In an environment full of little twerps, the rules are relatively black and white. You'd get the occasional kid that tried to cheat, get a bad drop, etc., but forty-nine times out of fifty the kid either A) wasn't very good or B) had a "ball don't lie" situation and screwed up the next shot anyway. That the sport is basically you against the course rather than you against another player directly helps a lot in this, I think.

I actually mostly had pretty good experiences with parents in basketball (my other main sport as a kid and high schooler). I think it was some combination of 1) the background of most of the kids playing and 2) that the elite truly and totally start to separate themselves by about age 12 or 13 that maybe lead to better behaving parents. A future NBA Hall of Famer didn't need much help with the whistle with little 5'0", 90 lbs 12 year old Wilford and his team mates trying to guard him.

Baseball was truly horrific. Nothing better than a bunch of rednecks arguing with a high school-aged ump on balls and strikes.

I only played competitively at the HS level (also coached for like 6-7 years) and it's brutal the amount of calls that kids hook each other on. My team was guilty of it as well and then I had to stand on the court and verify calls instead of trolling the fans for hot single moms.

I was amazed at not only my lack of success with the moms but how many kids would still try to cheat when a coach was out there watching lines.