On May 22, 2007 boston.com reported that in Providence, Rhode Island, a state Senator is trying to introduce a new law that would make it a felony to assault any referee, player or coach. The punishment would be up to 3 years in prison or a $1500 fine.
Under this same law, harassing an official or a player wouild be a misdemeanor offense that would carry a lesser penalty of a maximum 30-day prison sentence.
The original article can be found at
http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2007/05/22/senator_introduces_bill_to_ban_harassment_at_youth_sports_game/The question is, is there a need for such laws. Given the rise in violence in youth sports that is well documented in the news, there probably is a need for such laws.
The problem is that many sports and sports programs administrators need to get a backbone and make their associations and administrations self governing and stricter in their policies to reduce violence in youth sports. There needs to be a greater sense of accountability amongst every individual for their actions. If youth sports programs did a better job of self governance and enforcing accountability then there probably wouldn't be a need for state government to do establish accountability.
Sports program administrators need to do a few things.
First, sports program administrators need to cooperate with administrators from other sports programs to ensure that violators of their rules do not hop from program to program.
Second, this "collaborative" of sports administrators need to create similar education programs aimed at preventing dangerous behavior at youth sporting events.
Third, these groups need to stand firm in enforcing their accountability standards.
Fourth, we all understand that most youth sports programs would not function without the numerous volunteers that help run, coach and officiate the programs. However, just because they are volunteers, it does not meant they should not be held accountable for their actions. The parents of youth athletes entrust them with their money, and the training, education and safety of their children. Every volunteer should be reviewed in some form for performance and oversight. This means doing things like auditing the program treasurer to make sure funds are properly allocated; getting parental and player reviews of coaches (who have the most contact with our children.) as well as oversight by coaching directors; and having oversight and regular reviews of officials to ensure that the officiating is fair, and in the best interest of the safety of our children.
By following these types of self governance practices and regular oversight, not only do you deter the violence through "disincentives" like banning individuals from participation but you stem the problem at the root causes and identify the problems before they occur. And this way our law makers can focus on more important things like reducing crime, improving the economy and reducing gas prices.
