A high school athletic administrator said he once did the math on how much assistant football coaches at a public school were paid and was so startled by the amount that he ran the numbers again and again.

Taking in practices, games, taping ankles, helping line the field, giving players rides home, etc., the grand sum was said to have come to less than minimum wage for the season.

Clearly not enough to take a blindside punch from some overheated parent.

Yet that is what we're told was waiting for a Castle High assistant after a game last weekend when he was allegedly struck by a parent of one of his players.

The parent, who was said to be upset over playing time, is reported under arrest and the school said it is investigating the incident. If the allegations prove true, you hope the stiffest possible punishment is meted out as a deterrent to those who might have similar thoughts rumbling around in their skulls.

Thankfully, with 33,000 high school students competing in athletics in the state, according to the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association, the instances of such behavior have been rare.

More common, we're told, and still disturbing are the incidents of confrontations and verbal abuse that coaches now must contend with. The story goes that a coach of a prominent private school stopped riding back to campus with the team because he was told disgruntled parents might be waiting. The Advertiser's Wes Nakama reports a number of coaches acknowledge receiving abusive and crank calls from family members of players. Then, there is the rising tide of abuse and violence directed at the officials who work high school and youth league games.

All of which paint a disturbing picture of how far afield from sportsmanship some of those who follow or take part in sports can wander. How much the pursuit of hoped-for glory, a college scholarship or living vicariously through others has taken some people.

Beyond the violence, the fear should be that those who are in coaching or would go into it will now think twice about donating their time. That too many will throw up their hands and say the sacrifices aren't worth it. For what they are paid — $1,594 per season for a non-Department of Education employee to $1,913 for DOE staff — varsity football assistant positions almost amount to heartfelt volunteer work as it is.

Those who go into it have to love the sport and find satisfaction in working with kids to shoulder the demands on the job. Taking abuse and punches shouldn't be made part of the job.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.