If you’ve ever coached youth sports, you’ve likely heard
some form of the saying, “The kids are great.
It’s the parents that are the problem.”
It is no secret that parents of young athletes are known for
outbursts, unruly behavior, undermining the coach, creating a scene at a game
or practice, or some other form of conduct that makes those around them shake
their heads in disgust. These kinds of
parents suck the fun out of the game for the kids as much as a poor coach (more
on that topic later). They also tend to
create a negative stereotype for parents of young athletes in general, one of
them being “those crazy people.”
But what about those parents of young athletes who do not
act that way? What about those who are
supportive, encouraging, and help create a fun environment for the kids? I have to say that the past two years as a
youth football (8U) head coach, I’ve been blessed to experience these kinds of
folks. I also had a season as a baseball
assistant sandwiched between the two football seasons where I encountered great
folks as well.
The parents of our players have always been encouraging not
only to the players, but also to the coaches.
They cheer hard for our team, get very passionate when there is a big
game, and sometimes show frustration if a call doesn’t go our way. That only tells me that they care and are
having fun themselves.
Last year, we struggled early in the season and I honestly
wondered at which point I was going to start hearing grumbling and
criticism. We had a team of mostly 7
year-olds and of the four 8 year-olds that we had, only two had ever played
tackle football before. It was also my
first season as a head coach. LOTS of
inexperience on that team. However, as
the season progressed, you could tell the kids were getting fundamentally
better. Never once was I aware of any
criticism or grumbling. I received a lot
of encouragement from parents and grandparents.
We eventually put it together and won the league championship.
This season, we had eight players returning from that team
and nine new players. I thought we
should be much improved from the previous year, but you never really know until
you play the games. We proceeded to win
ten games with only two losses – the second loss being in our league Super Bowl
game. Throughout the season, our parents
supported us more than I could have ever asked them to. They stepped up to work concessions when it was
our team’s turn, helped us carry in our equipment and water coolers for the
players, helped clean up the sideline after games, and never failed to cheer us
on. Not only that, but many of them
became good friends with each other, often doing things together or for each
other away from football-related events.
One of the parents loaned their trailer so we could participate in our
local Christmas parade, while other parents made signs and banners to decorate
it.
My experience with parents of young athletes has been
extremely positive and encouraging.
Perhaps I am in the minority on this, but I don’t think so. I believe parents of young athletes are
unfairly stereotyped much like coaches of young athletes are. The general public seems to have this image
in its mind of a youth coach who is only there to coach his son and give him an
unfair advantage, meanwhile the image of the parents is one of sour faces,
criticism, and fighting with each other and the coach over their kids’ playing
time and positions. I believe the
reality is that the far majority of the parents of youth athletes are supportive
and encouraging – not only to the kids, but to the coaches. Sure, there are knuckleheads out there, but I
think they are fewer than it may seem.
They just get the attention and the news coverage when they show their
stuff.
So, this is a shout out to all those parents of youth
athletes who are supportive and encouraging.
THANK YOU for your support, for your effort, for the example you set for
our youth, and for all the help you give to your coaches throughout the
season. You are truly a blessing to the
youth and programs of your communities.
And especially thank you to our very own Bronco Nation for all your support the
past two seasons. You folks make it fun
to coach your kids.
No comments:
Post a Comment