The lives of a family involved in sports are undeniably different than those who don’t. Tight schedules, competitiveness, and frequent road trips create an interesting family dynamic. Perhaps the only thing more interesting than the child athlete themselves is the parents. Parents crowding the sidelines and yelling as their children chase and try to kick a ball through a square. In my experience I have noticed these parents can be divided pretty easily into three categories. The first main category of soccer parent is the over bearing ever present parent, followed by ever present cheerleading parents and finally the never present parents. Arriving in a fully stocked minivan an hour before the game this soccer parent unloads and before their …show more content…
As the kid runs off to join their teammates a call of “GOOD LUCK! HAVE FUN!” can be heard. The ever present cheerleading parent is ready for game time. A pack of chips and a case of Capri sun sit next to the lawn chair, ready to be distributed to the kids once the game is over. Similar to their over bearing counterparts the cheerleading parent has one main weapon. The vocal cords. However, their use of this weapon in entirely different. As these children struggle for possession the soothing yells of “let’s go!” “Good job!” and “keep playing!” come from the stands. Fifteen minutes into the game and the game continues at an exciting zero-zero tie. When a kids falls all hell breaks loose in the stands but a call of “are you ok!” can be heard but when kid gets up and a sigh of relief and laughter follows. As the first half continues and the action of the field is mediocre at best. This is perfectly understandable, eight-year-old kids still don’t have full control of their body. Being understanding and compassionate the cheerleading parents see the falls and whiffs at the ball with humor. “Hahaha oh It’s ok! Keep playing! Get up honey!” The child hears this looks at the stands and smiles before getting up and going back to chasing a ball. While this happens another kid is just now arriving to the
In a growing trend that reaches to all corners of the athletic world, coaches are being forced to cope with the added stress of disgruntled parents. More and more they are required to defend personal coaching styles and philosophies, uphold team decisions and go head to head with angry, and sometimes violent parents. The pressure has gotten to the point where coaches all over the country are quitting or being forced out of their jobs by groups of parents. High school athletics should be about learning and having fun, and when parents cross the line between cheerleader and ringleader everyone suffers.
with coaches for factors as small as the amount of ice time their child receives during a
...e their life as well as the children. The children receive a ton of pressure from their families to perform at a high level so they will feel satisfied as parents that their football player performed well. Thus the families’ obsession of high school football in particular the parents’ obsession proves to be a continuous and damaging cycle for the high school football players.
The amount of unnecessary behavior by parents at youth sporting events is increasing rapidly and is ruining the kid's experiences and their passion for the sports. Parents in the United States are becoming more involved in their children's sports than the kids themselves. The reason that so many young American athletes are quitting at such an early age is because their parents are making the sports a joyless experience and are placing too much pressure on the kids to win and to be the best. Parents have become out of control at youth sports and it seems that the kids are showing more civility than the parents these days. Parents need to get back to teaching their kids that sports should be played for fun and not just for showing who's the best.
Kids just want to have fun. In a bygone era, parents wanted kids to play sports for fun and camaraderie. However, a new attitude is developing among coaches and parents, which is mopping-up fun from youth sports. Now it's all about the team and the game. The team must win the game at any cost.
Last year, during one of my high school’s football games, a couple of students approached my friend and I. “Why do we need cheerleaders?”, “Don’t you think you guys are sort of distracting the football players?”, were the questions directed towards us. Because of my timid freshman self, I was unable to answer their question at the time. Why exactly did Cheerleaders matter? As the year went on, I couldn’t help but notice the drastic effects the
A study has found and proven that as a result of the amount of contact activity involved with cheerleading, “two thirds of very serious sports injuries suffered by girls in the United States” (Global Issues in Context). This inevitably highlights the rigors and risks cheerleaders endure as a result of their participation. In effect of cheerleading not being recognized as a sport and cheerleaders not being recognized as athletes, there is little awareness and support for the injuries cheerleaders encounter. Furthermore, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, “cheerleading is also among the top 20 sports with highest rate of head injuries” (Huffington Post). These head injuries include but are not limited to skull fractures, cervical spine injuries, brain injury, concussions, paralysis, and in severe cases, death. Nonetheless, as a result of cheerleading lacking recognition, injuries are typically underestimated despite their severity. It is important to consider the exertion a cheerleader must put in when completing a stunt. Being tossed or held in the air is the flyer who is then supported by two bases and a back spot. Despite being held up by a minimum of four people, one wrong move can result in the stunt collapsing, which can sometimes result in injury to both the
pp. 58-59. Kidman, Lynn, McKenzie, Alex, and Brigid. The nature of target parents' comments during youth sport competitions. Journal of Sport Behavior 98:1 (March 1999): 54-68.
Recently I went to a youth football game and was watching a group of 10 year olds play. After the game, I seen a boy that was on the losing team that was very upset over the loss. All of the other players on the teams lined up, giving each other high fives, and telling each other good game as an effort to show good sportsmanship. This boy, however, walked away from the group, took off his football helmet and threw it, began screaming, and was crying so hard he couldn’t catch his breath. The boy’s mother and coach walked over to him, trying to console the distraught child. Unfortunately, the positive words spoken by the coach only seemed to upset the boy further. The mother, looking completely mortified by her son’s behavior, took the boy by his arm and escorted him to the parking lot. He was having a complete meltdown, much like the two-year-old at the grocery
Remember the days where the kids used to holler and run in the park, and swing in playgrounds on nice summer afternoons while the parents sat on benches. Maybe they had a soccer lesson after and played a basketball match with friends at YMCA. But today, kids run with sports gear to tournaments conducted by "elite" Little Leagues, while the parents who drove all over town to find the stadium settle down into the bleachers ready to observe every move their kid makes in the game. And of course, they share their complaints to other fellow parents about the coach, who is getting paid half of their paycheck. After a gruesome match on a field that is way too big for the kids, the parents provide some Greek Yogurt and ample of suggestions on how to
A parent’s parenting styles are as diverse as the world we live in today. Nowadays, parents only want what is best for their children and their parenting styles plays a crucial role in the development of children which will in the long run, not only effect the child’s childhood years, but later prolong into their adult life as well.
The kids gain trust of their team and sometimes that all in needing to motivate a kid to excel in everything. It would also teach the benefit of a good competition and the value of teamwork. The fans on the sidelines are one of the most important parts of the game. The constant support of your parents helps you to feel good about yourself and strengthens your connection to them.
These days, there is too much pressure on children who participate in organized sports because of the unnecessary parental involvement they experience. A growing concern amongst those involved in youth sports is that certain aspects of parental involvement become detrimental to the development and experiences of young athletes. Early emphasis on winning, making money, and the disruption of education can exceedingly affect ones desire to further participate in a sport later on in his/her life.
Every parent that has children playing a sport has some involvement; the degree of involvement is different for each parent and children. This involvement is how much the parent spend time with their kids this includes time spend at practice and games and driving them to practices and games as well as home much time is talked about the sport. The biggest factor when it comes to parent involvement is how much money is spent on the children. If a parent buys their child the most expensive gear needed for the sport. The parent will most likely want the kids to be successful. These factors will put extra pressure on the child to be good at the sport and if he feels like he is not as good he will not want to let the parent be let down and their stress level will increase. Also if they children do not get any support from their parents they will also not like playing sports. Having too much involvement puts a lot of...
Heffernan, Lisa. "Why Parents Should Push Their Kids to Play Team Sports." Empty Nest Parenting: Grown and Flown. N.p., 20 Nov. 2013. Google. 18 Mar. 2014.