Sports Parents

I'm taking a break from talking children and finances because spring sports season is upon us.  At the first AYSO soccer meeting with the coach, I found myself thinking about what kind of parent I want to be.  I thought about the fact that most youth sports coaches are volunteers who give a lot of their time for our childrens' benefit. 

I also looked up some statistics.  Less than 200,000 youth out of a total of about 75 million will ever get a college scholarship for sports.  I think the ultimate reason our children are involved in sports is really to help them prepare for life. Youths'  values are greatly influenced by the values that are conveyed through their participation in sports.

There is a really good report called "Sports Done Right" published by the University of Maine.  When talking about the sports parent's job they stress that it is to "create and support an environment that will lead to positive experiences for their children."  There are 7 supporting ideas that I wish to summarize in my own words.

1.  Parents should give consistant support and encouragement no matter what degree of success the team achieves, what skill level their child is at or how much playing time their child gets.
2.  Parents need to teach and model respect for coaches, officials and opposing teams at all times.
3.  Parents should attend meetings with coaches to learn expectations for both the team members and themselves.
4.  Parents should always be positive role models and behave with dignity.
5.  Parents should agree to follow the school or sport's organization's guidelines.
6.  Parents need to help their children achieve balance between numerous sports and other activities remembering that academics should always come first.
And finally, number 7.  Parents must leave coaching to the coaches.  They should not criticize the coach or put undue pressure on the kids.

Sports are preparing our children to become leaders of tomorrow.  I'm going to leave you with one more statistic to consider.  Seventy-two percent of youth surveyed would rather play for a team with a losing record than to sit on the bench.  As parents we really need to keep in mind that sports are really supposed to be for our kids.