Brilliant youth sports sign of the month

This sign caught my eye. It hangs beside the first base dugout at the Little League field in Hood River, Oregon. Not your usual 60-foot diamond. This one comes with a view of a snow-capped mountain.

What I like about the sign is its dual purpose. Read it once, it's a recruiting pitch for new umpires. Read it twice, it's an admonition to the adults to keep their opinions - especially, the ones about whether their kid was safe or out at first base - to themselves.

"Harassment or heckling of an umpire will be considered a verbal application." Quite brilliant.

Thanks to my friend Laurie Stephens, mother of Ryan and Casey, for the tour.

When the adults chase refs to the locker room

What's the worst thing you've ever seen happen to a ref or umpire at a youth sports game?

I heard some doozeys recently while working on this article for the New York Times.

A football official in Oregon told me about being chased from the field to the locker room after a game, then having adults pounding on the door trying to get in.

A basketball ref, also in Oregon, recalled being doused with a large cup of soda.

A basketball official in Ohio remembered working a rec league game last season in which the parents on the losing side took umbrage at a couple of close calls. A disturbing chant began building on their side of the court: Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech.

The consequence of all this is that lots of qualified officials are heading for the exits. As the story explains, shortages of umps and refs in volleyball, football, soccer, among others, have cropped up in many parts of the country. In multiple surveys, when officials are asked why they're quitting, they cite fans and coaches who give them a rough time. Too much of a hassle, they say, for 40 bucks or whatever the going rate might be.

When people talk about the damage that's done when adults get out of hand at kids' sports games, this isn't the first thing that comes to mind. But ask the folks who're searching for officials. It's a problem.

Required reading this weekend

Olympic and Paralympic Athletes at Risk for Overtraining, Excessive Mental Demands.
Who's pushing them beyond physical and emotional limits? The grownups.

PIAA needs to get on its game over officials with criminal past
The Harrisburg Patriot News urges background checks for school sports officials in Pennsylvania. A followup to last week's Youth Sports Parents post.

A soccer mom packs a loaded handgun at her 5-year-old's games
And it's not Sarah Palin.

Who's watching the referees?

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently ran a disturbing article exposing the criminal backgrounds of "dozens of active and past" sports officials working in Western Pennsylvania. The crimes committed by these officials, who work school games, are the kind that land you in the state pen: gun crimes, drug offenses, assaults, animal abuse, fraud, various forms of theft, drunken driving and auto accidents resulting in deaths.

And sex crimes. One offender cited in the article was charged with distributing computer images of young boys engaging in sex in October 2005. Days later, he was the referee at an eighth-grade football game.

This is unsettling stuff for parents, coaches, and the upright officials tarred by those who are not. Little League Baseball bills itself as the only national youth baseball organization that demands background checks on all volunteers. This story makes a strong case for others to follow that lead.

Stellar work by PG reporter Bill Moushey.