Parents and Their Children's Sports

By Gail Troussoff Marks

Silver Stars Gymnastics

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Parents and Their Children's Sports

Parents should support their children no matter how good or bad they are in a sport. This gives the child confidence and lets them know that they have at least one fan. Parents should go to their childrens sporting events whenever possible and show interest in the sport in which their child participates.
There are many benefits of sports for kids fun, exercise, friends, commitment, and accomplishments. These benefits make it worthwhile to deal with the more difficult issues, such as working with the coaches, handling injuries, managing everyones schedule, and finding the appropriate level of involvement from both child and parent.
A potentially difficult situation is balancing your role as an advocate for your child while giving the coach the opportunity to coach. A coach should act as a role model, but is not the parent. Coaches are important figures in a childs life and though a parent may not always agree with a coachs decision or action, treating the coach with respect and finding a non-confrontational way to discuss issues works best for all concerned. Let the coach do their job, and do your job as a parent by cheering your child on and being mindful as to how it is affecting your child.
Children feel pressure from their coaches, their teammates, and themselves, so added pressure from their parents can add even more stress to their stressed existence. Having fun should be part of the sport at least part of the time.
Especially in a young child, trying to decipher an injury may take careful observation. An emotional parental response makes it even more difficult for the child and the other adults to deal with the injury. A parents intuition and controlled reaction can lessen the trauma and help ascertain the best response.Modeling control for your child helps them calm down and feel more secure.
It is important for kids to follow through and stick with a sport for the timeframe of the commitment a session of classes or a season. If your child is having difficulty, try to isolate the issue and deal with that.
Make opportunities for your child to participate in sports, support their endeavors, applaud from the sidelines, and give your child responsibility for their participation. As a responsible parent, stay aware of the environment while giving the coaches a chance to do their job and let your child reap the benefits of sports.