The parents are by far an away the bigger issue. The officiating is an issue because 1) there is a lack of sports officials 2) the few qualified guys who did it because they love the game and still want to be involved in some capacity have gone away because of the overzealous & vicarious parents....that leaves teenage / high school aged kids to do the officiating. They aren't experienced enough and often times they are unfairly working solo. 1 person cannot effectively umpire a baseball game/ref a soccer match/ref a basketball game/ etc. No unattached adult is going to jump through the hoops to get certified just to make $25 to ref a soccer game for an 1:15 minutes....it just doesn't make economic sense.

Add in the fact that most of youth sports today are travel / club / AAU / etc. and everyone thinks they are something special and that little Johnny is the next big thing, it's just a recipe for disaster.

I'm just as guilty as the next parent in being critical about the shitty officiating. My solution is to not sit near the Villainess. If I'm by her, I'm comfortable enough vocally expressing my displeasure with the fact that the 14 year old line judge doesn't understand what an offsides is and how they just blew a call that resulted in a goal against us. Instead, I go and post up next to a parent who is an acquaintance (not a friend, can't be too comfortable with them) and chat with them during the game. It helps me naturally keep my reactions to bad calls in my head or at the least very muted to a quiet level.