U18 AAA League: coach resigns over toxic parents

For some time now, we’ve been noticing more and more completely inappropriate behavior on the part of parents in the world of sport. Often, it’s the referees who bear the brunt (they’re either insulted, threatened or outright attacked by parents), even when the calibre is not very high.

It makes no sense for a referee who offers his services for a match between eight-year-olds to be insulted, for example. The important thing is that the kids have fun, that’s it.

But even if we often talk about referees, there are also coaches who are sometimes targeted by parents. Recently, for example, Jean-Philippe Sansfaçon, who coached the Saint-Hyacinthe Gaulois in midget AAA, resigned. This came as a surprise, considering that he had just won the championship and that his name was linked to the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the QMJHL.

That said, Sansfaçon finally got to the bottom of the reasons behind his resignation(in an interview with local newspaper Le Courrier), and the reason is pretty sad: he was the victim of personal attacks from the parents of players within his group.

Eventually, he got so fed up with dealing with parents expressing their dissatisfaction (with their child’s ice time, among other things) that he decided he’d reached his limit. He’s given up field hockey altogether, as he wants to go into business.

I have to tell you, I find this whole story really sad. Once again, we mustn’t forget that it’s still a game and that there’s no valid pretext for personally attacking a coach for a simple matter of ice time.

And stories like this have led to some excellent coaches (and even some excellent young referees) leaving the game because they can no longer stand the behaviour of parents who dislike them. In fact, it’s just as unpleasant for the young players, so nobody wins in the end.

I sincerely hope for his sake that he will be able to find some peace in his new career. It’s a real shame to lose a coach who could have had a great career (especially if he’d inherited the Voltigeurs coaching position), and I hope his story will raise a bit of awareness among parents about the repercussions their toxic behavior can have.

In short

– Great read.

– Indeed.

🇨🇦⚽️@JeremyFilosa reflects on Canada’s 2-0 loss to the U.S. in yesterday’s @Concacaf final

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– 98,5 Sports (@985Sports) June 20, 2023

– Excellent news.