Another sports season has started. That means parents are running around, trying to figure out how they will manage to get their kids to practices and games. They should also be figuring out how to be a better sports parent.
I’m taking a sabbatical from coaching this season after eight years as a soccer coach and three as a baseball coach. I know the frustrations coaches and parents can have during a sports season, but I want to cover what a coach needs from parents.
Coaches and parents have a partnership. They both have the players’ best interests at heart. But the coach also has the team’s best interest at heart. Your player has been absorbed into a team and is no longer an individual.
My easiest players to work with over the years are the ones with parents who gave me the freedom to place their child wherever I wanted despite their wishes to have the kid in the highest profile positions. One of my favorite types of “better sports parent” is the one who cheers the whole team on. They know each player’s name, congratulate them when they do things right and encourage them through struggles. Be that parent and your child will be happier. So will the coach and the team.
Here are some other tips on how to be a better sports parent:
Be on time
If a coach says practice starts at 5 p.m. that doesn’t mean you’re dropping your player off at 5. That means the player is on the field next to the coach at 5. Getting out of the car at 5 is late. It is always better to arrive at practices early. When kids arrive at practice, they mess around or chat with their teammates. Once practice starts, that’s when they stretch and warm up. If they are walking across the field at 5, they missed stretching. Also, if one player is late, other players might believe they can be late. Lateness ruins a team’s dynamic.
A better sports parent leaves coaching to the coach
It is confusing for players when parents yell one thing while their coach yells another. Even if a parent knows more about the sport than the coach, they are taking credibility away from the coach while yelling instructions. The coach sees the field and knows the capabilities of every player. A parent knows their child. The coach has spent time with all the players. There may be a different plan than what the parents are seeing. Also, it does no good for a parent to yell during a game. Cheer, but other than that, keep the berating to yourself.
Stay away from team meetings
After a certain age, parents don’t have to listen in on the huddle. Once parents approach the huddle, the players start looking around at their parents and believe the game/practice is over. Just stay away until it breaks. While I’m giving last-minute advice or even coming down on a player for behaving in an unsportsmanlike way, I don’t need him looking around to see if his parent hears.
Coaches see the team, not just one player
I’ll use a baseball analogy. Let’s say I have one great pitcher and he is a good fielder. Let’s also say I’ve got a good pitcher, but a bunch of players with mediocre gloves. I will need to put that great pitcher in the field where a lot of balls are getting through and put the good pitcher on the mound. Sure, I’ll stick the great pitcher on the mound when I can, but most of the time he will play in areas where the biggest gaps are. A great player at a position might not get to play that position because they can help the team in another area. So you might think your kid is the best player on the team and wonder why they are stuck in an unglamorous position. There’s a reason and it is a team-first reason.
Don’t talk bad about the coach at home
When you speak ill words about the coach at home, it starts an infestation. First, it affects your player. They don’t want to listen to the coach and believe there are better ways. That spreads to other players and soon the coach has lost the team. The coach will find out what you are saying and that is not a fun conversation to have.
This is not your glory moment, it is your kids
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come off the field and heard a parent say: “When I was playing …” I don’t care how good of a player you were. Playing and coaching/managing a team of kids is different. A better sports parent lets his or her children develop their own memory.
Don’t overestimate your child’s skill
I understand you’ve been playing in the park or the backyard with your kid for years and watching games with them. But you haven’t spent time on the field with them during a practice. The kid you tossed a ball back and forth with or kicked a ball into a goal with differs from the one running with teammates. You need to accept that maybe, in a team setting, your player’s team skills need work.
Don’t feed your child junk food on game day
I can’t tell you how many times kids have told me they stopped at McDonald’s on the way to a game. After about 30 minutes of running in the hot sun, those fries and burgers bubble their way up. The same goes for soda. Don’t give soda to a player before a game. Sure, they might think they have a sugar rush, but once that sugar burns off, they are tired and crashing. Plain old water works just fine.
Tell your players to help clean the field
Helping a coach pick up cones and garbage goes a long way. I feel a great sense of pride when I see my players clearing a field after play. When coaches see this behavior, it makes them believe the player is not just a part of the team for themselves but has bought into the “we” attitude. It also helps them decide who the leaders are.
Parents, please have fun
I see your faces after the game. They should look happy. Win or lose, your children were doing something they love to do. You took the time in your day to make sure they got there. It was a beautiful moment regardless of the outcome. Smile at your player when they come off the field, and give him or her a hug and an encouraging word. Don’t bring up the bad plays. The same goes for the coach. Give the coach a handshake and say, “Thank you.”
A version of this first appeared on One Good Dad. Photo: © soupstock/ Adobe Stock.
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