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Referee Posts Videos to Publicly Shame Parents Behaving Badly At Youth Sports Events

It's a big problem locally; about 70 percent of Carolina youth referees quit after their first year because of people who act out at games.

One fed-up referee is on a mission to publicly shame people who act out at youth sports games.

The goal is to make parents think twice before losing their cool. It's a big problem locally; about 70 percent of Carolina youth referees quit after their first year because of this issue.

Just last month, a video of a brawl that broke out between parents and fans of two North Carolina girls softball teams at a Tennessee park went viral.

"We're taking away what sports is all about. Sports is about innocence, it's about learning how to overcome adversity."

Brian Barlow is sick and tired of it.

"They say the most ludicrous asinine things you could possibly think of."

After 14 years as a referee, Barlow created the Facebook page, Offside, where he posts videos of unruly parents at youth sports games to publicly shame them.

"If you sit back and watch, you're part of the problem, but if you get your camera out and you record it, and we can shame them publicly, now you're part of the solution."

Barlow offers $100 per video submitted to his page.

"Within probably two months, I've received 4,000 videos."

It's an issue Carolina coaches have spoken out about before.

"It's out of control man."

South Carolina basketball coach Frank Martin tweeted he witnessed the rage at his own son's elementary school ball game.

"We're going to have adults in the stands yelling obscenities at officials?"

"It's happening pretty frequently."

Queens University basketball coach Bart Lundy recently echoed the same concern.

"Hopefully, those parents can watch those videos and see what they look like because that's the behavior they're going to model for their children."

That's exactly what Barlow is hoping this parent shaming page achieves, even though not everyone is on board with his tactic.

"Does it come with some negative? Yeah. There's people that despise it, but listen. I'm not looking for anyone's approval. I'm not looking for anyone's opinion I am looking for their attention."

North Carolina is one of the only states in the nation that has a specific law against assaulting or even yelling at sports officials. It's a class one misdemeanor and could land you in jail for 45 days.

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