Racing and kids....how to keep the ones you have in the sport!

hershey

hershey

PR Elite
Ive been racing since the year after I graduated high school. Ive seen lots of crazy things. Today topped it for me.

Many of you have seen or heard that I have no problem sticking up for kids when their parents are yelling at them. A handful of times over the years I have confronted parents in the middle of their tirade and stopped them. What kid is really going to want to come to the track if they know they are going to potentially get yelled at for their performance?

You want to keep kids riding and racing ???? Dont yell at them for performance issues or anything else about riding!

At the races today I witnessed a parent going off on their kid....a young rider, on a pw50....that young. I was going to talk to the parent (who also races) about it but didnt have the time right then. About an hour later as I pulled off from a moto of mine I noticed a couple of police cars in the parking area. When I walked back up about 15 mins later there were 4 police cars.

Turns out the same parent got so upset with his kid that he threw a wrench and hit him with it. Luckly the people around him got the kid away and called the police. They ended up taking the boy away and then the father was taken into custody with his truck and toy hauler towed away.

On one side I started thinking it was too bad I hadnt talked to the Dad before this and maybe prevented the emotional and physical abuse for the young boy. Then I thought maybe it was better this way, maybe it happens to the boy other times and now that will end.

I cant imagine what it takes to abuse your child over riding at such a young age, or any age. Abuse is far different than pushing them to do better. Not to mention the 4th of July will always be the day the boy remembers as the day his Dad went to jail for hitting him with a wrench not a fun summer holiday.

So one way to help our sport grow is to keep it fun! Encourage them to ride better, smarter and faster. Do not force them to try and do it.
 
Wow ! That sucks the little guy had to go through that . The flip side is the a*****e got caught and will be dealt with . The scariest part is if he did that In public what did he do at home !?!?! Most likely ruined the sport for him .
 
Tony alessi.


Hopefully it was an accident and the guy didnt deliberately throw a wrench at the kid.
 
Last edited:
I never understood why anyone would yell at anyone regardless of age for performance in a sport??? Who purposely does a sport and does not try hard? Someone who is not interested? And how could yelling improve that.:(
 
Wow!! Never understood that mentality. Hope the poor kid gets over it. I've had a huge problem just getting my son to even try to ride a dirt bike. He just turned 6, and he is still terrified. He has been around them since he can remember and can tell you every pro riders number and is seriously interested in the sport. Am I frustrated? Yes. But I don't push it. I don't really care if he races, but I'd like to teach him how to ride, but I sure as hell ain't gonna be an ass about it. If he wants to race, then great. Every kid has a different personality and will learn if and when they are ready. It makes no sense to try and make them some something they aren't ready for. That may not be the "supercross champ" frame of mind, but in all serious the odds are against us all.
 
When the A-hole hit his kid with the wrench it was NOT an accident and had NOTHING to do about the child (6 years old I believe) not being fast.


The first time that I recall ever meeting this guy was last week atAmherst Meadowlarks, and my opinion of the guy then was that he was a real A-hole to his child. Then yesterday morning at Smith Road while waiting to go out to practice he was being more of an A-hole to his child, enough so that I even told the Wife about it. A short time later my Wife told me that she saw the young kid come back to the pits, he missed his moto because apparently because he was confused on where to go. The A-hole shoved his kid off his PW-50 and threw a set of goggles and his helmet at him. Right after she got done telling me about that I saw this.

The A-hole was working on his own bike and pulled his kid over to hold it for him. The kid being small couldn’t hold the A-holes bike still enough so he got yelled at and pushed around for that. The A-hole pulled the kid back to the bike and continued to yell at him to hold the bike still, again it wasn’t good enough for the A-hole so he took the large wrench he was using and struck the child with it on his leg. The kid was in pain and crying and that’s was enough for me so I stepped in, and I guess when things got really interesting for everyone else in the pits.
 
Last edited:
What a shitbag, I bet he will get off the hook with some counseling and probation to and continue to damage the poor kids confidence and self esteem and he will go on to hate the sport or worse, continue to ride and then do the same to his kids some day.
 
I didnt get to see the guy at amherst but obviously it must have been the dude people were telling me about yelling at his kid,other parents and track officials. I do believe someone was telling me he got his boy dq'd at meadowlarks. Not sure on that one though. We didnt show up till second motos. My son has more than once frustrated me at the track, i usually just go over what he could have done better,not yell and scream at him. Id much rather him ride slow if hes not feeling it than push him over his limits and take a ride in the meat wagon. Bad enough he broke his collar bone with out me yelling to go faster!
 
The father is a dirt bag. He has been around for along time and is really a good rider other than running people off the track, knocking them down, running them over. He took my buddy out in the first turn yesterday before this incident. I didn't know about him getting hauled off until it was all over. I am very sorry for what his son went through but was more than happy he was gone for the day. He will hurt you just to win a vet class. Big dumb hillbilly if you ask me. I've seen him for years riding way to agressive. Just ask Dave 842.
 
I was 15 feet away, and Walter's account is 100% accurate. This incident had nothing to do with overzealous mini parents with idiotic demands of performance. This was simply an abusive jackass with no ability whatsoever to maintain self control, who has no business with a child in his care. This is not the first time I've been pitted next to him and seen him in action at Smith Rd. Every time he ends up screaming F bombs at the top of his lungs as though he is about to have a barroom brawl, only to see him towering over a little boy who might be 6 or 7 years old over the stupidest things that you'd expect kids to do. The fact that he shows no embarrassment that he catches the attention of everybody within 100 yards who are watching his temper tantrums is VERY disturbing and would indicate that he does not see it as even abnormal while others view it as an abomination. How balanced can you be to start screaming, catch the attention of 100 witnesses, and then draw your arm all the way back and take a full swing and whack your child in the leg with a wrench? Had the boy not been wearing MX boots, he'd be in the hospital.

This is the first time I've seen him do something physically that was clearly actionable. Walters had the situation quite under control, but I rushed over to stand next to him, and I was extremely thankful that it took only a few seconds before there was a human wall of at least a dozen other people to follow his lead, back him up and keep this "man" away from this boy who was now with his wife their pits until the deputies arrived.

I was SO relieved to see him leave in handcuffs, because I feared what awaited the boy at home if he left with this guy. I am also glad that it happened in front of so many witnesses, who made documented statements, because it needed to happen. If a guy has no qualms about acting this way in public, I shudder to think how he acts in private.

Walters is indeed a hero, and the positive consequences of his actions might be felt by this boy for a changed lifetime.
 
Great job Mr. Walters. The dad is a loser but unfortunately the kid is the real loser in all of this. I pray for the little guy.
 
Its no secret. At least 100 people saw it. It was Jeff Barley. I've seen it on face book today too. Im sure if he shows his face again at any dirt bike track in ohio he won't be greeted well.
 
Rings a bell, but can't place him.

Its sad because this could be the end of his boys MX unless mom or someone steps up.

Alot of things I could say, but I won't.

Thank you Mr. Walters.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top