Soccer Brawl Reflects Disturbing Trend

When Bob Still was growing up, fan taunts like “kill the umpire” drew chuckles. But in the increasingly high-charged world of youth sports, he’s no longer laughing.

“It used to be a joke,” said Still, who works for a national organization that tracks violence in sports. “Nowadays you have to take a second look to see if they’re being serious.”

To veteran coaches as well as many players, the American Youth Soccer Organization’s decision this week to ban three adults after a brawl marks an important and overdue recognition of a problem that has been brewing for a decade. The melee involved more than 30 adults who flooded onto the field at the end of a game between teams from Palmdale and Chino in what AYSO officials described as the worst fight in the organization’s history.

Once, the AYSO and club leagues were more about fun than winning. Now, as many see it, they’re far too competitive, with parents often crossing the line separating vocal fans and abusive bullies.

‘There’s always been that element, passionate parents. But I think it’s well beyond passion now,” said longtime AYSO coach Steve Crenshaw of Costa Mesa, who has watched as the game has changed. “Now, it’s a lot of people completely consumed and critical of everything that goes on.”

Many Parents Don’t Know Rules

The sideline conflict is fueled in part by the growing popularity of soccer in America. Referees tend to be young volunteers, more likely to make mistakes. And parents who are new to the sport often assume they know all the rules, prompting some to fly into rages when referees don’t make calls they want. Many know the basics--shoot the ball into the net with your head or your feet--but are unaware of nuances, such as offsides and fouls.

“A little bit of knowledge makes them dangerous,” Crenshaw said. “They misapply the rules constantly. They want to see their kid win so badly, they see it with blinders on.”

Another factor is the increasing number of college scholarships awarded to outstanding soccer players. Parents of the best players now see soccer as a way to pay for college tuition, making playing time and winning all the more important.

Amid these new pressures, the culture of youth athletics is shifting fast. Low-key Saturday morning sports leagues, backed by pass-the-hat financing, are considered a defunct and quaint memory in many parts of the nation, especially Southern California. Parents--once content to slice oranges as halftime treats--now push their children as young as 7 or 8 to specialize in a single sport.

The adult unruliness has become so bad that Eric Ebert, one of Orange County’s top high school soccer players, has stopped attending his younger sister Taera’s games.

“There’s a little foul called, and 15 parents get up and start yelling,” Ebert said. “Then the coach and the refs have to calm them all down.”

Last month, sheriff’s deputies had to break up a fight at a soccer field in San Juan Capistrano after a tournament game between the Palmdale Eagles and Chino Chiefs. One parent needed treatment for minor cuts and a swollen eye, and another suffered a 2-inch bite on his arm. Another was arrested on assault charges.

AYSO officials said the brawl was deserving of their most severe punishment: banning three adults for life and disbanding the two teams.

National AYSO officials called the fight a wake-up call. The organization has beefed up security at some soccer games and will roll out a new safety program in which parents sign pledges not to disrupt games.

Despite some widely publicized incidents, though, AYSO officials said violence and taunting by parents on the field remain relatively rare. They have files on fewer than a dozen individuals whose behavior has been a problem.

But Still’s group, the National Assn. of Sports Officials, tracks attacks for all youth sports--from hockey to Little League--and recorded 150 assaults against sports officials each year. Five years ago, they recorded 30.

The youth soccer group’s action should prompt parents to rethink what they want out of their children’s sports experience, said Michael Josephson, founder and president of the Josephson Institute of Ethics, a nonprofit organization that helps sports leagues write codes of conduct.

Recent surveys have shown that kids believe it’s more fun to play for a losing team than sit on the bench of a winning team, Josephson said. Parents, on the other hand, tend to believe it’s more important for their child’s team to win, he said.

“There is a growing consensus that things are out of control,” Josephson said.

In the two cities where the banned teams play, reaction to the AYSO’s punishment generated mixed feelings.

Regional AYSO directors in Palmdale decided to disband the Eagles for the rest of the season. The director will decide later whether the team can re-form. Directors in Chino went even further, disbanding the Chiefs for good and banning two coaches from ever training AYSO teams again. Players, however, can join AYSO teams elsewhere in the city.

Manuel Tapia Sr., whose 14-year-old son played for the Chino team, said he agreed that some type of punishment was required because of the fight, but said the organization went too far.

“This is not good,” he said. “Our kids have trained so hard. We have one of the best records in the league.”

Sanctions Criticized as Being Too Severe

Some soccer enthusiasts in Palmdale said the ban unfairly held players responsible for their parents’ mistakes.

“The parents need to grow up,” said Carolyn Diaz, a former team mother for another AYSO team, the Palmdale Thrashers. “I think they are being more childish than the children.”

On several occasions last season, Diaz’s husband, Daniel, who coached their son’s team, was prompted to ask unruly parents to leave the stands because they yelled or cursed at players and coaches on opposing teams.

“I won’t put my son back into AYSO because of all of the hostility from the parents,” she said. “He had a bad experience with it. Now, he plays baseball.”

Warren Ferguson, a Southern California Pop Warner football commissioner, praised the ban on the three adults but faulted the organization for disbanding the Palmdale and Chino teams.

“The kids had nothing to do with it, and they need the activity,” he said. “We shouldn’t punish them because the adults got out of hand.”

AYSO officials on Thursday defended their decision but said it was a shame that players will suffer for the actions of their parents.

“No one wants it to be this way, but if we have to take these types of actions, then we will,” said the organization’s national spokeswoman, Lolly Keys. “Now kids can say to parents, ‘Mom, Dad, don’t lose control because I’m the one who’s going to suffer. My team is going to be banned.’ ”

Times staff writers Carol Chambers, Karima A. Haynes and Daniel Yi contributed to this story.