How To Be A Star Parent

Do's & Don'ts

Don'ts....

Focus on mistakes

Try not to focus on the player’s mistakes. The coach and player’s worst nightmare is the screamer. These are the parents who complain about everything, yell at their child and the referee.

Let the coach, coach!

Leave the coaching to the coach. Yelling out instructions from the sideline can be very confusing and frustrating for the players. It doesn’t mean that the ideas you have are wrong. It just means that screaming them from the sideline doesn’t help and it may conflict with the coach’s plans.

Let the coach motivate players

Let the coach motivate the players. Don’t offer incentives or rewards to your child for playing well. Kids can psyche themselves up for a game.

Don’t criticize the referee

No matter how wise your enlightened comments may seem, try not to criticize the referee. Talk to the coach. Always communicate to the referee through the coach.

Avoid public conflicts

Avoid public conflicts over strategy or techniques with the coach. No matter how urgent they seem, these are things that need to be discussed and implemented at practices, not during the game.

Team game # 1

You should not tell your child that he is more or less important than anyone else on the team.

Team game # 2

You should not tell your child that the win or the loss of a game was the responsibility of any player, referee, coach, field or weather condition. Soccer is a team sport; you win and lose together.

Encourage everyone

When cheering try not to use your child’s name over and over again. Everyone can hear you; it’s very embarrassing. Encourage each team member when they try something or succeed at something.

Avoid conflicts with other parents

The other team’s parents are there to have coffee and watch their kids play too. You are not part of the game and neither are the other team’s parents. Don’t get into a shouting match with the other team’s parents over things that happen in the game.