WTF is wrong with parents? Suing because kids cut from team?

blackredyellow · June 2010

Seriously? No, seriously? Your kids didn't make the team... move on, I'm sure the kids are past this now.

I fucking hate obnoxious sports parents!

Hockey parents sue youth league for $25K after sons are cut
By Sean Leahy

We've all been cut from sports teams at some point in our lives. Sometimes it's a numbers game. Sometimes we're just not good enough.

In the end, we just suck it up, come to the realization that it wasn't meant to be and either move on to something else or work harder to make the team next time.

In the Greater Toronto Hockey League, however, when kids were cut from the local hockey team, the parents found it very difficult to swallow.

So much so that one situation now has lawyers involved.

Parents of two GTHL players are each suing the league, one of its clubs and four coaches for $25,000 because their sons were cut from a midget junior A team in April.

Having worked in youth sports in a former life, this kind of problem can be found in every sport. Every parent thinks their kid is the next Wayne Gretzky and when reality smacks them in the face, they cannot accept it.
But legal action, well, that's something pretty rare.

The Toronto Star has the forehead-slapping details:

Vito Valela and David Longo are both suing on behalf of their sons, Christopher and Daniel respectively. Besides the GTHL, Avalanche Minor Sports president Anthony Iantorno as well as team officials Doriano Pistarelli, Andy Vandenberk, Felice Guglielmi and Peter Posca are named as defendants in the action.

"Their direct actions have caused irreparable psychological damage to Daniel Longo's self esteem as an impressionable teenager and demoralized Daniel as an athlete and team hockey player with his peers," the Longo statement of claim reads. "The conduct by all defendants destroyed the dignity of my son, whom in good conscience gave his team nothing but his best efforts."

Valela's statement of claim states: "When Christopher was advised of his termination by my wife and I, he vowed never to play the game he loved since childhood. And, morevoer, his misguided group of defendants demoralized my wife and I, whom had gone well beyond the call of duty as parents in support of the Toronto Avalanche hockey team for two seasons."

Valela's son quickly rescinded his vow of never playing again and signed with another team in the league.

As the National Post wrote, hockey parents need to grow up:

In the statement of claim filed by Daniel Longo's father, he writes, "The conduct by all defendants destroyed the dignity of my son, whom in good conscience gave his team nothing but his best efforts."

I'm sure Daniel Longo did give his best - and it's from those genuine, honest efforts that his sense of dignity should arise, not from any actions by his coaches or hockey league. The only thing that truly threatens to destroy the boy's self-respect is his parents' bad example in making a federal case (or, in this case, a greedy civil suit) out of his failure to attain the goal they seem to so desperately want for him: a spot on the team. Well, that and their insistence on blaming someone else for the failure.

The league's defense is the obvious one in regards to a tryout: Over 70 players attempted to make the 17-man roster. There were going to be more than a few disappointed kids leaving the rink that day.

The parents claim that because the two coaches were currently under suspension for tampering (yes, tampering) last season, they weren't able to be behind the bench for these tryouts, something that the GTHL executive director Scott Oakman clarified saying that the rules allow them to run the tryouts.

Mike Green(notes) totally wished he had thought of this idea first after Steve Yzerman revealed the Team Canada roster.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_d ... ng-content

Fifthelement · June 2010

That's freakin ridiculous. Those parents need to be slapped upside the head :roll:

It's so true though, so many parents think their kid is the next Gretzky :roll:

pjhawks · June 2010

take their kid away - seriously what the fuck is wrong with those parents? parents like that are the reason we give trophies to every kid in little league - parents like that are wussifying sports and should receive a good ass kicking.

Dissidentman · June 2010

Fanatical sports parents are trying to realize their shattered dreams of making it big in sports through their kids. I see it all the time and don't get it at all.

Slap upside the head · June 2010

This particular organization has a well known reputation for being a mickey mouse operation
so I can empathize somewhat with the parents on this. Given that it costs anywhere between
5k-20k depending on the level of hockey your child is playing, I can also see why they reacted
the way they did.
That said, I think it is pretty naive to think that a lawsuit such as this will get you anywhere.

Accept the politics that run rampant in some minor league sports organizations and move on.

elvistheking44 · June 2010

This is not whats wrong with all societies. Whats wrong is that some scumbag lawyer took the case, because no matter what he/she will still get paid. Im sure he put on a good show for the parents, then took a retainer check from them. The courts will be tied up for a year or so over this, both sides will have huge legal fees. Peoples tax dollars will be wasted. Judicial systems really need to have a regulator who just laughs at this shit the day it is filed, throws it out and we never hear of it again.

blackredyellow · June 2010

Slap upside the head wrote:

This particular organization has a well known reputation for being a mickey mouse operation
so I can empathize somewhat with the parents on this. Given that it costs anywhere between
5k-20k depending on the level of hockey your child is playing, I can also see why they reacted
the way they did.
That said, I think it is pretty naive to think that a lawsuit such as this will get you anywhere.

Accept the politics that run rampant in some minor league sports organizations and move on.

Yeah, I know nothing about this particular organization, but working around different amateur leagues in a past job, I came to the conclusion that just about every league/organization is a mickey-mouse operation rife with internal politics. Too many busy-body parents involved that think they are somehow important.

A lot of people involved in running these organizations are unpaid, so you gotta appreciate that they spend their time doing it, but man, A LOT of them go soooo overboard and the kids suffer.

