EDITORIAL: Bad behavior at sporting events must end

Editorial: Sad but true, rec sports need a conduct code.

   The South Brunswick Recreation Department is trying to take care of a problem before it becomes a catastrophe.
   Faced with a rising incidence of bad behavior among parents at youth basketball games — particularly aimed at recreation league coaches — the department is putting its foot down. It has created a contract that outlines the kind of behavior expected of parents and the penalties parents and their kids will face if they act inappropriately at games. Parents who refuse to sign the contracts will not be allowed to register their children for recreation league sports, and if they violate the "Code of Ethics" the parents could be barred from games for part or all of the current season.
   We are saddened that the Recreation Department has had to resort to such punitive measures, but given national events it had no choice.
   As we’ve written in the past — and as newspapers and magazines across the country have also written — the behavior of parents at youth and school sporting events seems to be getting worse.
   There have been an array of incidents — ranging from verbal abuse and some scuffling among parents and coaches, to physical violence against fans, coaches and officials.
   In one of the more notable incidents, a Massachusetts man was sentenced last year to six to 10 years in prison for beating the coach of his son’s youth hockey team to death. He had confronted the coach after practice to complain about some rough play on the ice.
   Assaults related to youth sports have been reported over the last five years or so in California, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Nebraska and elsewhere. There have been major brawls in Colorado and Pennsylvania — in Swiftwater, Pa., police were called to stop a brawl involving more than 50 parents and players that erupted at the end of a football game between players 11 to 13 years old. And a small scuffle in 2000 marred what was a generally well-run soccer tournament sponsored by the South Brunswick Soccer Club at Sondek Park. No one was hurt during the incident — which involved parents from two traveling teams from outside the area — and no other incidents have occurred on the club’s watch.
   But these are only the most extreme incidents. They don’t include the general bad behavior — the abuse of officials, coaches and players, the abusive coaches, the premium placed on winning — that has forced township recreation officials to act.
   Recreation officials should be commended for acting now, rather than waiting for the worst to happen. We only wish they didn’t have to act at all.