youth sports

I work with a lot of younger people (say mid 30's) who have kids in sports. I listen to so many stories about someone upset about a team their child was chosen for or that their child isn't playing the position they think they should play or they don't like this coach or that coach. It just amazes me. I just don't remember parents being so involved in kids sports when I was young. We tried out, we either got picked or we didn't. We listened to the coach and did what he/she said. That's part of the life lessons we learned from sports. Most of the sports we played were sand lot games the kids organized themselves. If there were disputes we worked them out among ourselves. Again, some of the life lessons on cooperation etc. I'm just amazed at how involved parents are now and the way the kids seem to get lost in the whole thing. It gets to be more about the parents than the kids. What are the kids learning from all of this? I've heard about bickering among the parents at games, parents getting into physical altercations with coaches. One co-worker describes out of town games where the parents drink and party all night in one room while the kids are roaming around the motels all night. What the heck are they teaching their kids anyway? I'm sure this doesn't apply to all sports or parents but it isn't an isolated thing either because I hear about it every day. I hope it isn't just Oklahoma and if it is well, shame on us!