DOG HOUSE CULTURE SERIES

Part 4: Officials, Fans, and the Growing Danger of Disrespect

In Part 1 of the Dog House Culture Series, I addressed the influence parents have on team culture. In Part 2, I challenged coaches to create a culture worthy of trust. In Part 3, I reminded athletes that they are responsible for protecting the locker room.

Part 4 addresses an issue that threatens the future of high school athletics: the growing disrespect directed toward officials.

Officials Are Human Beings

Officials will miss calls.

They will see a play differently than you saw it from the stands. They will make decisions that hurt your team and decisions that benefit it. They will not be perfect—just as the coaches and athletes competing in the game will not be perfect.

Disagreement is part of sports. Abuse should never be.

Screaming insults, questioning someone’s integrity, making personal threats, or following an official after a contest does nothing to help young athletes. It creates an unsafe environment and teaches children that disrespect is acceptable whenever they disagree with a decision.

Before shouting at an official, ask yourself:

Would I speak this way to this person if we were standing face-to-face without a crowd around us?

If the answer is no, do not say it from the stands.

The Example in the Stands Reaches the Field

Young athletes are always watching the adults.

When parents and fans scream at officials after every call, athletes begin to believe that every mistake should be blamed on someone else. They learn to argue instead of responding. They focus on officiating instead of the next play.

Adults cannot demand sportsmanship from young people while demonstrating the opposite behavior from the stands.

If we want athletes to control their emotions, accept difficult calls, and continue competing, then we must model that behavior ourselves.

Your reaction may influence your athlete more than the call ever will.

Coaches Set the Temperature

Coaches have the right to ask questions and advocate for their athletes. They also have a responsibility to understand the rules and communicate professionally.

How a coach responds to an official often sets the emotional temperature for the entire team and crowd.

When a coach loses control, athletes and fans may believe they have permission to do the same. When a coach disagrees firmly but respectfully—and then returns attention to the next play—the team learns composure.

Officials should also communicate with coaches and athletes professionally. Authority should never become arrogance. A calm explanation can prevent frustration from becoming confrontation.

Respect must go both ways.

You Do Not Know the Person Behind the Uniform

The official you are screaming at may be a teacher, firefighter, nurse, factory worker, military veteran, parent, or grandparent. That person may have worked all day, driven a considerable distance, and given up time with family so young athletes could compete.

Without officials, there is no game.

Communities already struggle to recruit and retain them. When experienced officials walk away because the abuse is no longer worth it, games may be postponed, rescheduled, or staffed by people who have been asked to advance before they are ready.

If we want quality officiating, we must create an environment in which good people are willing to serve and improve.

Fans Represent More Than Themselves

When you enter the stands wearing your school’s colors, you represent more than yourself.

You represent your athlete, team, school, and community.

Passion is welcome. Cheer loudly. Celebrate great plays. Create an incredible atmosphere for the young people on the field.

But passion does not require cruelty.

Profanity, personal attacks, threats, and embarrassing behavior do not prove that you care more. They simply shift attention away from the athletes who worked hard for the opportunity to compete.

The loudest person in the stadium is not always the most supportive.

One Call Rarely Decides a Game

It is easy to focus on a controversial call late in a contest. However, games contain dozens of moments that influence the final outcome: missed assignments, turnovers, penalties, dropped passes, missed tackles, poor decisions, and lost opportunities.

Officials must be accountable for their performance, just as coaches and athletes must be accountable for theirs. But placing the entire outcome on one call prevents everyone else from honestly examining what they could have controlled.

Teach young athletes to respond to adversity instead of searching for someone to blame.

Protect the Experience

High school athletics should be a positive experience for athletes, coaches, officials, families, and communities.

That does not mean competition should lose its intensity. It means intensity must be guided by self-control.

The officials are not the enemy. The opposing team is not the enemy. The opposing parents are not the enemy. They are all part of an experience designed to help young people compete, grow, and create memories.

Coaches, advocate without becoming abusive.

Officials, communicate without becoming dismissive.

Fans, cheer without attacking.

Athletes, respond to the next play.

We will not agree with every call, decision, or outcome. But disagreement never removes our responsibility to act with dignity.

Respect the officials. Respect the opponent. Respect the game—and remember that the young people are watching us.

—Coach Banks
Coaching Culture in Athletics | The Dog House

Coming next in the Dog House Culture Series: Winning, losing, and what our response reveals about our culture.

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