You know the type. You can hear them a mile away. And you want to run right over to them and punch them in the mouth. Or you want to run over to their kid and rescue them from a lifetime of verbal abuse.
Yes, The Soccer Parent. Loud. Abusive. Idiotic. Moronic.
Well, the UK’s Football (cuz that’s what they call it over there) Association with help from Man+Hatchet created a video which aims to diffuse parental rage at soccer games.
The video uses “corrective’ technology” – think ED209 from RoboCop – to deal with the problems of raging sideline parents, the loss of referees, foul mouthed players or abusive managers.
The Respect program was launched in 2008 and after five seasons across all levels of soccer on field discipline has improved, assaults on referees have fallen, 5,000 more match officials have been recruited and the environment of children’s soccer has improved.
Dermot Collins, The FA’s Respect Manager, said, “The application of technology is an ongoing discussion in soccer. This film takes a light hearted look at how it can be applied to improving behavior in the game but ultimately the solution is in our own hands. We all have a part to play.”
