Officially warned

It seems that anymore one is likely to see opinion pieces or articles on social media or elsewhere regarding parent/fan behavior at sporting events, ranging from peewee to high school.
I’ve added my own columns regarding the impact such behavior can have on coaches in the past.
People read these opinion pieces, they often agree with them, they may share them, but then they move on and the piece fades away.
However, a while back, an open letter to parents was posted on the WHSAA (Wyoming High School Activities Association) website that will hopefully have a little more impact than most other writings we see in other mediums. 
The letter was written by Karissa Niehoff, the Executive Director of the National Federation of State High School Associations in conjunction with Ron Laird, our Commissioner of the Wyoming High School Activities Association, and it was addressed to parents and fans of high school athletes regarding their behavior toward officials.
The gist of the letter is that fan behavior which is abusive toward officials (and to a degree, toward coaches) is not acceptable and that such behavior needs to stop.
While cheering for, and supporting, your child and his or her team is encouraged by the authors, the two admonish parents for poor behavior in the stands.
“Your passion is admired, and your support of the hometown team is needed. But so is your self-control. Yelling, screaming and berating the officials humiliates your child, annoys those sitting around you, embarrasses your child’s school and is the primary reason Wyoming has an alarming shortage of high school officials.”
We’ve all seen, and maybe have been, that parent. I understand that emotions run high when you’re watching your child play. I’ve been there and done that. 
I’ve been guilty of riding officials, both as a coach and as a parent. I’ve shared with them my opinion of where they went wrong with a call and how they should fix it going forward.
I’ve also reiterated many times that there is not enough money to get me to put on those stripes and officiate a basketball game because I know it is a thankless job. 
Not only that, but there’s not a lot of jobs that people would sign up for where people — loudly and without restraint — call you horrible names, insult your intelligence and your character, and even threaten you with physical violence. 
And it’s all over a game.
Niehoff and Laird state that 75 percent of all high school officials identify adult behavior as the primary reason for hanging up their whistle. Unfortunately, if we can’t hang on to and continue to recruit officials, the future of high school sports is precarious. 
Without officials, there will be no games.
As I was watching the State Tournament on the NFHS Network last weekend, I saw an administrator at Casper College have to escort someone out of a basketball game on Saturday. Fan behavior is becoming a real and potentially debilitating situation for high school sports in Wyoming, and that is pretty sad. 
I hope people read, and take very seriously, the letter by Niehoff and Laird so that the future of Wyoming sports remains secure.