“Dear Player, (and subsequently parent (s)) CONGRATULATIONS! You have been selected to become a member of the Travel Program. This was a competitive process and you should be proud that the Club coaches have invited you to become a part of this prestigious program.” Ahhh, the coveted club-invite […]
People desire connection to something bigger. In pursuit of those connections, people too often kill any chance they might have had at the authentic community they crave.
Seven years after I interviewed sixty people about their sports parenting experiences, I interviewed thirty of them again. One woman would not let me conduct a follow-up interview about her story. Out of respect for her privacy, I will call her Sharon. In declining my invitation to chat […]
“Mom, I’m bored!” “Why don’t you just go outside and _____________?” I know how my parents filled in that blank. If you were raised in the 70’s, 80’s, or early 90’s, your parents probably filled in that blank the same way. The instructions for filling empty spaces of […]
Parents are the most influential adults in an athlete’s life. Let me say that again. PARENTS are the most influential adults in an athlete’s life. The better the relationship is between athletes and their parents, the better the experience is for everyone. Thankfully, building the parent/athlete relationship is not […]
In these days of significant divide in ideologies, there is at least one thing people can agree upon: life is not fair. We know this. We witness this. The longer we live, the more we experience this. So, why toil at all toward justice? What if I told […]
No, seriously, check your feelings before you walk out the door. Decide which emotions are useful, to you and to your sporting child, and leave the rest at home. Intentional presence will positively enhance every part of your day, and has potential to be a game changer for […]
Fight? Flight? Neither. There is a better way. I’ll get to the strategies for disarming disgruntled parents in a minute, but I want to first lay a backdrop for where pitchfork parents are born. Do you know what age groups seem to have the craziest sports parents? Well, […]
I received a call from a parent a couple weeks ago wondering what to do. His daughter, who is seven, had participated in a “Placement Camp” for her local soccer club. Up to this point she has played rec soccer and the expectation was that she would take […]
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of an athlete is, “A person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.” No one is born with athleticism and there is no such thing as an athletic gene. Young kids are not […]
The Team Adult Playbook 