Team Moms/Coaches

West Virginia is on the verge of becoming the 20th state to pass legislation criminalizing batteries upon sports officials.  MomsTeam contributor, Don Collins, who oversees high school sports in the San Francisco area, says the sad fact is that assaults on sports officials are all too commonplace.

In 1989, Spike Lee earned an Academy Award nomination for his drama, "Do the Right Thing."  As Douglas E. Abrams writes in this month's installment of his series, Youth Sports Heroes, more than 20 years later, the command perfectly describes the noble split-second decisions made by three pairs of high school athletes and their coaches who set a standard of sportsmanship in following their best instincts to do what was right. 

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If you are a coach, try beginning practice by telling players the entire practice plan. You probably have it written down already.  Just hand it out. It is the responsibility of a good coach to know the skills his players need to develop. In that plan include a time period where the players decide what is best for the team or them personally, based on the last game. If players have a hard time speaking with coaches, they should write down the skills that are important for them to learn.

There's a shortage of officials. It's not surprising that this shortage filters down to the youth level.  Fortunately, youth leagues have some special tools to fight the shortage.