Music at youth sporting events

[Heinie Wagner]

Just about every pro, college or even high school has music pre-game, halftime and even during timeouts.
 
Is this appropriate for youth sports, like Little League Baseball, Travel Basketball, etc?

 

[Doug Beerabelli]

Other:   Yes, as long as it's not country music.
 
If it can be done without team distraction, why not?   That means before/after games, halftime.  Not during TOs.  And coaches aren't responsible for providing it or running it.

 

[Puffy]

It may seem harmless, but I could see it becoming a hassle or headache.  Some parents of younger kids can be touchy about pop music lyrics - so I could imagine dealing with a few complaints which will make the DJ's job a little harder.  If there is a person who will be ok managing the little issues like this (personal requests, complaints, etc), I could see it working, but I wouldn't want to pass it on someone without an understanding of the potential issues.

 

[WoburnDiaspora]

I don't see it as a big deal especially in baseball where there is some downtime.  As Puffy points out one has to be careful about the songs chosen.  They should be all clean.  

 

[savage362]

I voted "No, it's over the time" simply because every high school basketball game I've been to the last couple of years has had the music so loud that you can't even have a conversation with the person beside you. Not to mention they usually turn it up so loud that it sounds like crap.

 

[Just a bit outside]

Other:   Yes, as long as it's not country music.
 
If it can be done without team distraction, why not?   That means before/after games, halftime.  Not during TOs.  And coaches aren't responsible for providing it or running it.

I agree.  If someone other than the coach is willing to do it I don't see a problem.  I coach youth baseball and basketball and there is rarely any music being played.

 

[Cumberland Blues]

It's hard enough finding somebody to run the scoreboard - now we gotta find somebody to do music too? 

 

[Heinie Wagner]

If you have a bluetooth PA system, the coach or parent or whoever is doing the scoreboard, can put a playlist on their phone and control it pretty easily.  

 

[Dan to Theo to Ben]

Perhaps this depends on whether you have a daughter or not?
 
Do you want girls to develop into strippers ?

 

[Heinie Wagner]

I voted "No, it's over the time" simply because every high school basketball game I've been to the last couple of years has had the music so loud that you can't even have a conversation with the person beside you. Not to mention they usually turn it up so loud that it sounds like crap.

 
I agree with that.  It can be cool at the right volume, but if it's too loud, it gets obnoxious

 

[Heinie Wagner]

Perhaps this depends on whether you have a daughter or not?
 
Do you want girls to develop into strippers ?

 
The idea is that playing music at the event makes it cooler, leading to more participation.  Girls who participate in youth sports are less likely to develop into strippers.

 

[Dan to Theo to Ben]

 
The idea is that playing music at the event makes it cooler, leading to more participation.  Girls who participate in youth sports are less likely to develop into strippers.

That's a great point, I was thinking spectators only.
 
Maybe Eric Van can do some research on this.

 

[PaulinMyrBch]

I honestly haven't seen it much at travel baseball events, showcase ball is pretty much two teams, umps, coaches, field guys, and some scouts.  Not much organization into concessions or otherwise.  Not sure about travel basketball, etc.
 
High school is another matter.  We've got walkup songs and the kids push the envelope and usually get warned a few times a year about songs until they are off the playlist.  There is a difference between clean lyrics and appropriate content at a school game, so its usually the clean versions of songs making it through a portion of the season as filler songs before the AD actually listens to the words and sends word that she's pulling the music.  
 
A good example is "Pour it Up" by Rihanna.  Clean version seems harmless, pretty much everyone is into the beat until the AD hears, "strippers going up and down that pole..." or "bands makes your girl go down..." then she threatens to cut all walkup songs and between inning music. 
 
First rule is kids can't be in charge.  I heard about 30 seconds of uncut Lil Wayne's Gonorrhea at a school field a while back.  Still remember the look on this old guys face when he told me it didn't sound like "baseball music".

 

[Heinie Wagner]

I can't even understand the lyrics at the HS basketball games I go to, the PA system is pretty poor.
 
At a local LL game this spring, they were playing "Forget You" over speakers that you could hear on several fields.  I wondered if the adults in charge had any idea what the original lyrics were.  I'm sure many of the kids knew.