As a kid, it’s only natural to look up to pro athletes and model yourself after your heroes. Of course, the likelihood of actually following in their footsteps and making it to the big leagues is infinitesimally small.
When I was a kid, sports were mainly about getting fresh air and exercise, and learning about things like teamwork and making memories — at least as far as my parents were concerned.
One umpire wants to remind parents that that’s really what it should be after a post-game altercation left her sporting a pretty bad shiner.
If you’ve been to a little league field lately, you’ve probably seen a sign like this one.
After a rash of incidents around the country, many peewee sports leagues have had to put up similar signs trying to provide some perspective for parents before tempers flare and things get out of hand.
Unfortunately for Kristi Moore, such an incident took place recently.
Moore, who has umpired for 10 years, was officiating a softball game for 12-year-olds in Laurel, Mississippi, when one of the players’ mothers started yelling and cursing so loudly that Moore had to ask her to leave, as WLBT reported.
The mother did leave — but not all the way, instead waiting around until Moore headed to her car after the game.
As Moore tried to head home, the mother confronted her, punched her in the face, and ran off.
Afterwards, Moore wrote about the incident, addressing all parents who take issue with umpires at their kids’ games.
“The next time you go to a tournament and you only have one umpire on the field…this is why. When you have brand new umpires on the field that may not know everything they should know yet…..this is why,” she wrote on Facebook . “When you don’t feel you have the quality of umpires you should….this is why. When the day comes that your kid can’t play a ballgame because there are no longer officials to call it….THIS.IS.WHY.”
And she suggested a solution for parents who do have problems with the officials: try it out yourself.
“Before you post the next ‘funny’ meme about umpires that suck, or are blind, or have missed calls on their phone or whatever it is, before you post about how an umpire was so awful and terrible and lost the game for you…….why don’t you sign up? Get on out there and give it a go,” she wrote.
“I got punched coming off a field last night,” she continued.
“There is no excuse for this. If you think this is ok, please remove yourself from my friend list. Umpires are not perfect. We never will be. But guess what? No one is,” Moore concluded.
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Moore also underscored that kids are going to be the ones to suffer because parents can’t control themselves.
“It’s ridiculous,” she told WLBT. “The verbal abuse. And even now, the physical abuse now, at this point, and enough is enough. I also staff every USFA tournament in the state of Mississippi with umpires and it gets harder and harder to staff these tournaments because no one wants to listen to the verbal abuse and run the risk of what happened to me happening to them.”
As for the mother who attacked her, Moore opted to press charges.
Police later apprehended Kiara Nichelle Thomas, 32, who faces a charge of simple assault and a fine of up to $422.25, DeSoto County News reported.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
h/t: WLBT
