In my eight years as a youth sports parent and seven of them in youth football, there’s one thing that’s for certain and that is there’s no escaping political nonsense when it comes to administrators and parents.  Whether it’s dealing with fundraising, registration, what players are on which teams, or even who the head coach is, politics is part of the youth sports landscape and it’s not going away.

Even though it is something that’s always going to rear its ugly face, politics should be kept as far away from the kids as possible. In fact, there’s really no reason to involve a child with politics even if he or she is involved with it.  I’ve seen just about everything in my son Bradley’s program and yes, politics just don’t trickle down to one team but the entire organization.

The kids have enough to worry about on the field that they don’t need any exposure to the political shenanigans that can take place on the sidelines. 

For example, you might see a parent talking to a coach and then all of a sudden there are three straight plays involving that parent’s child. The other parents likely saw it, but those kinds of things should be shielded from the kids. If your child happens to see something like that and asks about it, just try to change the subject and say “hey just worry about your situation.”

Politics can rip apart an organization. It was such a big problem in baseball a few years ago that we had to switch little leagues because it was visible to Bradley and it was time for a change. We’ve been lucky that it hasn’t been anywhere near that kind of situation in football but there are things that pop up from time to time.

Why did one team receive championship sweatshirts but another team didn’t?

Why do the coach’s kids have new helmets but other kids have helmets that are three or four years old?

Why does one kid on the team run 50 yards to get inside the red zone but then they give the ball to someone else to score the touchdown?

Why do the same parents work the snack bar over and over again or why are the same parents always working on the chain gang?

Or how about this question I’ve heard many times…

My kid shows up for practice every day but either doesn’t play or gets a play or two in a game, but some kids miss practice all the time and they always play in a game?

These are all things that parents will pick up on over the course of a season, but it’s very important to discuss it when the kids are not around.  They don’t need to be involved with it. If they get wind of something, you have to try and talk to them about it in a way where you can get them not to worry about.

There is no utopia when it comes to youth football or youth sports in general.  You just have to make the best of it and protect the kids.

Peter Schwartz is an anchor and reporter for the CBS Sports Radio Network. He also writes a CBS New York sports blog at http://newyork.cbslocal.com/tag/peter-schwartz/. You can follow him on Twitter @pschwartzcbsfan. Peter’s son Bradley plays for the Levittown Red Devils of the Nassau Suffolk Football League on Long Island in New York. His son Jared cheers on Bradley and then Bradley returns the favor when Jared is playing soccer.