I didn’t want to be “that parent," the one who's constantly screaming at the referee or umpire over missed calls.

But over the weekend, I couldn’t take it anymore. Granted, it was a soccer match and not a football game, but the premise is still the same. A parent should never yell at an official. At any level of any sport, the coach should be the only one communicating with the official.

But I lost my mind for a second. Call it a temporary moment of insanity because my blood was boiling.

What I saw reminded me of many youth football games where I witnessed the same thing, but I always kept my mouth closed. Generally, the coaches would get involved and kids were spoken to and/or taken off the field.   

My son Jared’s soccer team, comprised of 6-year-olds, was playing a club from another town and it was like they were playing the Chicago Bears’ "Monsters of the Midway," the Detroit Pistons’ Bad Boys," or the Philadelphia Flyers' "Broad Street Bullies." The behavior of the players on the other team was deplorable. All they did the whole game was push, grab, and trip the players on my son’s team.

The referee, a young man who looked to be around 13 or 14 years old, didn’t make any calls other than “hand ball." This was getting out of hand. I was getting upset on the sideline but trying to keep my mouth shut other than discussing this with the parent of another player. I went over to talk with our coach about it, and he was aware of what was going on.

But later in the game, I heard a coach from the other team say “Push it! Push it!” and that’s when I lost it. I shouted out something to the effect of, “That’s right just push!” Some of the other parents were shocked that I said that, and some of them laughed because they knew I was right. Our coach looked over at me and that’s when I bit my lip and decided to keep my mouth shut.

The moral of the story is that it's a primary responsibility of every coach to help players maintain composure and actions on the field, playing within the rules and in line with fair play. 

If it falls to the official to do so, it’s already too late.

I’ve seen this happen in football, too.

My son Bradley has been involved in a number of games where the other team has taken some liberties, like punching, kicking, and even stepping on a player intentionally. 

I know football is a physical game, but whether it’s on the gridiron, soccer field, baseball field, or even a basketball court, players have to show respect for one another and that should be taught by the coaches. 

They are responsible for having those kids ready to step on the field, and if they continue to show a lack of respect, they should be removed from the game and talked to.

I don’t know what the coaches on the other soccer team told their kids or how they run their practices, but neither of them said anything to any of the players during that game when this blatant unnecessary roughhousing occurred.

How could they not see it happening? How could they not pull any of the kids aside to address it?

Parents also play a part in instilling proper values that players carry onto the field. I can tell you that if my wife and I saw any of our kids doing what these kids were doing in the soccer game, we’d handle it at home and teach them that you can’t do that. 

But once the game starts, that responsibility belongs to the coaches.

At the end of the day, if you’re a coach, you need to teach the kids the fundamentals of the game and stress the fun of playing. But you also need to teach the kids how to respect one another and not to play a game like it’s a 15-round heavyweight fight.

It’s important to note that I apologized to my son’s coach after the game for that outburst. We had a laugh when I told him that here I am, a guy who writes stories about how parents should act, and there I was losing my mind for a second. 

I had just seen enough and just wanted to enjoy a kid’s soccer game. I was mad at the coach of the other team for not controlling his players. I wasn’t just worried that my son was at risk, but his teammates as well.

I feel better now. 

SEE ALSO: USA Football's Youth Football Parents 101 course, with Christine and Mike Golic

Peter Schwartz is a sports anchor for the CBS Sports Radio Network and WCBS 880 Radio in New York.  His older son Bradley plays youth football for the Levittown Red Devils in the Nassau-Suffolk Football League on Long Island while his younger son Jared will begin playing flag football this coming fall. Peter, his wife Sheryl and the boys are busy cheering on the New York Jets when they’re not at a youth football field.