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EAST TEXAS (KLTV/KTRE) - Recently on this segment I addressed the rampant practices by some people blaming errors by officiating crews as the reason their sports teams lost games.

This is happening in college and pro ranks in most major sports. Even though the introduction of booth reviews has improved the accuracy percentage in these games to more than ninety-six percent. Not perfect, but pretty good. But what I missed was that some parents, family, friends of athletes involved in youth sports are not any different than some of the college and pro fans.

In fact, some are worse and that needs to change. Perhaps you have seen videos of fans of youth sports berating officiating crews – the fans become unhinged and they are a sad sight to see. I had one viewer comment that he had quit officiating because of the treatment by fans. This impacts the officiating crew that are paid very little to begin with and it also impacts the kids as they see examples of horrible behavior from some of the most impactful people in their lives. And, eventually they start mimicking the bad behavior.

Is that really the goal of youth sports, that one of the main takeaways is a memory of a loved one being thrown out of a league? I think not. If you have a youth sport participant, find ways to support them, win or lose. And admit that we all lose at times. Sometimes we get beat.

And respect those that are trying to help make that experience one of personal growth and that will make for A Better East Texas.