Are Parents Crossing The Line?

From John Thomas, assistant Technical Director of US Youth Soccer -

Lajoyce, whose motto is, "Second place is the first loser," yells at her 10-year-old daughter Bianca from the sideline of her soccer game and argues with the coaches because she feels it helps. She has also explained to her child what her career goals are without asking for Bianca's input. Lajoyce is hoping that she is helping Bianca to move forward towards being successful. The question is, is Lajoyce really helping?

When parents become more of the authority at a soccer game.

This can become a major problem for the coach. Parents truly need to know and understand that coaches are in their positions for a reason. If parents constantly feel the need to take control away from the coaches at your child's game, it doesn't matter who the authority figure is, they are crossing the line. Parents need to control their behavior or should be asked to be a positive role model for their child and team. Perhaps they should be asked to support the team from afar.

Sometimes the game becomes more important than the experience.

Whether it's a regular season game, tournament, state playoff game, the focus should be on your child having the ability to learn, build self-esteem and have fun. If winning is more important than your child receiving those benefits from playing the game of soccer, perhaps parents should reevaluate their motivation of why they want their child to play the beautiful game..

Coaches, ask parents if the pros outweigh the cons of their child playing.

Aside from embarrassment and humiliation, examples of negative consequences could include: pushing a child beyond his/her physical limits, causing injury; forcing a child into an activity he/she is uncomfortable with or unsuited for — which takes him/her away from necessary studies or other activities which could

Advice from a Champion Mom
Linda Armstrong Kelly, the mother of five-time Tour de France champion, Lance Armstrong, knows a thing or two about helping a child set goals and succeed. She says the best thing a mom can do to help her child is simply give support. Build self-esteem. If parents are yelling at their child at his/her game, getting into confrontations with coaches/other parents, or engaging in any other behavior that would cause a child embarrassment or humiliation, you need to try and get the parent to control their behavior or ask them to remove themselves from the game. The parent's behavior may spread to other parents if left unchecked.