Laynee Benne

Observations/Questions: 1) The current generation of children is exposed to things previous generations of kids were not. However, the previous generation is the current parent. Where did things go wrong? 2) I’ve been a college head coach for 11 years and have had very few negative interactions with parents and none that were serious. My college coaching friends have had a similar positive experience with parents. What does this mean? It’s a great indication that parents who are negative and aggressive stop their children’s potential recruitment dead in its tracks. These parents (and their child) are weeded out before the kid has a chance to progress to being a college student-athlete. 3) Officials are hard to find. Incidents like this don’t make the shortage easier. The constant disrespect from entitled parents in youth sports is unsustainable. Either underpaid/volunteer officials won’t continue to work, or parents won’t be allowed to attend, or the games won’t take place at all. 4) What are potential solutions to the on-going epidemic in youth travel sports and beyond?