTube video was posted last fall. Man were some people steamed!

Football apology too tiny?


Stay with me here, I know it looks long but it isn't and I really want your opinion! The story involves a youth football coach who allegedly grabbed a 9 yr old player by the face mask last fall and pulled him around so that he could yell at him for being a poor sport. The kid's feet came off the ground for a few seconds. It all happened very quickly. The league says the coach didn't grab him by the mask, the parents demanded an apology.

As I understand it, the parents stated that if they got an apology they would drop their suit and take the video off YouTube. Well after 10 months we finally have the apology! (Lol, 10 months to work out the wording, geez.) Now the father of the boy (John DeMann) is saying he is not happy with it -


[ QUOTE ]

"DeMann says the lettering used in the apology is so small it's barely legible. He also said the apology is inaccurately worded to imply that he and Ricky share fault in the widely publicized incident."
"This is the most immature youth sports board I've ever dealt with, and that apology is a snub in the face of the whole community," says DeMann.



[/ QUOTE ]

Scroll down to the bottom of the football schedule



Lol at the Youth league for printing an apology with tiny font [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]. Anyway, I was wondering if any of you parents would be upset if a coach grabbed your son and is it a reasonable response to sue a coach for swinging a kid by his face mask?

[Shadowrun]

Without seeing the youtube video it sounds like the kid over reacted and the parents (oh no my little kid is a perfect angel) made this ridiculous fuss.

Does it ever explain why he was a bad sport?
I feel that if the coaches dont discipline the kids more things like this will happen www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHGwa6Y6qPU

[billygrippo]

there is a reason you can get a 15 yard penalty for face mask in the NFL: its dangerous

[Shadowrun]

[ QUOTE ]
there is a reason you can get a 15 yard penalty for face mask in the NFL: its dangerous

[/ QUOTE ]

Not the whole story, there is also the 5 yard variety. Also, the coach claims he didnt grab him by the face mask.

[billygrippo]

well the 5 yard is 'incidental' face mask

anyhow i didnt read article i just skimmed post lol

[katyseagull]

[ QUOTE ]
Without seeing the youtube video it sounds like the kid over reacted and the parents (oh no my little kid is a perfect angel) made this ridiculous fuss.

Does it ever explain why he was a bad sport?


[/ QUOTE ]



Ok I just found another article on this story and here is a quote from it -

[ QUOTE ]

The Demann family admits Ricky struck his quarterback with both fists on the shoulder pads for not passing him the ball.

During a time out -- the Demanns contend Coach Boreing - who is also the quarterback's father -- grabbed Ricky by the facemask and spun him around.

[/ QUOTE ]


Haha, I didn't realize that the coach happens to be the father of the quarterback, the one the kid struck on the shoulder pads. Does that change anything or not?

Also, the coach insists he didn't grab the kid by the face mask and the video was so poor and fast that it was hard to make out. He either grabbed him by the face mask (as the 9 yr old claimed at the time of the incident) or he grabbed his shirt collar. In either case the kid was lifted off the ground. Also, immediately following the incident you could see an assistant coach and another parent kneeling down to comfort the kid so obviously it was a little unusual.

So how would you parents out there react?

[Shadowrun]

I happen to have a 12 yr old brother (so he is a bit older then the kid in the story).

My Mom would rush to him and offer him a juice box/snack, ask him if he is all right, generally comfort him, make sure he is okay.

My Dad would probably go to the coach ask him what happened and if the kid deserved it.
If Ricky (my brother) did do something my Dad might give a talk about controlling your temper/anger/behavior etc.

If Ricky did something like the defender did here, he has to understand that is not okay. http://winningtheturnoverbattle.blog...k-mr-roby.html
(scroll down a bit for the video)

If the coach was in the wrong, my parents would ask for a personal apology to them (definitively not on a website). My parents would never sue in this case (no one was hurt), worst that would happen is they ask him to be moved to a different team.

[Coda]

This stuff is completely normal in upper level competitive sports. However, actions like this really have no place in youth sports at all; incidents like this are what make incidents in upper level sports seem normal.

[Enrique]

[ QUOTE ]
Without seeing the youtube video it sounds like the kid over reacted and the parents (oh no my little kid is a perfect angel) made this ridiculous fuss.

Does it ever explain why he was a bad sport?
I feel that if the coaches dont discipline the kids more things like this will happen www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHGwa6Y6qPU

[/ QUOTE ]

I see it differently. It is a 9 year old kid, he should not be lifted from the ground by a coach that is yelling at him. Discipline can be done serenely. The parents over reacted by suing, but this might have come about because the coach was not apologizing.
The little letter apology is ridiculous. It is insulting.

I guess we don't know the big picture so it is hard to blame somebody, but it seems that the coach is the immature person in this.

[Phil153]

I've never understood the rationale behind making someone apologize who doesn't want to. That's worse than picking up a kid by the face IMO.

As for the story, there's an excellent chance it's accurate if the settlement included the removal of the youtube video. I'm all for toughening up and mildly traumatizing children for their own good, but it seems like he went too far, and should have apologized immediately.

I put the coach at fault on this.