Yellow Ledbelly · June 2010

Fifthelement wrote:

That's freakin ridiculous. Those parents need to be slapped upside the head :roll:

It's so true though, so many parents think their kid is the next Gretzky :roll:

I'm sports editor at a weekly newspaper and cover the local all-star little league baseball and softball teams a bit during the summer....all those parents think little Junior or Sally Mae is the best to ever play. It is maddening to me....supporting your kids is one thing but it goes beyond that to total idiocy.
They practice those all-star teams every night of the week virtually...one group (maybe more) even had practice at 2 p.m. on Father's Day....it's ridiculous. Those poor kids don't have a summer anymore.

And yes....that lawsuit is the most absurd and disgusting thing I have ever heard....well...it's up there anyway

Lizard · June 2010

Gawwwwwwwd!!!!

Society---you're a crazy breed!!!

I work in a personal injury law firm and people don't get the simple concept of "shit happens". They want to sue for paper cuts!

stargirl69 · June 2010

This is the problem with some parents they believe their children are little gods and treat them as if they are.

Last year I was at a education seminar.A child expert spoke about what she called "The Loreal Generation" ..."because their worth it" ... children being raised to believe everything they do is amazing and they are perfect in every way .... the first Loreal Generation are now reaching their 20's ... studying or working ... they are now suddenly needing to contribute to society,be accountable,take responsibility and they are finding it so difficult being told by employers and lecturer's that they may not be as great as what their families have led them to believe that they are dropping out of employment and studies and returning to being looked after financially by their parents who are still reinforcing that their children are like gods not to challenged and held accountable.

Yellow Ledbelly · June 2010

stargirl69 wrote:

This is the problem with some parents they believe their children are little gods and treat them as if they are.

Last year I was at a education seminar.A child expert spoke about what she called "The Loreal Generation" ..."because their worth it" ... children being raised to believe everything they do is amazing and they are perfect in every way .... the first Loreal Generation are now reaching their 20's ... studying or working ... they are now suddenly needing to contribute to society,be accountable,take responsibility and they are finding it so difficult being told by employers and lecturer's that they may not be as great as what their families have led them to believe that they are dropping out of employment and studies and returning to being looked after financially by their parents who are still reinforcing that their children are like gods not to challenged and held accountable.

Exactly! I've got a cousin whose mother made him believe everything he did was great, he was smarter than everybody else and he was never wrong. He had a rude awakening once the real world finally caught up with him. Even before that, the guy didn't have any friends because he was such a pompous ass and still is to this day. Glad I never have to see him anymore

dcfaithful · June 2010

some people just need to acknowledge and accept the fact that their kids might suck at sports. It's okay. If everyone was an athlete than we'd all have gargantuan ego's and banging bimbo's....possibly even raping them (Roethlisberger)

What a mess that would be.

norm · June 2010

stargirl69 wrote:

This is the problem with some parents they believe their children are little gods and treat them as if they are.

Last year I was at a education seminar.A child expert spoke about what she called "The Loreal Generation" ..."because their worth it" ... children being raised to believe everything they do is amazing and they are perfect in every way .... the first Loreal Generation are now reaching their 20's ... studying or working ... they are now suddenly needing to contribute to society,be accountable,take responsibility and they are finding it so difficult being told by employers and lecturer's that they may not be as great as what their families have led them to believe that they are dropping out of employment and studies and returning to being looked after financially by their parents who are still reinforcing that their children are like gods not to challenged and held accountable.

ha! the loreal generation...love it! perfect description...today's generation by and large is so ill-prepared for real life it's scary

as for the hockey dads...maybe your boys suck...have them read a fucking book and maybe they can be something better than an athlete (not that that is a bad thing)...ya know they give scholarships for smarts too

81 · June 2010

i've been inspired to sue Gary Bettman

Rygar · June 2010

81 wrote:

i've been inspired to sue Gary Bettman

If you go class action count me in.

PureandEasy · June 2010

midget junior A team????

Jesus, I feel bad for those kids, it's just beginning

pjhawks · July 2010

81 wrote:

i've been inspired to sue Gary Bettman

as moronic as Bettman is the on-ice game is way better today than 10 or so years ago.

pearljim · July 2010

PureandEasy wrote:

midget junior A team????

Jesus, I feel bad for those kids, it's just beginning

Actually with parents like this it's been going on for 10 years at least!

Parents are way too involved in hockey,they're brutal. My son's team won 35 straight games when we lost a hard fought 4-3 game which was just a great game. Afterwards walking to the car a dad tells me that we have to think about if we have the right guys in goal! I told him "we won 35 games in a row, I think we'll be alright" Unbelievable right???? We won the National Championship 4 months later

The parents in this post had no problem when their sons were making the team. They feel that they should have entitlement over boys trying out for the team. I've seen it over and over....

rhcpjam1029 · July 2010

There was an issue at my school with parents wanting to sue because their son was "mis-labeled" in the yearbook.

There was a picture of the three wrestling captains. The quote below it read "senior captains Austin, Joe, and fellow senior drew celebrate after a victory." Well, the parents of "fellow senior drew" were so pist off that he wasn't labeled as "captain drew" that they not only threatened to sue the school, but requested that every student's yearbook be recollected and corrected.

cincybearcat · July 2010

Lizard wrote:

Gawwwwwwwd!!!!

Society---you're a crazy breed!!!

I work in a personal injury law firm and people don't get the simple concept of "shit happens". They want to sue for paper cuts!

I dislike your chosen field because of those you mentioned.

Lizard · July 2010

cincybearcat wrote:

Lizard wrote:

Gawwwwwwwd!!!!

Society---you're a crazy breed!!!

I work in a personal injury law firm and people don't get the simple concept of "shit happens". They want to sue for paper cuts!

I dislike your chosen field because of those you mentioned.

We all do until we need them!!!

WTF is wrong with parents? Suing because kids cut from team?

Comments

Categories