Little League 2010: Take Me Out to the Ball Game (or Hook Me Up to a Webcam)

It looks like technology may be on the verge of solving one of the biggest problems in Little League and other youth sports: Parents.

Webcams at neighborhood ball fields might enable obnoxious parents to scream, bellow, belittle and berate from the privacy of their home computers -- leaving only coaches to keep kids from having fun.

Meanwhile, even calm parents can catch games they've missed or watch special moments in instant replay.

The New York Times reports an outfit call Youth Sports Live out of Alpharetta, Ga., has been carrying the Little League World Series live on broadband this week from Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport, Pa.

Now company execs want to strike deals with youth teams around the country to set up webcams. Games would be replayed on demand for something like $15 per month. Fans could also buy entire seasons or purchase games on DVD for around $20.

The company was started by Greg Centracchio and Brian Bushwell, former baseball teammates at the University of Hartford. They received investment help from retired Houston Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell.

"When I saw a demonstration of how economically and easily a league could have its games streamed on the Internet, I was taken with it," Stephen D. Keener, the president of Little League Baseball, tells The Times.

Youth Sports Live is not alone in the field. The Times reports Ted Sullivan, a former minor league baseball player and founder of Fungo Media, sells an iPhone app developed for kids' sports called GameChanger.

It's a virtual scorecard for any baseball or softball game -- beaming constantly updated scores to the company's website or a Smartphone. For about $10 per season, according to The Times, GameChanger also sends pitch-by-pitch updates.

Keener tells The Times this is totally cool. "Either I'll call my wife six times for updates, or I have a device that the league is using so I can log on and see what the score is," he adds. "What's the difference?"

Calling his wife six times?

Some child psychologists think that's a bit much. And that's the problem, they tell The Times. Webcams and phone apps might keep the stands a little quieter, but such high-tech gizmos perpetuate basic problem: Some parents are waaay too obsessive about their kids' sports.

The kids are psychologically damaged in the process.

At the very least, overly intense parents take the fun out of what is supposed to be a game. The Times, citing statistics from the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University, reports 70 percent of kids drop out of sports by age 13.

Part of the reason, according to the paper, is that parents have sucked all the joy out playing. Webcams at ball fields, some fear, only make things worse.

"It's definitely over the top," Frank Smoll, a professor of psychology at the University of Washington and co-director of the Youth Enrichment in Sports program, tells The Times. "It heightens the potential for kids to feel pressured.

"And when the fun disappears, so do they."

Related: One Parent's Busy Day: Undergo Brain Surgery, Coach Little League