Vancouver parents who heckle opposing players or referees at their children's hockey, soccer or basketball games could soon find themselves doing 100 push-ups or lugging oranges to the next game as a form of punishment.

Considering some of the size of the parents who attended my soccer games growing up, that's essentially a death sentence.

maybe it's over due for CA and USA to require parents of participants to attend a Good Sportsmanship / Grow The Fark Up class pre-season or their child does not play.

mortimer_ford: How about throw their ass out?

This.

I'm a little league coach (well, assistant coach).  The president of our league has no compunction about banning a parent from games.

Usually we don't have to take it that far, though, because any parent that is so wrapped up in the game that they step over the line isn't going to risk not going to them once they've been warned.

I and the guy I coach with won't stand for it.   We're the coaches.  You are the parent.  While that kid is on the field, he is to listen to us, not you.  If you start telling him to do stuff, that's confusing him.  It's like having two different bosses, often telling you two different things.  If you don't like that, fine.  You can take it up with the president of the league, and if you still can't keep it under control, you can leave.   No refunds if you quit or are asked to leave for cause, either.

Also, not every kid can play first base.   We have your kid playing where he is playing for a reason.  Maybe he's better at throwing than catching, or maybe his reflexes aren't as fast and he needs extra time to decide where the ball is moving to.   If we have to place the fat kid who can't move that well, but who can catch really good, or the tall lanky kid who can catch but who can't throw worth a damn at first base, that's what we are going to do.   Every kid has their strengths and weaknesses, and for most games we're going to put them where we can capitalize on their strengths and minimize their weaknesses.   We'll change them around every so often, of course, especially if it's against a team we think we can beat handily, but a kid who can't catch playing first is going to more demoralized by losing all the time than if he were in the outfield of a winning team.