You may ask what’s really behind an athlete’s drive to devote their entire life to the sport they love. Is it the celebratory huddle with teammates after scoring a goal? Or the rush of adrenaline when the crowd chants?

When an athlete’s eyes wander from the field to the parents in the stands, are moms and dads smiling ear to ear, eagerly waving and giving a thumbs up? Or are their arms folded with a displeased look on their face? Unfortunately, not all athletes have an undying support group behind the hard work.

Playing sports since the age of four, I have witnessed all kinds of crazy from parents in the stands. Over the years I’ve seen countless examples of parents overstepping boundaries. Although there are overly demanding parents in every sport, hockey parents have earned the title of the official “pushy parent”. From experience, I’ve seen more fights off of the ice than I have on. There has been shoving, swearing, and full-on adult temper tantrums, from parents who want their kids to be the best.

They’ve even gone as far as pulling their kid off of a local team because, from the parents point of view, their athlete wasn’t getting enough ice time. Instead, parents drive over an hour away, three times a week, just for their kids to get a small amount of extra playing time. With the apparently new and improved team being so far away, kids have little time to participate in other extracurricular activities that they might really want to join.

During an intense playoff game in the third period, the referee made a call against my team. As my teammate skated toward the penalty box, countervailing the call, an angry dad started to make his way down the stands, over to the glass where the ref was standing. He then proceeded to bang on the glass, screaming about how unfair the penalty was. My teammate sat in the box embarrassed by the situation. The referee argued back for about a minute and then kicked the insane dad out of the game. This is yet another example of how parents overstep their boundaries when they have absolutely nothing to do with playing the game.

Although I usually get a laugh out of watching these kinds of events from the ice, sometimes my parents get out of hand as well. It was an early Saturday morning game at the Plymouth rink. Battling to be the first place team, the game was tied at three. The Plymouth parents had spent the entire game screaming about everything and anything at the top of their lungs. Whether one of my teammates body checked someone on the other team or the referee called the play off-sides, the parents had something to say about it. After listening to the obnoxious shrieking for two periods, my parents, along with a few others, had finally had enough. Suddenly it turned into a war.

Even though hockey parents are probably the worst– deranged parents are unfortunately a part of every sport. If you’re that embarrassed player in the penalty box, say something to your parents. Instead of driving off-cape for practice every week, pick a day to visit family or spend time with friends. Being an athlete means everything but don’t forget to think about yourself during the chaos of the season.