An unhinged youth baseball coach stormed the diamond and took an umpire to the ground after arguing a call during an 11-U game in Calera, Alabama, over the weekend. You read that right. A kids baseball coach got into a physical altercation with an umpire over balls and strikes.
A video of the incident was originally posted to Facebook and has since gone viral across social media.
What Are People Saying About The Incident?
According to the Facebook post, the game took place at a tournament hosted by Grand Slam Baseball Alabama. The coach involved was from the DC Patriots, a team from nearby Tuscaloosa, though nothing was confirmed and there was no mention of the incident by the league or tournament official Facebook accounts.
However there were comments on the original post with the video from people allegedly at the game, assumed to be parents of kids that played.
“It was so crazy! Never seen that in all my years at the ballpark,” said one commenter, who noted that she was a parent of a player at the tourney. “There was a kid on the mound. They did this with children on the field! Absolutely insane.”
One commenter even called for the coach involved in the incident to have his team banned from the next tournament. So an adult who should know better does something wrong and the people punished should be the kids?
Sure. That makes sense. That’s sarcasm if you haven’t picked it up.
As an aside, it’s kind of interesting that the coach seen perpetrating an act of violence against a game official, coaches a team called the DC Patriots …
Violence In Youth Sports
Another day, another adult in charge of the welfare of children setting a poor example.
Violence over balls and strikes at a kids game. This is where we are as a society. To say we’ve gotten or devolved to this point over time, would be inaccurate. This is who this society and nation has always been.
You believe you’ve been wronged or feel aggrieved over something you believe went unfairly and your recourse is to commit violence. Not have a conversation or begin civil discourse. Literally go and attack the party you believe wronged you. It’s inhumane and criminal.
Adults acting out at children’s athletic events has become all too common. Like much of the violence that happens in our country we’ve become desensitized to it.
There has to be a better mechanism for identifying and selecting the people who are responsible for children in these environments.
The reality is, there is no easy solution. These leagues and tournaments succeed because parents and other adults willingly volunteer their time. There is often little to no pay, so how can you effectively screen who is involved?
Leagues across all sports are no doubt taking note of the violence occurring and likely implementing strict no tolerance policies on violence. Hopefully they are also looking at proactive measures to stop this scourge, instead of waiting for an incident to react.
