Frustration of a 21st Century Sports Parent

This weekend ends the fall seasons for the kids sports! Taylor had her last regional soccer game, Toby had his last parks and rec soccer games and Drew had his last football game! Taylor also got to cheer her last football game at the Varsity game this weekend! Tomorrow night she will play her last travel game for the season as well! What a busy fall we have had!!

You know, I love every minute of watching my kids play. I enjoy watching them grow with each game. I enjoy seeing a light come on when they make a play that they have missed many times before. I enjoy the smile on their face when they are enjoying being a part of a team! I LOVE watching them win, and I even find joy when the loose! I just LOVE WATCHING THEM PLAY!!

So what is the frustration you may ask? The coaches and the parents!! UGH!! Taylor is 13 and we have been sitting at sporting events since she was 3 years old, so with 10 years behind us, I think I have a right to vent a little. Why is it parents these days care more about the games than the kids. Does anyone else see anything wrong with this? Now, I know I get excited at games, but I hope that I am an example to my kids! I love to cheer them on, I even enjoy cheering for the other team when they do something great! "Great save goalie!" Yeah, I wish it went in, but hey, that was an awesome save! Or "great block O Line", Do I wish we had stopped them, heck yes, but you can't stop them when the blocks are there! These kids are KIDS!!! Why do parents and coaches have to be so negative? And sadly, most of these kids will all be on the same team in the near future! Why can't we encourage them all? Instead we hold grudges against them, and when they hit Jr. High, it becomes hard to form a team!

It nearly makes me cry sometimes to hear how these parents yell at their kids (and some of them how they yell at kids that aren't even theirs!) And Grandparents? What? At a football game recently, a grandmother was yelling about how our team only used one player? And how unfair it was! HUH? We have 11 players on the field, and while that one is very good, he can't do it alone! He can't snap the ball to himself. He can't block for himself! Please just be quiet! And you want to yell at the refs? Really? These are 9 and 10 year old boys learning a game of football. I won't even call it playing, because they have a LOT TO LEARN!

And what about coaches? I have a confession to make! My son tried out for football this fall and we were lead to believe he was going to be "picked" by a certain team. We don't know what happened at the draft, but he wasn't picked by that team. He was picked by the team that was going to be coached by two gentleman I swore I would never let my child play for. The things I had heard (and some things I had seen with my own eyes) lead me to believe that Drew playing for them would not be a good thing. I even prayed about it "Lord, any team but THAT team!" But as always, God had something to teach us! When we got the call from one of the coaches, I was very disappointed. Nate said to me, I'm going to coach with them, so let's give it a try! So we did, reluctantly! I could never have been more wrong! These guys that I had tagged as monsters were very good to my boy! Nate was there, he saw everything, and while there were times they got on the boys, they were also very encouraging!! Drew had the best season! He learned so much, his passion for the game increased and they succeeded!

We were told that these guys coached dirty... but we never saw it! I had a parent from another team ask which team Drew played on. When I told her she said "oh, our coach said your coaches teach your players to play dirty!" WHAT? Why would a coach say that to the parents? Nate was at every practice and every game, we never saw that! Some coaches just love to create drama!

Drew played in the championship game tonight, and they lost! It was tough after an undefeated season! But the game they played on the field I couldn't have been prouder! The refs seemed a little one sided! There were some horrible calls! The players for the other team played rough (Drew has fingernail scratches down his arms, and he doesn't carry the ball!) but our boys played well, played fair and played by the rules! So proud!

But being a sports parent these days is tough! Parents of 8 year olds are already talking about scholarships! They don't care how it happens, they just want their kids to be #1. Sad, sad, sad!! Let's let kids be kids! Let them play a game! Let them learn what it means to be a team! Let them get some exercise! Let them learn what it means to win, and more importantly, what it means to lose sometimes! It happens in life. We win some, we lose some! Kids aren't learning that these days. They only learn they either win, or they were cheated out of a win.

I know I have a long road ahead of me! I just hope I can continue to be supportive and encouraging not only to my kids, but all the kids on the field (or court), because some of these kids may not see it from anyone else!