1. Would you consider
parents to be a big factor when you are choosing the players [who] will be
playing on your team?
Answer: I believe competitive balance between competing teams
is extremely important in youth sports especially in the ages you are
considering. Competitive balance usually suffers when coaches select
players - i.e. coaches generally want only the best players, and try to
circumvent the drafting rules to get the best players. Assignment of
players to teams should always be done in a manner that ensures an equal
distribution of the available talent. I don't think coaches should choose
players. Instead, the program/leagues officials should assign players to
teams based on ratings so that competitive balance is achieved. If teams
were formed in this manner, parents would not be a factor in the
assignment of players to a team.
2. Describe to me some of the different
types of parents that you have experienced over the years.
Answer: I have had experience with a wide variety of parents -
from extremely competitive to completely indifferent. Most parents fall in
the competitive category (i.e. they want their child to play on a winning
team and they want him or her to play a lot and be the star of the team).
They also want their child to play the skill positions. Many parents have
an over-inflated opinion of their child's abilities. Parents of this type
are helping to create many of the problems that we have in youth
sports today.
Children should be playing sports for fun, participation and development
of skills. Parents (and coaches) should not put pressure on children to
play and excel instead they be trying to see that each child has a
positive sports experience - and that doesn't necessarily mean winning. It
means trying to do your best at all times, working to improve and living
up to the rules of the sport and good sportsmanship.
3. Do you think that parents play a
role in the performance of a young athlete? Explain.
Answer: Parents can and should play a role in the performance
of their young athlete. They should encourage their son or daughter
to pay attention to the coach, to work hard and to practice the skills the
coach is trying to teach, to always try to do their best, to respect the
coach, the game officials, their opponents and the sport and to help them
take proper care of their bodies.
4. Have you ever had to take action on
an athlete because his parent(s) cause too many conflicts? For example,
cutting the player from the team.
Answer: I have never taken action against an athlete because of the
action/behavior of the parent(s) nor would I ever. A youth coach
must always deal with parents. The key is communication. It is imperative
that a youth coach hold a meeting with all parents prior to the start of
the season to discuss such matters as the coaches philosophy, expectations
the parents should have of the coach, expectations the coach has of the
parents, expectations the coach and the parents should have for the
players, playing time, the coach's approach to discipline, practice
schedules and what to do if a player cannot make practice, rules for
completing homework assignments prior to practice, maintaining scholastic
performance, etc, etc. This meeting will help to avoid or defuse future
difficulties.
5. Have you ever had to remove an
athlete from one of your teams, due to their school grades, based on what
his parents have told you?
Answer: I have never removed a child from a team because of poor
grades but I have had a few players who were not allowed to play by their
parents because of poor grades. I try to encourage players to do their
homework before coming to practice and to keep grades up so they don't
have that problem. Rather than denying the child's sports participation
for poor school work, I encourage parents to find an alternative
"punishment" because young kids can learn so much from
participating in the right kind of sports program.
6. Has a member of one of your teams
ever approached you to talk about issues involving his parents on the
topic of them affecting their sport interest? If possible, can you
please extrapolate?
Answer: I'm not sure I understand the question. I don't recall a
player ever talking to me about the influence of the parents on the
child's interest in sports. My experience is that parents talk to me about
their child's interest or lack of interest in sports. Kids seldom talk
about what their parents are doing to affect them in sports.
7. Do you feel that a parents behavior
affects their child's behavior on the ice?
Answer: Absolutely. Children are always aware of their parents
in the stands. Children want to do well and they want to please their
parents. They see how their parents act, they hear what they say - often
with detrimental effects. Many parents put too much pressure on
their children to perform well instead of watching, encouraging and
enjoying the game. Often parents distract players with too much advice and
instruction during games.
8. Overall, what are your personal
views on parental intervention, and the quality of the sport experience?
Answer: By now I think you can understand how I feel about
youth sports and the effect parents (and coaches) can have on a player's
experience. Parents should find high quality sports programs for their
children, programs that allow children to participate and have fun without
extreme pressure and intense competition. Parents should be positive and
encourage children - not pressure them to perform well. Parents should be
good spectators and good listeners. After a game most parents ask their
son or daughter whether they won. Better questions would be "Did you
have fun?", "Did you play well?", "Did you learn
something new today?", "Were you a good sport?", "Is
there any thing your having difficulty with?" Parents (and coaches)
should remember that making mistakes is a part of the learning process -
don't criticize! The top priorities in youth sports are safety, fun,
participation and skill development. Adults, parents or coaches, should
never let their personal desire to win impact their child's opportunity
for a positive sports experience. Most of all adults, parents and coaches
alike, need to remember that this is not the Stanley Cup, not the Super
Bowl and not the World Series. These are kids playing a game for fun.
9. If there is anything that you would
like to add, maybe just a comment, may you please do it now.
Answer: The problems that are so prevalent today in youth
sports (overzealous or abusive coaches/parents) are attributable to the
adults not the young players. The correction of these problems can
only come through changes at the lowest level - the level where
coach, parent and player come
together. The adults must make things different.
70% of the kids who play organized sports
quit by age 12 because of abusive coaches, an over-emphasis on winning,
kids sitting on the bench and not playing and kids no longer having fun.
The ultimate tragedy in kids sports
occurred last July when two hockey dads were involved in a fight at a
hockey practice and one died as a result. We desperately need to make
changes in youth sports programs when things like this are happening on a
regular basis.
I guess that about covers it. I hope that
I have provided you the information you need. I'll be very interested to
hear how you do on your school report. Please let me know how things
turned out. Good luck.
