What Parents Should Say as Their Kids Perform

[Kevin Black]

What Parents Should Say as Their Kids Perform - Tim Elmore

http://growingleaders.com/blog/what-parents-should-say-as-their-kids-perform/

[Gutwrench]

[bkraus]

My son plays JV football, and although I don't witness the parent's being overbearing in terms of involvement with coaches, etc (for the most part), the biggest problem I see is a huge lack of sportsmanship from our parents.  I am not sure if it is like this with other schools/sports, but man I was completely embarrassed to be in the stands last week at our game.  Here's the story in a nutshell.  We were playing a team that was supposed to beat us by a big margin on paper.  We jumped out to a 14 point lead and held it for most of the game.  There was some borderline calls that could have been either way, but it is what it is and the calls were made.  We ended up blowing the lead and losing in overtime.  One parent in particular kept yelling derogatory things towards the officials almost every play.  Things like "How much are they paying you", "You Suck Ref", and calling out physical appearances, etc...  The PA Announcer re-read the WIAA sportsmanship announcement to which the guy yelled F That.  I wanted to jump in the guys face and yell at him to knock it off, but what would that have accomplished other than a potential altercation I didn't want to put my son through.  His family laughs and eggs him on too.  Unfortunately the AD instead of doing something, he went behind the end zone to get away from it in my opinion.  It is completely sad what some parents put their kids through at events that are supposed to enrich their high school experience, not define their lives.

[npope]

Yeah - thanks for sharing, Kevin.

[Ghetto]

I stopped coaching my sons baseball team because I thought I was killing his love for the game. I was picking his technique apart instead of just watching him have fun.

[Kjohnson]

When my kids won it was easier to look for things to correct. When they lost I looked for things that they did right. We kept our sense of humor, always. They may disagree with my post.
I always told them, "I was the one that created you, the wrestler' & my son would say, "And remember Frankenstein destroyed his creator"

[Ghetto]

That's funny. At least they've read or seen Frankenstein.

Being a coach, I am trying not to be "that dad", since I know how much it makes coaches nuts. I now get it at least.

So we are putting a batting cage in our basement. Over the top? 

[Kjohnson]

That's funny. At least they've read or seen Frankenstein.

Being a coach, I am trying not to be "that dad", since I know how much it makes coaches nuts. I now get it at least.

So we are putting a batting cage in our basement. Over the top?  

read? what is read?

You can always sell the batting cage when you're done with it and get about 50% of your money back. Good investment, at least you will know where they are.

[imnofish]

I quit coaching high school wrestling during my son's middle school years, because I realized it was a source of community pressure for him.  I was his youth and middle school coach; thus, his peers and many of their parents put incredible expectations upon him.  Every loss was magnified by social expectations, which caused him a great deal of stress.  Not having me as a coach relieved some of that stress and helped him more fully enjoy his high school experience.  It was great for our family, because I learned to just be a supportive parent in the stands, too.  Our kids' best interests need to take priority over our own, if they are to get the maximum benefit of their sports involvement.  That's not to say that nobody should coach their own kid, but coaching dads need to be aware that this situation can sometimes be problematic.