Kill the Umpire! Remember the old William Bendix movie about the trials and tribulations of a baseball umpire? What was considered light comedy in 1950 has taken a sharp turn into stark reality in the America of the 21st century. Back then, "Kill the Umpire" was a harmless shibboleth from perhaps a more innocent time—a time before such violent-themed organizations as the WWF and the XFL existed—and a time before assaults between parents and coaches began to spring up all too frequently on children's playing fields.
The New York Times recently referred to this violence in children's organized sports as "sideline rage." Apparently indigenous to the suburbs rather than the inner city, these onslaughts by parents have forced state legislatures to pass laws protecting referees against assault. Recently, New Mexico became the 15th state to enact a law increasing penalties for attacks on referees.
With Little League season upon us there is a phalanx of books on sports parenting, both frontlist and backlist, hitting the marketplace. America's dirty little secret—out-of-control parents—is about to go public.
In the works at Health Communications Inc. is Just Let the Kids Play by Bob Bigelow. "We decided the time was right because of the recent wave of violence by parents and coaches in youth sports," said Allison Janse, senior editor of HCI Books. "Last July, a parent was killed in Reading, Mass., over a dispute at a hockey game; in Florida, an umpire was assaulted over a bad call at a T-ball game; and the headlines will continue. Youth sports leagues are mandating gag orders on the sidelines and are making parents take classes in sportsmanship before their kids can play a sport. These are only band-aids that won't fix the underlying problem, which is the youth sports systems themselves." Just Let the Kids Play deals with the root of youth sports problems and not just the consequences. It will be published in August with an 100,000-copy initial printing backed by major promotion and an author tour.
Janse has given the matter of good sportsmanship a lot of thought. "With the best of intentions," she explained, "parents are getting themselves and their kids stuck on a never-ending treadmill of training, buying expensive equipment and traveling to games, whereby sports becomes an investment, a status symbol where you struggle to keep up with the Joneses."
Rick Wolff, an executive editor at Warner Books and also the author of two backlist books on sports parenting, Good Sports: The Concerned Parent's Guide to Competitive Youth Sports (Sports Publishing) and Coaching Kids for Dummies® (Hungry Minds) has a lot to say on the subject. "Most of the people who lose their cool at sporting events are not the parents who are laid back and say, 'Look, I want my kid to have fun out here,' " observed Wolff, the host of The Sports Edge on WFAN Radio, New York's foremost all-sports station, and a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated's "The Parents Guide to Youth Sports" column. "It's the parents who take it very seriously, those who say to the child, 'You could be a star, but you have to go out and work at it.' And those are the type of parents who go nuts." Wolff, while still editing writers such as Roger Angell and Jack Welch for Warner, is also helping out A Thing Or Two Media's new series, A Thing Or Two About Sports, which will have separate books on baseball, golf and soccer this spring and on hockey and basketball in the autumn.
"The subject matter is timely because youth sports are in the news—for better or for worse," observed Lary Rosenblatt, creative director of A Thing or Two Media. "First, there is the horrific situation of adults physically hurting each other and in extreme cases killing each other at youth sporting events for reasons that defy comprehension—disagreement with a call, a child not getting to play, a parent who shouts too much, etc. Sports should be fun, first and foremost. That sensibility is too often lost at today's youth sporting events." The Thing or Two About Baseball, for instance, not only has a chapter "Baseball Basics," but also one on "Sports Parenting." And on the back flap there is a section called "Hey Parents, Listen Up!" with 10 sporting hints such as "Cheer, don't Sneer!," "Give 'em a Smile—not Bile," and "Raise with Praise."
The sudden prevalence of "good sports" books, according to Christine Belleris, editorial director of HCI Books, "is in reaction to the negativity and violence that seems to pervade every aspect of our society these days." In September, HCI will publish How to Be Like Mike: Life Lessons from Basketball's Best—naturally that's Michael Jordan referred to in the title—by Pat Williams, senior v-p of the Orlando Magic of the NBA. "Sports makes people feel good," says Belleris. "You have very defined heroes in this world, but lately even they are tainted. As Americans we want to believe that the good guys, like Michael Jordan, really do finish first." Belleris pointed out that even people who know nothing about sports will appreciate this book. "It focuses on the character traits that it takes to succeed," she added. "Jordan was not just a highly talented athlete, but an exemplary person with an incredible work ethic."
The just-published Let 'Em Play: What Parents, Coaches & Kids Need to Know About Youth Baseball by Dr. Jack Llewellyn (Longtreet Press) tells it like it is from the author's unique point of view as the sports psychology consultant to the Atlanta Braves. "It draws on his many years experience around the game from Youth Baseball with his children to the Major League level with the best in the game," said Scott Bard, president/publisher of Longstreet Press. "With interviews from Major League coaches and players, the reader gets keen insight on how the game should be enjoyed by the children who play them."
Llewellyn has "Tips for Coaches," dealing with everything from being a role model, to dealing with emotions, to educating parents, as well as "Tips for Parents," running the gamut from how to keep winning in perspective, to when a kid should start throwing a split-finger fastball. With a 20,000-copy first printing, Longstreet plans much of its promotion around Llewellyn's many speaking engagements.
While the whole idea of having to teach sportsmanship to parents is indeed baffling, there are several backlist titles that offer help. Nomad Communications (with co-publisher McGraw-Hill) pulls no punches with its The Baffled Parent's Guide™ to Coaching Youth Sports: Soccer, Basketball, Baseball, and Softball. "What's particularly interesting," said Alex Kahan, president of Nomad, "is that while these books weren't intended to address the problems in sports—exemplified by prima donna athletes and parents fighting over the outcome of their 6-year-old's soccer games—the philosophy of the coaches and the way the books are written have directly addressed the issues of poor sportsmanship and win-at-all costs mentality that permeate every level of sports today, even down to the youngest recreational level. If kids don't have good role models as coaches and if they don't learn that it's just as hard to win gracefully as to lose gracefully, the cycle is never going to change." In October, this time with no co-publisher, Nomad will release The Baffled Parent's Guide™ to Teaching Children Good Manners: A Commonsense Approach. "This is a natural, non-sports extension of what we have done very well with, the sports books," added Kahan. "Parenting, if nothing else, is a very spirited and fun experience, and the few books that offer advice about teaching kids manners fail to see or acknowledge the fun and funny side of raising polite, well-mannered kids."
Last year Taylor Publishing, based in Dallas, released Will You Still Love Me If I Don't Win? written by Christopher Andersonn, with his wife, Barbara Andersonn, MFCC. "It is the first book of it's kind to focus on the most overlooked aspect of youth sports: the emotional side," Mr. Andersonn told PW. "Every parent can learn more about loving," Andersonn continued, "and every parent needs to create a safe, secure and loving environment for their children. The stresses of sports competition can sometimes test this environment."
In this material age of the Internet, of countless cable TV channels and inane gyrating stock prices, it is all too easy to lose sight of what really is important in life—which would be a pity for children at play in their field of dreams. Sport, especially baseball, has always had inspirational connotations, perhaps best exemplified by W.P. Kinsella when he wrote in his classic novel Shoeless Joe: "If you build it, he will come." There was nothing in there about killing the umpire.
