How Should Sports Parents Behave as Fans?

Recently a parent asked me about the behavior of another parent during a youth lacrosse game. The parent was excessively yelling at a child on the opposing team to quit hitting. Now let me point out that the referee was not calling penalties for these hits. Lacrosse is a rough game and certain hits are allowed. These particular hits must have been legal.

The mother of the child who was getting yelled at was beside herself with concern. She didn't want her child to be hitting illegally, so she asked the other fans if these hits were clean. The general consensus was that they were clean.

This mother asked me what she should have done--approach the yelling fan or walk away?

In my opinion, this guy most likely wanted a confrontation. I advised the mom to walk as far away from him as she could. There are no benefits to getting into an argument with him.

If she did choose to argue with him, what good what it do?

• embarrass both children
• cause a scene
• get one or both parents kicked out of the game

This type of scenario occurs frequently at youth sports games. Please post comments of responsible solutions that might help this mom if this were to happen again.