Playing from the Sidelines

By: James Dager


If you are like most adults, you want to make sure that your players and your children succeed in the games that they are playing. When they win, you see how much better they feel about themselves, and you can see the potential that you know they have really coming out. Even if your intentions are at their best when you are working with your child in a sport, you want to make sure that you know just how far to go.

Every child that is playing a sport will need the moral support from both parents and coaches. However, there is a thin line between offering the moral support and stepping over it to expecting the children and youth to do specific things. As soon as you, as a parent or coach, begin to expect things from the child and tell them that they need to do better or win the game, it causes the game to work in reverse. Instead of the child gaining the self-esteem and better image of themselves that they need to, they reverse and think worse of themselves.

If you want to make sure that you are not stepping over the thin line, you can keep a check list for how you are responding to the player or child. The first item to check is to see how involved you become in the games. You will first want to ask yourself how much time you are spending on the child's sport. You will also want to see how emotionally involved you become in the child's activities. This is especially important if you see yourself pushing your child to be better, become more committed or play more games.

If you are working on helping your child to develop a physical activity and to stay active in a sport, it is important to know what your role is. You will want to make sure to hold an attitude towards the game that is positive and helps your child to gain new abilities. By doing this, you will be helping them recognize that the sport is fun and simply is giving them physical and mental abilities. The number one rule for any coach or parent to remember is that it is just a game.


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