A LOOK BACK AT THE YEAR 2022

The start of every New Year always brings hope and optimism. A fresh start also gives us a moment or two to pause and to reflect on the year just passed.

But in 2022, there were all sorts of sports parenting headlines that, in many ways, show how difficult being a sports parent, or coach, or a ref/official/ump has become.

On this Sports Edge show, I’ve gone back and have tried to summarize the biggest stories of the year: everything from the impact of NIL and the transfer portal, to the increasing lack of civility at our kids’ HS games, to the worrisome issue that more and more parents feel “entitled” to say and do outrageous things at youth games, to more and more HS refs just quitting, to how Little League Baseball didn’t step in to “do the right thing” in a key playoff game, to trying to figure out what’s the most equitable way to treat transgender athletes who compete, and on and on.

The truth is, 2022 was a most remarkable year for a variety of reasons. To me, it’s always a good idea to take a look back to see where we’ve been so that we can, hopefully, get a better sense of where we’re going. Listen here: The Sports Edge with Rick Wolff