Why Some Sports Parents Should Be Ashamed

Some sports parents go over the top, pushing their kids to play, not letting their kids just be kids and getting upset with their child or their child's coach if they don't play up the the parents' expectations. That type of attitude has now landed a Canadian couple in the penalty box until 2017.

At a recent hockey tournament in North Dakota, the parents of a child who played for Hockey Winnipeg stormed into the opposing team's locker room to yell at their coach for a call made on the ice. Not only did the mother storm the locker room and start screaming at the coaches, when she was being escorted out of the locker room, here comes Dad throwing punches at the coaches.

Both mom and dad have been banned for the next three years from any and all Hockey Winnipeg events. That means games, playoffs, scrimmages, practices, tryouts, tournaments, medal ceremonies and basically anything and everything related to Hockey Winnipeg. It's the stiffest penalty ever leveled against a parent, however, their child is still allowed to play; which I think is the right thing to do. The kid didn't do anything wrong. Don't punish him.

I think penalties against the parents should be called more often.

I witnessed one incident where one mom has decked another. I've seen dads push their kids to play even though they don't want to. I've seen moms come unhinged if their kid gets hit with the ball. And there was even an incident where a dad unleashed a profanity laced tirade at other parents in the middle of a little league game and came so unglued that he was arrested and the game was called.

Now, to be fair, not all parents act like this. In fact, most of them don't. My parents certainly didn't, but I have seen it happen before and when incidents like this occur, I think that penalties should be leveled against parents who act out.

Just remember this: It's just a game. They're just kids. The coaches are human. Your kid is not the next Wayne Gretzky. Your kid does not play for the Minnesota Wild.

Keep calm and skate on.