Coaches and parents berate the refs and yell at their kids and each other. Physical assaults have broken out. Adults’ sideline behavior at youth sports events has gotten so bad, there’s a national referee shortage, not to mention it’s taken the fun out of the game.
“Let’s not call them adults, OK?” advises Brian Barlow, a longtime collegiate soccer referee. “An adult is responsible. An adult understands that it’s no longer their moment — it’s their child’s moment.”
According to the National Federation of High School Associations, some 50,000 high school officials — about 20% — quit from 2018 to 2021.
“Bad behavior by fans (especially adults) continues to be a serious problem at high school athletic events—making it difficult to recruit and retain high school officials in every state,” NFHS writes on the site for its campaign, Bench Bad Behavior.
Becoming a ref is…
