We’ve often said in this space how most problems in youth sports have little or nothing to do with the youth.

Sometimes, it’s well-intentioned people at the league administration level who just seem to lose track from time to time that the athletes are children and not highly-paid professionals.

On other occasions, parents, who want nothing more than to see their son or daughter succeed athletically, berate officials (or even sometimes coaches) because those people are clearly “out to get” their child. For those parents, it can’t possibly be because the official made a simple mistake or that maybe — just maybe — their child isn’t as skilled a player as the parents believe him or her to be. Nope, it has to be a concerted effort against their son or daughter.

And there are still other occurrences where people — including fully-grown adults — show up to a sporting event looking to cause trouble.

A District 3 Class 5A boys basketball playoff game was not open to the public Thursday night because of a fight that broke out in the bleachers at William Penn High School in York during the school’s previous game on Monday. It marked the second time a William Penn game was played without a crowd this season due to fights.

Keep in mind, the players and coaches had nothing to do with this. It was members of the public who showed up to the games and decided they’d rather create a scene than cheer on their team.

We hope all the perpetrators are arrested, charged and never allowed to step foot inside the school’s gymnasium ever again.

As for the berating of game officials, that’s a problem that — while it has been in existence since the beginning of organized sports — seems to only be getting worse in recent years.

A recent example of this can be found involving a former NFL coach at his stepson’s basketball game in Wisconsin.

Ex-Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy was the subject of a complaint filed by the game’s referees with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. In the complaint, McCarthy is accused of verbally berating referees after confronting and following them as they were escorted from the playoff game Tuesday night, a game in which McCarthy’s stepson’s team lost by one point.

What kind of example does this set for everyone else when they see a celebrity, ex-professional football coach chasing down officials to yell at them? And scenes like this one can be found in nearly every corner of the country in nearly every sport.

Is it any wonder there’s a shortage of people willing to become referees and umpires?

If in either of these instances — or in any of the countless others that play out just about everywhere else — the people involved would have acted like adults instead of like toddlers throwing a temper tantrum, it could have all been avoided.

It’s amazingly selfish and rude behavior, that is put on display for our children to see. Obviously, it needs to stop.

So, please, if you ever find yourself at a youth sporting event — whether for your child or not — remember that the coaches are volunteers who have given of their time so that kids can play, officials are human beings who can make mistakes despite their best efforts to get every call right and league administrators do a lot of important work to give children a place to play in the first place.

We also hope above all else, you keep in mind that youth sports are supposed to be about the kids, not the egos of the so-called adults.