Sports Parents
So, sports parents. They chauffer their kids around, they buy them the gear, they find the leagues and the clubs. It fills up their lives. Then they sit at the games to cheer on their kids and their kid’s teams. They sit amongst parents from both teams. They are there where both their players and opposing players can hear them.
It’s a great atmosphere. It really is. Until THAT parent shows up. THAT parent takes away from the other parents, takes away from the game and, most importantly, takes away from the kids. The kids are there working, learning, playing, competing and trying so hard just to please their coach and their teammates and, most of all, their parents. Don’t be THAT parent.
It is not necessary to try to distract an opposing player. It is not necessary to distract your own child. It is not necessary to go at it with another parent. Parents are there to cheer their children on and cheer their team on. That is all. Period. Do not go beyond that. The coach will handle anything that needs to be said to a player or a ref or ump or any other official of the game. The parents should trust the coach to do things how they need to be done. The parents should trust that their children would rather play fair than have them distracting an opposing player.
It is NOT good sportsmanship, and as a coach, I personally, do everything I can to teach these kids sportsmanship. A lot of my players will call a foot fault on themselves if they notice, they will call themselves in the net. They have learned to always try to do the right thing. They don’t want their parents being those parents. They want to win and they want to win because they were the better team, not because their parents distracted the other team.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to both the coach AND the kids for parents to NOT be THOSE parents. A coach should NOT have to take time out of a game to go tell the parents they need to be more respectful. EVER.
It is a frustrating thing. I had to be that coach for the first time, to tell my parents they were being disrespectful. My players have complained about disrespectful parents before. Quite a few times in the time I’ve been coaching, actually. I don’t notice it. I apparently am able to 100% focus on what is going on where we are playing and get rid of all the surroundings. I tell my players to do the same every time they say something about it. It’s a part of life and I want them to learn to play through adversity. I don’t think they should have to deal with those parents, but I know, as a team, we can rise above all of that. I won’t accept my parents being those parents though and I know my players would hate it if they found out it was their parents causing issues. I know just about ALL players would be embarrassed if they knew their parents were causing issues in the stands. I know I was embarrassed to have to talk to my parents about that at all and try not to let my kids know that their parents were causing issues.
Any sports parents out there – please, don’t be THAT parent. Help the coach out. Teach your kids sportsmanship by modeling sportsmanship in the stands. Be respectful to ALL the players, ALL the teams, ALL the parents. It is a much more enjoyable experience for EVERYONE that way.
So, sports parents. They chauffer their kids around, they buy them the gear, they find the leagues and the clubs. It fills up their lives. Then they sit at the games to cheer on their kids and their kid’s teams. They sit amongst parents from both teams. They are there where both their players and opposing players can hear them.
It’s a great atmosphere. It really is. Until THAT parent shows up. THAT parent takes away from the other parents, takes away from the game and, most importantly, takes away from the kids. The kids are there working, learning, playing, competing and trying so hard just to please their coach and their teammates and, most of all, their parents. Don’t be THAT parent.
It is not necessary to try to distract an opposing player. It is not necessary to distract your own child. It is not necessary to go at it with another parent. Parents are there to cheer their children on and cheer their team on. That is all. Period. Do not go beyond that. The coach will handle anything that needs to be said to a player or a ref or ump or any other official of the game. The parents should trust the coach to do things how they need to be done. The parents should trust that their children would rather play fair than have them distracting an opposing player.
It is NOT good sportsmanship, and as a coach, I personally, do everything I can to teach these kids sportsmanship. A lot of my players will call a foot fault on themselves if they notice, they will call themselves in the net. They have learned to always try to do the right thing. They don’t want their parents being those parents. They want to win and they want to win because they were the better team, not because their parents distracted the other team.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to both the coach AND the kids for parents to NOT be THOSE parents. A coach should NOT have to take time out of a game to go tell the parents they need to be more respectful. EVER.
It is a frustrating thing. I had to be that coach for the first time, to tell my parents they were being disrespectful. My players have complained about disrespectful parents before. Quite a few times in the time I’ve been coaching, actually. I don’t notice it. I apparently am able to 100% focus on what is going on where we are playing and get rid of all the surroundings. I tell my players to do the same every time they say something about it. It’s a part of life and I want them to learn to play through adversity. I don’t think they should have to deal with those parents, but I know, as a team, we can rise above all of that. I won’t accept my parents being those parents though and I know my players would hate it if they found out it was their parents causing issues. I know just about ALL players would be embarrassed if they knew their parents were causing issues in the stands. I know I was embarrassed to have to talk to my parents about that at all and try not to let my kids know that their parents were causing issues.
Any sports parents out there – please, don’t be THAT parent. Help the coach out. Teach your kids sportsmanship by modeling sportsmanship in the stands. Be respectful to ALL the players, ALL the teams, ALL the parents. It is a much more enjoyable experience for EVERYONE that way.