Sporting clubs are turning to unusual methods to curb poor conduct

In many parts of Australia sporting clubs have had to come up with creative ways to get parents to behave on the sidelines. The Sunshine Coast Netball Association has armed their young umpires with white flags to signal if they are experiencing disrespect on the court. The move was introduced in 2024 after a 14-year-old umpire was verbally abused by an adult coach.

And Queensland Rugby League introduced bright green socks for their under-age referees to remind parents that “if the socks are green, they are under 18”.

In junior AFL, umpires can now use a three-phase white card system where free kicks and penalties can be awarded to the opposing team in real time when “unacceptable behaviour” is demonstrated within the “immediate vicinity” of the coaching box.

Junior sporting clubs have tried banning parents and hiring security guards on game days. The NSW government is even considering placing life bans on violent spectators not just at the sport where they misbehave, but across multiple codes and across all levels.

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If it goes through, it could end up with a situation where, if a parent acts violently at their child’s Saturday morning rugby league game, for example, they could face a ban that prevents them from attending NRL games.

Melbourne sports lawyer Paul Horvath is not surprised by any of these stories; generally by the time a case involving disputing parents gets to him, it’s an extreme example.

Horvath, who specialises in sports-related disputes for clubs and individuals, says it’s difficult for clubs to enforce punishments such as bans when children’s sports are played at open access fields.

“I had a case in Sydney about 10 or 12 years ago where the parent handled the referee, made physical contact, and there was a lengthy ban on that particular person attending and they wanted to dispute the ban, so I assisted them with an appeal,” he says.

“The way they were able to impose the ban in that particular sport was that the sport hired the stadium where the sport was played, and when that happens they can ban the parents themselves.

“Sometimes … suspending the parents doesn’t have much impact. So the way some of the sports I’ve seen do it is that the ban is applied to the child. It’s the only way they can rein those parents in.”

Terry Wong, the coaching co-ordinator at the Hurlstone Park Wanderers Football Club in Sydney took the NSW government’s Shoosh For Kids campaign – which encourages positive sideline behaviour through visible on-field messaging across all sports – and signed on for Silent Sidelines.

Road-tested in 2019, Silent Sidelines was relaunched this year and encourages parents on the sidelines to be completely quiet, and those who think that may be too difficult a task are given a lollipop to suck on.

“We tried to take the messaging to the extreme just one or two weekends of the season as a real awareness raiser,” says Wong, who has three children of his own.

“The idea is not to have a completely silent sideline all season, it’s more about making parents aware of how they behave on the sidelines, then we pull back and transition into our Supportive Sidelines campaign.”

The supportive culture at Hurlstone Park attracted Cara and Emma Wood when they were looking for a new club for their nine-year-old son, whose team Cara coached.

“Last year during an under-8 game, there was quite a bit of heckling and swearing from the sidelines directed at one particular player and about five minutes before the end of the game he snapped, being too worn down by the pressure,” says Cara.

“He lashed out and went to kick another child. The other team’s coach made a beeline for me, towering over me with another parent joining in. I signalled for us to move away from the kids.

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“I emailed my club about the incident and didn’t get a response. Reality is, there are many factors that affect the culture of a club and the ability for kids to just be safe on the field. So we finished the season and moved to Hurlstone Park and it’s a much more positive environment.”

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