What Kind of Sports Dad are you?

[FinanceDude]

Always yelling at the coach and armchair quarterbacking, or just staying out of the way?

I have to admit it's hard to stay out of the way, but I have been able to. Being a coach is hard enough......

On my son's Little League team, the coach asked me to be 3rd base coach, and I had a blast...........

[yakers]

I coached younger son & local team thru 4 seasons of YMCA basketball. He was pretty good but broke his arm skateboarding and missed high school tryouts and didn't sustain the interest after that. Coaching the kids was great. The reason I did it is I wanted my son to have the experience I had at his age when I leaned about teams Vs individuals. I remember at his age when our team played another team where every player on their team was better than our at least on the playground, but through teamwork we just outplayed them, sort of an 'ah' moment. I saw that with the kids at the Y. My job was not to win or have them make the shot, it was two things 1) Defense (new concept for most of them) and the message was don't stop the other team, just make it hard and don't give away anything, make the other team earn everything and 2) on offence, take the right shot. It may be a fast break or working for a set up, but get a good shot. You are not going to win every game but you know if you played a good game.

[Nords]

Quote:

What Kind of Sports Dad are you?

The kind who lets his daughter head-kick him when she's getting ready for a tournament, and the following week the kind who teaches her what it feels like to be head-kicked when you forget to keep your guard up...

[FinallyRetired]

Coached my sons in soccer, coached daughter in baseball (never again), attended all my kids' games in basketball, soccer, swimming, track, gymnastics, etc. In other words, didn't have a life for 5 years or so but enjoyed the heck out of it. I got wrapped up in the games, but never inserted myself into them, unlike some parents... well, maybe once

[thefed]

i cant wait til my son is ready for sports. we are already practicing basketball, baseball, and some soccer...he's 2.5


i really enjoyed my little brother's (10 yrs younger than me, i practically raised him) wresting matches a few years back... i can only imagine how 'into it'' i'd be if it were my son!!!

i cant wait

[ExtinctBird]

I tried to be an assistant coach for my kids' sports teams. I helped in practices and was a base coach during games, etc. I tried not to give too many opinions, cause I knew that I did NOT have the patience to end up being a head coach for a large group of young kids (or their parents).

[kumquat]

When DD tried out for and made a competitive softball team, I took her to practice but tried to stay out of the way. Since it was several miles from home, I hung around rather than spend an hour or so going home & turning around to go get her. The coach saw me and told me if I was there, I was his assistant. I had played baseball, but not softball, thought I knew squat. Had a great time (except for a few parents) and in our 3rd year the kids got to western Canadian championships.

Try it, you'll like it.

[LOL!]

Warning: bragging below!

I have coached competitive youth basketball for several years. I never played team basketball growing up and took up the sport in my late 30s.

My daughter plays on the high school team and I am proud that I have coached many girls who on are the local high schools teams. Some of the boys I have coached are also on the high schools teams. I have earned a couple of "Coach of the Year" awards. At least in basketball, most (but not all) parents like me, the refs like me, the other coaches like me, most (but not all) the players like me. And more importantly, my kids like me and beg me to coach their teams because they have been on teams with other coaches (I cannot coach both kids at the same time).

As a coach and parent, I am a yeller. I do not sit quietly on the sidelines. But I am never yelling negative comments. It's always, "Great assist!", "Good pass!", "Awesome rebound", "You made that play happen". I get e-mails from parents thanking me for being so positive. I will take a kid out of the game to talk to them on the bench if I see something I don't like, but I will not yell at them while playing.

But if you are parent yelling negative things like, "C'mon, work harder" or "Block your man next time", then I am going to be talking to you. The kids are working hard. The kids are not slackers. It's hard work to get out and play.

My kids play soccer, baseball, and football as well. I do not coach those, but I usually work as a photographer and sometimes assist the coach. If you are yelling, "Don't strike out this time", then I am going to be talking to you. If you are the coach, then I am really going to be talking to you. Good yells, are "Great pass!" "Great cross!", "Nice assist!". If you are not yelling encouraging things, then why bother to go to the games? Don't be one of those lumpy parents on the sidelines.

I realize that children play sports for different reasons: to be with friends, to have fun, they are good at it, to try something out, or their parents make them play. I like to see teamwork and fun. If you are a ball hog, you will not get drafted to my team. My team won't have the top couple of players in the league, but we will have a bunch right after those kids. We always have the most assists of any team in our division.

I also like to see improvement in skills. I can make just about anybody a better basketball player if they come to practice. I realize that most kids will not practice at all on their own, so get your kids to practice early.

OK, that's what kind of sports dad I am.

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LOL! Warning: bragging below! I have coached competitive youth basketball for several years. I never played team basketball growing up and took up the sport in my late 30s. My daughter plays on the high school team and I am proud that I have coached many girls who on are the local high schools teams. Some of the boys I have coached are also on the high schools teams. I have earned a couple of "Coach of the Year" awards. At least in basketball, most (but not all) parents like me, the refs like me, the other coaches like me, most (but not all) the players like me. And more importantly, my kids like me and beg me to coach their teams because they have been on teams with other coaches (I cannot coach both kids at the same time). As a coach and parent, I am a yeller. I do not sit quietly on the sidelines. But I am never yelling negative comments. It's always, "Great assist!", "Good pass!", "Awesome rebound", "You made that play happen". I get e-mails from parents thanking me for being so positive. I will take a kid out of the game to talk to them on the bench if I see something I don't like, but I will not yell at them while playing. But if you are parent yelling negative things like, "C'mon, work harder" or "Block your man next time", then I am going to be talking to you. The kids are working hard. The kids are not slackers. It's hard work to get out and play. My kids play soccer, baseball, and football as well. I do not coach those, but I usually work as a photographer and sometimes assist the coach. If you are yelling, "Don't strike out this time", then I am going to be talking to you. If you are the coach, then I am really going to be talking to you. Good yells, are "Great pass!" "Great cross!", "Nice assist!". If you are not yelling encouraging things, then why bother to go to the games? Don't be one of those lumpy parents on the sidelines. I realize that children play sports for different reasons: to be with friends, to have fun, they are good at it, to try something out, or their parents make them play. I like to see teamwork and fun. If you are a ball hog, you will not get drafted to my team. My team won't have the top couple of players in the league, but we will have a bunch right after those kids. We always have the most assists of any team in our division. I also like to see improvement in skills. I can make just about anybody a better basketball player if they come to practice. I realize that most kids will not practice at all on their own, so get your kids to practice early. OK, that's what kind of sports dad I am.

Great post...........

[bright eyed]

I'm not a soccer mom, but a basketball mom. Just spent the whole weekend shuttling to games, food, more games, with two little ones in tow!

I like to yell, but only positive stuff - good job, nice pass etc. My daughters are now good yellers too...it's very cute of course.

My SO coached an AAU team for our son in middle school and that was a lot of fun for the whole family. We enjoyed being in charge of the team, getting to know all the kids and helping them all grow. SO was the bball coach, I was more the life coach (most of the kids came from underpr'd backgrounds and about half their parents would participate, the other half we'd pick up and communicate w/ the parents)...we talked about everything (girls, school, life goals) and it was nice. SO found a book called Positive Coaching to be very helpful - especially since he took over the team, after a stinky coach who just belittled the kids if they didn't perform. Good book for any coach or dad.

Now SO is more like jr's trainer, giving him workout schedules, extra training and exposure to other players. We've found the whole high school bball thing much less fun and too much politix...

but overall bball has been a good adventure for SO and his relationship with his son. they spend a ton more time than if it wasn't there, it's a great metaphor for life and it helps them work out other life and communication issues.