5 Ways You Might Be Embarrassing Your Child During Youth Sports
One of the biggest distractions to an athlete during a youth sports game has to be the observing parents — to be more specific, it’s often his or her own parents. Be warned: your child knows your voice in the crowd and he is very aware of your words or actions. Let’s put the shoe on the other foot for a minute and ask: What if your child came to work with you and spent the entire time commenting on your performance?
Not only would it distract you, but it could also be pretty embarrassing as well. Believe me, that’s how your child feels when you show up at his “job” and comment on everything that happens in the game. Here, specifically, are 5 ways that you could be embarrassing your child during youth sports:
- Yelling at an official’s calls when you really have no clue what happened and he is actually right. (Or maybe he’s not so right. Either way, it’s embarrassing for your child.)
- Loudly booing the official or opposing team members.
- Yelling at other sports parents who are very vocal.
- Yelling at the coach — who may or may not have tuned you out anyways — because you don’t like who he put in the game or the play she called.
- And the worst embarrassment of all? Being so obnoxious that the official finally kicks you out of the game.
I’ve seen this happen many times and always felt so bad for their child. How embarrassing is that? There’s no way to justify that behavior. Your motivation may be pure as you want to see your child do well, but these behaviors at youth sports events are actually sabotaging his performance. If you really want to help your child, you will keep your comments positive and blend in with the crowd.
The best contribution you can make on game day is to not distract her from doing her job.
