Parenting in Athletics
Parents are an integral part of student-athlete success. There's a pretty good chance that being a perfect parent is the toughest goal to achieve in life, so obviously mistakes will be made. Parents are a critical part of their child's support team and a discussion about how to support effectively may have a wonderful impact on an individual's or team's mental skills. It may also make the coach's and child's job easier.
Parents reminder: You're supposed to be biased. You're just not supposed to act biased.
Athlete's reminder: You're supposed to be scared. You're just not supposed to act scared.
The Parenting in Athletics program can be abbreviated to as little as 15 minutes. A full program is 90 minutes and includes a discussion of college recruiting from the athlete's, parent's, and college coach's perspective. This program can be an addendum to a Performance Seminar or Peak Performance Camp or part of a Partnership with Coach Traub. Topics for discussion include:
RESPONSIBILITIES DURING AND AFTER COMPETITION
RED FLAGS FOR OVER-INVOLVEMENT
IDEAS TO IMPRESS YOUR SPOUSE
STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING LIFE LESSONS THROUGH SPORTS
Example Red Flags
- You attempt to resolve your child’s problem with the coaches
- You continue to coach them when they know more about their sport than you do
- You talk or yell at an official
- You make excuses for failures
- Your kids avoid you after the game – physically or conversationally
Credit for this list goes to a great mental skills coach: Bruce Brown, who also reminds parents to be like Grandparents at games by causing your child to say, "I love it when they come to the game because they just love watching me play."
Parenting_in_Athletics_Flier_for_CFGAA.pdf