December 5, 2002

Altercations Between Coaches and the Public Rare, but Significant

Altercations and confrontations between coaches and parents, players and spectators are rare in North and South Dakota, but coaches need to be better prepared to deal with them in the future, according to a recent North Dakota State University survey.

According to the survey, 92 percent of the coaches polled had a negative altercation or confrontation with an athlete’s parents, half of them have had an altercation or confrontation with a spectator, and three quarters of them have had an altercation or confrontation with an athlete.

Brad Strand and one of his graduate students, Christopher Ohm, recently announced the findings of a survey of football and boys’ and girls’ basketball coaches in North and South Dakota. About a third of the coaches, 349, responded.

"We hear the terrible stories of athlete’s fathers assaulting one another; and, in one case in particular, resulting in death," Strand says. "The intense media coverage of these incidents leaves a perception that these cases are more prevalent than they really are. They are not common, but neither should they be deemed insignificant."

The signs that high school sports may be in trouble are clear. "Nationally, there are 30-35 million children involved in youth sports," Strand says. "Yet by age 13, 70 percent of them have quit. We have to ask ourselves why that is, and what can be done about it."

There are other statistics from the survey that raise concern: 45 percent of youth involved in sports report being called names by players or parents; 21 percent of them also report playing with injuries; 41 percent worry about their performance to the degree that it causes insomnia.

"We need to prioritize the importance of youth sports," Strand notes. "The fact that such a large majority quit sports before high school is a significant indicator that something isn’t working."

The survey points out that coaches are aware of the lack of training they have in handling confrontations, whether between themselves and parents, players or spectators. "Our coaches need to know how to deal with confrontations with the various groups that they interact with. These include other coaches, the athletes, their parents, officials, administration, the media, fans and spectators," Strand says. "Seventy-eight percent of the coaches we polled stated that they feel unprepared to handle these confrontations This same number of coaches would attend a workshop that addresses this issue."

On the positive side, although most coaches surveyed had experienced an altercation of one type or another, the incidences of physical violence were low. "Physical altercations are rare, but most would agree that one is too many," Strand says. "If we don’t address the issue now, the potential that the number could rise is definitely there."

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Source: Brad Strand, (701)231-9718, bradford.strand@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701)231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Writer: Scott Lowell, (701)231-7865, slowell@ndsuext.nodak.edu