This month's CYSA SPOTLIGHT is a bit unique in that the following is reprinted from a blog that appeared on the internet. Robert Cushman is a CYSA from Rhode Island.

Say "Yur Out!" to new youth sports regulation By Robert Cushman

The General Assembly is considering a bill to regulate youth sports leagues by creating a seven-member body oversight council to settle disputes with power to compel witnesses to testify and fine parents or others it thinks are in the wrong. 

The bill cites the need for a third party to step in at times, stating, "parents lack a proper outlet to share concerns and objections about youth sports."

While the concept of a youth sports council is good, having government regulate it will only lead to more bureaucracy and problems.  

As a Certified Youth Sports Administrator with the National Alliance for Youth Sports and a director of a non-profit youth sports organization, I have organized youth leagues for over 25 years involving thousands of coaches, referees, administrators and children.  I also have seen it all, win at all cost coaches, unsportsmanlike children and parents who believe their kid is the greatest.

My organization conducted mandatory parent orientation meetings before each season. 

We made it a point to make sure each parent understood how the mission and philosophy of the organization would translate into how the league was organized.  We emphasized participants having fun and eliminating the “win at all cost attitude”.  Parents were told if they did not believe the mission and philosophy of the organization fit their or their child’s needs, don’t join the organization, you will be disappointed.

We focused on the increase of improper and violent behavior on the part of coaches, parents, and spectators during youth sporting events and outlined my responsibilities as director to combat these problems.  

As for volunteers, we made it clear we were searching for individuals who were “willing to put the best interest of the children and organization over their own competitive nature” and required a background criminal investigation (BCI) check.

We also implemented mandatory national certification programs for league administrators, coaches, and game officials concerning their responsibility to the organization, parents and children.  Based on the certification they were would be held accountable for their expected ethical behavior. 

Parents were also held accountable to ethical behavior standards through membership in a nation parent youth sport program.  The program educated and motivated parents to encourage good sportsmanship, positive participation and keep youth sports in proper perspective.  The goal of the program was to stop negative parent behavior before it happens, educate parents on their roles and responsibilities, enhance the parent/league relationship, hold parents accountable to a code of ethics and use innovative material and resources to promote positive youth sports.

We outlined parent’s rights and responsibilities including protection from revenge if a complaint was filed and we reviewed the confidential complaint procedure they could follow if they discovered a problem or believed they were being treated unfairly. 

Being part of a national organization we also were required to develop a board where complaints could be appealed at a local or if necessary national level.

At the end of the year, we conducted a program evaluation to identify what we were doing right and where we needed to improve.  

The program was a resounding success.

Just like a poorly run business with customer service problems, the answer to a poorly run youth organization should be for the free market, in this case parents and children, to decide whether they wish to continue to utilize that organizations services or chose a another organization that meets their need.

At some point, an organization continuously losing customers must either change its management practices or go out of business. 

Current laws exist that protect individuals from discrimination or harassment.

Creating new government regulations and worse, government bailouts to allow poor enterprises to continue to exist is what got us in the current economic mess we are experiencing today.  Let them fail.

Educating everyone involved with comprehensive information concerning all aspects of a youth organization, focusing on its mission, philosophy, and the responsibilities each individual must take to ensure each child’s experience is safe and fun, is the key to alleviate problems, not new government regulations.

Robert Cushman is a former Democrat Warwick City Councilman and former Chairman of the Warwick School Committee. CushmanR@cox.net