Baseball is nothing but pure fun for them and some coaches forget that. William Leonard, Erwin's parks and recreation director, said the town has had some problems in the last few years, which included a 30-person brawl during a football game that escalated into the stands.
"During basketball season, one of the parents walked onto the court and started arguing with the umpire, official. This year, we had an incident during baseball season, one of our parents threatened one of our coaches in the dugout during the game," he said.
Leonard had enough, so he drafted a code of conduct for parents and coaches, which was passed unanimously by the Erwin Town Council. It prohibits profanity, aggression or taunting. Breaking the rules could get the offender a 3-game suspension or banned altogether.
"I think their first offense they need to be exiled. They need to move on," coach Bill Grady said.
Parents think the new code of conduct is a good thing.
"It's easy to be emotionally involved and from that standpoint, it's understandable, but at the same time, you have to monitor your behavior and be a good role model for the children, I think," parent Al Myatt said.
The rules went into effect July 1. Leonard hopes it does the trick.
"I'm tired of the phone calls, and I'm tired of dealing with the parents. It's for the kids and if they would just let them be kids, everything would be great," he said.
Other parks and recreation departments in Harnett County may adopt similiar codes of conduct.
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