Youth Baseball Parent:
Parents and Sports
Coaching baseball will bring you up close to the youth baseball parent. Often parental involvement in youth sports works okay. Other times baseball parents can become quite a handful to deal with. The maniac parent can become an out of control tyrant taking youth baseball leagues quite overly serious. Youth sports and parents have become bigger and bigger through the last five or six decades. What once was kids getting together on the sandlot and having pick-up games has now evolved into a mini professional baseball league in some baseball parents’ minds. Increasingly, the youth sports experience has elevated parental involvement in youth sports and not always to the good.
Parents and Kids Sports
Many believe the little league parents have gotten out of control. It is common practice now to park their lawn chairs right next to the ball field for the entire baseball practice. As long as they do not distract their player during baseball drills this is okay. The intensity level with baseball parents while watching youth baseball leagues has really amped up. It is a shame that almost all the benefits of playing youth baseball are over shadowed by the negative actions of the adults. What once was supposed to be a relaxing enjoyable experience for parents and kids in sports has turned into a gut-wrenching, tormenting and often tearful event brought on by the little league parent syndrome. Dr. Donald Kamm, a sports psychiatrist and family therapist writes about the parents and sports by saying, “Whether the experience is enjoyable or anxiety filled is largely determined by a couple of factors-the quality of youth supervision and coaching, and the amount of pressure parents place on youth athletes to perform.”
Please read, ‘Playing Fair’, by Dr. Kamm.
Baseball Coach: Preventing Little League Parent Syndrome
Youth league coaches now have to head the little league parents or the travel baseball team parents off at the pass. Be ready for the amped up youth sports parents. Anticipate that there will be times to deal with parents’ sports. Be ready for them. And better yet, from little league coach, coaching middle school, and high school coaches, have a pre-season sports parent meeting to share your philosophy and communicate your goals.
Parents in Youth Sports
In our articles on baseball we have listed a few fundamental basics to share with your parents in a pre-season meeting. Make sure all the kids are represented by their little league parents. Here are some tips to help you survive and thrive with the youth baseball parents.• Be fair. If you treat all players as equals you will gain their respect. • Know your objectives and what is best for the team, not the parents. • Avoid the win-at-all-costs approach. Develop players first. Remember 75% of youth sports players will drop out of the game by the time they reach 13 or 14 years old. • Handle any confrontation one-on-one after the kids have gone. Not in a crowd situation. Waiting to the next day is better when cooler heads have slept on it. • Don’t be defensive. Don’t argue with parents. Listen to their views. Express appreciation for their interest and concerns. • Never discuss comparisons with the parents’ child in relation to other players’ abilities. Conversation is over if they want to talk about other players abilities. • Be consistent! If you change a team rule or philosophy during the season you better make sure the sports parents are informed as soon as possible. • Ask parents not to criticize their children during the ballgames or practice drills. Don’t let your players be humiliated, even by their own youth sports parents. • Explain that you as the youth league coach must be given complete control of the ball team when they are on your ‘turf’.• The majority of your parent sports conflicts are going to center around playing time or lack of playing time. As a youth sport parent it is embarrassing when their child is a bench warmer. Try to get every player in the games as much as possible. Remember to avoid the win-at-all-cost approach. • You set the tone. The team and parents are likely to mirror your behavior. Be aware of your role modeling and coaching character at all times. • Send a baseball letter to parents inviting them to the mandatory pre-season meet and greet. Tell a little about your self and your coaching staff. • Have a pre-season parent meeting.
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