<p>Is this type of behavior on the rise at student sporting events at colleges and high schools, or is this an exception to the norm? I ask, because I have heard rumors of T-ball coaches in our area encouraging players to behave in an unsportsmanlike manner. (It could be that I've led a very sheltered existence, and am easily shocked.)</p>
<p>In my experience, no. My son has played year-round athletics since age 5 and has been on his hs varsity teams since he was a freshman. In addition he plays two of his sports at the club level. We have attended many collegiate matches in his sport as well in the past couple of years as he began his college search. I have never witnessed anything like what was described in that article. </p>
<p>The fact that squash is played indoors might have contributed to the fact that people could actually hear taunts that might normally go unnoticed in a wide open outdoor space could be part of it. </p>
<p>In soccer, it is generally the parents who give the officials a hard time. In all of our years attending hundreds of soccer games, I have only witnessed one instance of disturbing behavior and it was at one of my son’s home (school) soccer games. A Deerfield parent walked to the sidelines at the end of our school’s games against them and shouted a rude comment about the variety of ethnicities on my son’s team.</p>