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I don't agree that parents should not show up at games. My feeling is if parents cheer in an encouraging manner for everyone on the team (not just their own child) that it makes for an enjoyable, supportive environment. When parents only cheer for their kid and/or make negative comments toward either team or officials it sends a terrible message to the youth. I also agree this country needs more kids getting into unorganized (i.e. pick-up) games for them to truly enjoy a sport, otherwise they learn too early that sports can be more of a business than a recreation. This is based on coaching youth sports for about 15 years.
Another point he brings up that I am a firm believer in is parents need to get involved in aspects of their children's life other than sports. Who their friends are, what they're doing in school and how they are doing in non-sport activities (music, dance, etc) are just as (if not more) important than watching Billy's baseball game.
In a nutshell, it is because our young adults are not growing up/older gracefully.The youth sports obsessed culture is just so bizarre.
I will also add that money has become a big part of youth sports as well and con tributes to a lOT of the issues. When i was a child, we played sandlot in hopes of one day becoming a professional athlete. Now, kids specialize and play on travel teams while adults train, organize events, build facilities, etc. all to take advantage of the parents who believe their child will make it to a high level if they pay a bunch of money. With money on the line, parents turn sports into a chore for the child because they set demanding expectations. Kids cant just have fun anymore.
I will also add that money has become a big part of youth sports as well and con tributes to a lOT of the issues. When i was a child, we played sandlot in hopes of one day becoming a professional athlete. Now, kids specialize and play on travel teams while adults train, organize events, build facilities, etc. all to take advantage of the parents who believe their child will make it to a high level if they pay a bunch of money. With money on the line, parents turn sports into a chore for the child because they set demanding expectations. Kids cant just have fun anymore.
I will also add that money has become a big part of youth sports as well and con tributes to a lOT of the issues. When i was a child, we played sandlot in hopes of one day becoming a professional athlete. Now, kids specialize and play on travel teams while adults train, organize events, build facilities, etc. all to take advantage of the parents who believe their child will make it to a high level if they pay a bunch of money. With money on the line, parents turn sports into a chore for the child because they set demanding expectations. Kids cant just have fun anymore.
I don't know that I agree with the skip the game concept that the author is forwarding. I think today more parents set up shop at practices as well and that is more of the issue. When I was younger parents would drop off at the practice and go do something else. Now they set up their chairs right near the practice field and in a lot of cases treat it like a game. My dad was a coach for many years and commissioner of the Little League for 5 years as well while my brothers and I were that age. I learned a lot from him about dealing with Parents. I coached my son's team when he was in T Ball and had a really funny incident with a parent. His son was not one of the more athletic kids on the team and neither was the parent. I was working with the child on hitting and there were about 15 of the parents sitting behind the backstop. He was having a terrible time making contact because his hands were spread out on the handle of the bat and he was standing wrong. I corrected both things several times and the father starts yelling from behind the backstop to his son to change back what I just corrected. After two or three comments I called over one of my assistant coaches and said take the kids out to the outfield and have them catch fly balls. I then gathered all the parents together and we had a talk about what was acceptable and what was not. The father started in on me and I listened for a minute then made a simple statement to him and the other parents. I said if you think you know better than the coaches how to teach your child to play you are welcome to take him home with you right now but if he wants to play on this team you will let us do the coaching. I then looked at all of them and said my job is to coach, the kids play and your only job is to cheer and clap when they do something good. Other than that let them have fun and learn. I didn't have a single problem after that with any of the parents.
I don't know that I agree with the skip the game concept that the author is forwarding. I think today more parents set up shop at practices as well and that is more of the issue. When I was younger parents would drop off at the practice and go do something else. Now they set up their chairs right near the practice field and in a lot of cases treat it like a game. My dad was a coach for many years and commissioner of the Little League for 5 years as well while my brothers and I were that age. I learned a lot from him about dealing with Parents. I coached my son's team when he was in T Ball and had a really funny incident with a parent. His son was not one of the more athletic kids on the team and neither was the parent. I was working with the child on hitting and there were about 15 of the parents sitting behind the backstop. He was having a terrible time making contact because his hands were spread out on the handle of the bat and he was standing wrong. I corrected both things several times and the father starts yelling from behind the backstop to his son to change back what I just corrected. After two or three comments I called over one of my assistant coaches and said take the kids out to the outfield and have them catch fly balls. I then gathered all the parents together and we had a talk about what was acceptable and what was not. The father started in on me and I listened for a minute then made a simple statement to him and the other parents. I said if you think you know better than the coaches how to teach your child to play you are welcome to take him home with you right now but if he wants to play on this team you will let us do the coaching. I then looked at all of them and said my job is to coach, the kids play and your only job is to cheer and clap when they do something good. Other than that let them have fun and learn. I didn't have a single problem after that with any of the parents.