Editorial: Quit Bashing Kids, Coaches, and Referees
High school sports in West Virginia still mean something. Friday nights. Community pride. Kids chasing something bigger than a scoreboard. That is what makes this state different. It is also what makes the constant bashing so ugly.
Why are we bashing kids under 18? Is it disagreement? Frustration? Or is it just the need to put someone else down so your own team feels bigger? Kids are not getting paid. They are not cashing the millions you see at the higher levels. And the bashing is coming from adults. It is embarrassing. Really.
This is supposed to be the level where sports still feel local. Where a kid plays for his school, his town, and the people who actually know his name. Turning that into an online pile-on is one of the fastest ways to ruin the part of this we claim to love.
Disagreeing with a ranking is not bashing
Who cares if a publication has one kid ranked above another kid? That is not bashing. That is an evaluation. You can disagree with a ranking without tearing down the other player. Those are two different things, and too many people act like they are the same.
Publications are human. Humans make mistakes. Each evaluator values different traits, different film, and different content at a different level. That is normal. That is the process. If you hate a board, fine. Say you see it differently. Talk about traits. Talk about tape. Talk about the fit. Leave the personal attacks in the draft folder where they belong.
When it comes to evaluations, I lean toward the people who use college evaluators. Those guys are trained in how to evaluate. When you coach college football, you are trained on what to look for. Then you do it daily. You learn quickly what carries over and what does not. Someone who is not trained is less likely to be accurate. Especially if they only evaluate in a small area and never have to answer for those evaluations in a real room.
That does not mean local eyes do not matter. They do. Film still matters. Production still matters. Context still matters. But if your disagreement with a ranking turns into bashing a teenager online, you are no longer talking football. You are performing for likes, validation, or your own sideline ego.
Adults have gotten too comfortable
Back to the real problem. Adults get too personal. They feel way too comfortable posting whatever opinion pops into their head on social media. No filter. No pause. No thought about the kid on the other end of it.
These are high school players. Some of them are 15. Some of them are 17. All of them can see the comments. Their teammates can see them. Their parents can see them. Their classmates can see them. And somehow the adults in the room still hit send like it is harmless chatter.
It is not harmless. It teaches kids that tearing people down is part of sports. It teaches parents that loyalty means hostility. It teaches communities that the loudest voice is the most important one. That is a bad lesson. And it is coming from the people who should know better.
Support your team. Be biased. Be loud. Be proud. Just do not confuse that with tearing down somebody else’s child because a ranking, a highlight, or a Friday night result bruised your feelings.
Stop bashing high school coaches
Now let’s talk about coaches. High school coaches make nothing for the amount of hours they put in. Nowhere near worth it if you are measuring it by financial gain. Early mornings. Late nights. Film. Practice. Weight room. Phone calls. Bus rides. Parent meetings. Friday nights that turn into Saturday mornings. Then they get up and do it again.
People are quick to bash coaches for a wrong play call or a loss they did not like. As if standing in the bleachers automatically makes you the offensive coordinator. Take the coaches classes. Put the time in. Sit through the meetings. Deal with the injuries, the grades, the transfers, the politics, and the pressure from people who only show up on game night. Then come talk.
There is a line. If a coach does something that harms a player or creates a toxic atmosphere, that is a different story. That deserves scrutiny. That deserves accountability. Nobody is saying coaches are untouchable. But bashing a coach because your team did not cover a spread, or because a kid did not get the ball enough in the third quarter, is lazy.
Most of these coaches are sacrificing a lot. They are doing it to help young kids get prepared for life as adults. Structure. Accountability. Toughness. Team first. That work does not show up in a box score. It shows up years later when those same kids know how to show up, take coaching, and handle adversity without folding the first time something goes against them.
Referee bashing is running people out
Lastly, referee bashing. We are in an epidemic of not having enough referees. Quite frankly, I do not blame them for walking away. The adults in the crowd treat them horribly.
Referees are human. They make mistakes. They are not perfect. Neither are the people screaming at them from the stands. Imagine if we followed those same adults into their personal lives or into their jobs and judged every decision at full volume. They would not survive it either.
Keep running off referees and good luck finding games in the future. That is not dramatic. That is where this road goes. No officials. No games. No Friday nights. All because grown people could not handle a missed hold or a ball spot they did not like.
You want better officiating? Support training. Support recruiting new officials. Support the idea that respect is part of the game. Yelling a man into early retirement does not fix a crew. It just leaves the next crew thinner than the last one, and then everybody wonders why the product looks worse.
Be the example
This whole thing comes back to one point. Be a role model for the kids. Stop bashing on every little thing.
Disagree with a ranking. Fine. Question a play call. Fine. Talk about a missed call. Fine. Football is emotional. People care. That is part of why West Virginia high school sports hit different. Caring is not the problem. Cruelty is.
Kids under 18 should not be catching adult venom online. Coaches working for almost nothing should not be treated like villains over one Friday night. Referees trying to keep games alive should not need a police escort out of a parking lot because someone lost their mind in the fourth quarter.
If you love your team, support your team. If you hate a ranking, make a better football argument. If you think a coach got it wrong, say it without turning it personal. If an official misses one, remember they will miss some and so will you.
High school sports only stay special if the adults act like adults. Enjoy the games. Back the kids. Respect the people making Friday nights possible. And quit bashing just because it is easy.