And there seems to be more rabid moms and dads out there than ever before. The adults are trying to live THEIR dreams through their kids. Is rabid the word I was looking for?
I'd probably say "aggressively ambitious" (for whose sake they're ambitious is often hard to tell). I've done a lot of coaching at the kid level, and I've seen the whole spectrum ...
On one end there are the protective parents, whose fears for their kid get in the way of their kids' progress. I've had a few of those. (Their kids tend to practice and play a lot better when the parents aren't there...)
On the other end are the parents who push their kids relentlessly, yell at and even coach them during the games, and abuse them when they make a mistake. I find that those sorts of folks often tend to go by the example of the coaches, who also yell at their teams. I will say that such programs can often put together some quite good teams; but nobody seems to enjoy themselves very much.
I have to say that I've been very lucky as far as my own sets of parents are concerned, however. Perhaps it's because I'm coaching for a program that is focused more on the kids playing well than on winning. I suppose it could be a matter of self-selection: the parents who don't like that style may take their kids to one of the more aggressive organizations in town. We've had some pretty good teams, though, and I know for a fact that the kids are having fun.