- Soccer is a team sport.
- Our children made the team, not us.
- If you think your child is better than the other children on the team,
congratulations -- you probably fall into the majority of soccer parents. However, this is
largely irrelevant. (see #1 above)
- If you want your child to improve his/her skills and performance, then
leave it to the coaches. The parents' jobs are to: pay, drive and offer positive support.
- If you think you can offer good advice to one of the coaches, then see
the team manager and arrange to take the coaching certification exam. If you want to coach
from the touchlines without coming to team practices, team meetings, team camps, coaches
clinics, coaches meetings ....., keep the thought to yourself until you can watch soccer
on TV.
- Although coaching advice from parents is generally not appreciated,
communication is very important. If anything at all is bothering your child, let the coach
know as soon as possible so that he/she has an opportunity to adjust if possible to make
your child's experience more rewarding and enjoyable. If you really want to destroy a
team, tell everyone ... but the coach about your child's problem. Talk about it and
complain about it with the other parents all season and never let the one person who can
fix it know there is a concern.
- If you think you can offer good advice to a game official... see #5
above.
- A soccer match is not won or lost by any child (see #1 above).
- To play well during the season, our children must come together as a team
and support, communicate with and trust each other. The coaches and children will
accomplish this if we don't undermine their efforts. However, if you disagree with the
foregoing statements, undermining can be accomplished by using any of the following
tactics: criticizing the efforts of your child, telling your child he/she is the
most/least important and best/worst player on the team, telling your child that another
child on the team is lousy or has deficiencies, yelling negative comments during practices
or games, criticizing the decisions or strategies of the coaches, claiming that victory or
defeat was the responsibility of any child.
- Follow the rules and use good judgment and everyone will have a great
season.
Editor's Note: This letter appeared as an anonymous "letter to the
editor" in a youth hockey magazine. I have changed a few words here and there to make
it appropriate for soccer. |
