The Ump, the Ref, You, and the Code

We have read a number of statistics that talk about the drop-out rate of umpires and referees.  In many youth leagues covering a wide variety of sports it is not uncommon for there to be only about one third of those who begin continuing into a third season.  Why?  Some of it is financial – they just don’t make very much money, but by far the reason is what we would all expect: the way they are treated by players and fans.  Too many kids think it’s acceptable to trash talk an official, and too many parents and zealous fans are abusive from the safety of the crowd.  One of Cal Ripken’s beginning points is that youth sports are supposed to be fun.  That’s why we play games – for fun.  So, the important question to ask is “are we having fun?”  Are we making the games our kids play, and the games we play fun for everyone?  Sure, we are competitive; sure, we want to win; but something is more important than winning and losing.  It’s good to remember Grantland Rice: “When the one Great Scorer comes to mark by your name, he marks not that you won nor lost, but how you played the game.”