Tips To Help Parents Understand Their Role In A Child’s Sporting Experience
While there are a lot of great parents out there who fully understand the role they have to play in their child’s life from a sporting standpoint, there are many parents who overstep their boundaries and embarrassing their offspring in the process. The same goes for parents who decide to coach their children’s teams, as well. Let’s take a closer look at some helpful tips that will allow parents and coaches to fall into the right roles.
Maximize Your Child’s Enjoyment
If your child is playing a sport, then the experience should be as fun as possible. There is no reason for added stress or anxiety and you should be able to spend time with your child talking about what they are experiencing. By the same token, it is also in your best interests to pass your child along to a coach once their needs have surpassed your level of tutelage. Even certain coaches may experience this feeling once their players have reached a level of development that is beyond their realm of expertise.
Be Interested (But Not Too Interested)
Your child will always want you to remain interested in their sporting activities and be an active presence at their games, but that does not mean that you should be overprotective or excessive about the matter. There is no reason to overload them with information or confuse them. Your role is to be their biggest cheerleader and to always remain supportive, not bog them down with statistics or pointers that do not aid in their development.
Appreciate Their Newfound Confidence
When we first begin to play sports on a competitive level, there is a certain growth period that takes place. Some children love the sport they play, but are not 100 percent confident in their abilities during the early stages. In most instances, your role is simply to sit back and appreciate what sports participation does for your child’s level of confidence, without trying to put your own imprint on the situation.
Don’t Worry About Costs
Don’t allow your child to hear you complaining about the costs associated with their training and equipment. While the experience might be a little more expensive than a parent anticipates, the return on this investment is incalculable. Consider it an investment into their overall state of being and the adult they will become, as opposed to a drain on your current level of finances.
Allow Them To Have Outside Role Models
Some parents fall into the trap of becoming jealous when they see their children idolizing star athletes or developing a close relationship with their coach, but these outside role models are hugely important to their overall development. Even if your child has a favorite sporting icon, your continued encouragement still remains crucial.
Parents need to be parents. It’s that simple. Allowing the coach space to coach is critical in the developmetal process of a child. Here at Play Better we are activley rewarding parents for well,…being good parents! And guess what the parents love it.
Coaches if you see parents doing a great job on the sideline and cheering for the right things then I suggest you reward them too! Give it a go I dare ya 🙂
You can join the Play Better team today ! See this link for more information.
Better People. Better Players.
