“It’s just my kid’s (insert sport) team”
The phrase above is one we are hearing a lot more these days, especially as kids play multiple sports at the same time and experience time conflicts. As kids are forced to choose where to direct their time and energy when sport schedules collide, some parents justify the decision of one sport over another by minimizing the value of one of the sports. When a parent justifies one sport over another by saying “It’s just rec soccer,” the message being sent to the kids and coaches who devote time and energy to that soccer team is that the experience is hardly worthwhile, and not something to take seriously with respect to scheduling, commitment, or effort.
Because nearly every youth sport is offered year-round these days, it is not uncommon to find yourself in situations where sport schedules conflict. Obviously families can’t be at two different sport fields at the same time, leaving decisions to be made. But even before making those decisions, perhaps a few important comments should be made:
- Coaches expect your commitment. Volunteer youth sport coaches expect that when you sign your child up for a sport, that he or she will be at almost all of the practices and games. If you cannot commit to that kind of expectation, you might want to look at other activities for your child that come with more modest expectations. If your child fails to attend practices and games, it leaves the coach in a spot having to decide how much playing time to give your child when he or she hasn’t been at practices.
- Kids on the team expect you will be there. Kids on the team expect that there will always be enough kids for a good practice or to compete in a game. Sadly, practices are hard to do when only a few kids show up, and games are cancelled when teams do not have the minimum number of kids needed to play. Can you imagine what kids feel when they are told they won’t have a game today because enough kids didn’t commit to attending the game?
- There are very real consequences when parents don’t communicate about schedules. Youth team sports need the team to be at practices and games in order to learn skills, bond as a team and increase team chemistry, and play against opponents in real games. None of these things can happen when parents minimize their child’s participation on the team, and/or simply take for granted the importance of ongoing communication with the coach.
- You create extra work for volunteers. Adults coaching in youth sports are largely volunteers, and they already have a ton on their plates with the normal expectations of the job. When coaches have to spend additional time simply trying to track down kids to attend practices and games, it is a very inefficient use of their time and steals form the fun of coaching kids and helping their learn a sport.
- Saying “it’s just…” leaves a poor impression of the experience coaches work hard to provide kids. No, it’s not “just” your kid’s sport team!! That experience that you just minimized could be one of the most fun, enriching, educational, physically-healthy thing he or she does in their entire life! Youth sports teach life skills, promote healthy living, and provide for great social interactions — as well as memories for a lifetime!!
Being a part of a youth sports team comes with commitment and responsibility, and is not something to attend only when there is nothing else going on that day. When parents devalue the sport experience, they not only deprive their child from enjoying an amazing life experience, they negatively impact the entire team when their child only participates part-time.
Final thoughts
Youth sports are not something to casually experience, but instead require a family commitment so that an optimal experience can be enjoyed by everyone. If you can only make part of the required practices and games, you might want to look at other options until a time later when your schedules relaxes. Just think, how would you feel if your child attended all practices, only to be sat on the bench behind another kid who only comes to half the practices? These kinds of situations make it incredibly tough for coaches, and put your child in a tough spot when other kids see that he or she may be receiving special treatment.
drstankovich.com
