A child’s parents have perhaps the greatest
influence on their fun and progression in football. While
the team manager can help to improve a player’s technique,
it is the parent who has the biggest impact on the player’s
attitude, ambition and desire.
Most parents have good intentions when supporting and
helping their child to develop, though at times can get
carried away and are emotionally caught up in the moment of
the match. We have all heard the pushy parent shout
and scream on the touchline, barking out instructions to
their child, while failing to see that there are a number of
other players in the team, and where this behaviour may seem
as encouragement to them, it very often has the opposite
effect, both for their own child and the team mates around
them.
What is wrong with a parent giving encouragement and
instructions to their child from the touchline ?
Many keen and interested parents do this but, there's a
difference between encouraging a child and telling them what
they should have done. Some parents find it a lot easier to
tell a child their mistakes rather than encouraging them on
their good play.
The next time you are at a junior football match, listen to
yourself or nearby parent and make a note of how often you
encourage or instruct ?
Despite all the best intentions the pressure the parent puts
the child under and themselves can have a negative effect
and cause the player’s performance to drop, and in the worst
case cause the young player to give up the game completely.
This is not as uncommon as it may seem, and there is a long
list of very good young footballers no longer playing, not
because of their lack of ability but because of parent
pressure for them to do well.
It is not easy, but parents have a very important role in
the development of the youth footballer. It’s important that
the parent listens to the child’s needs and understands they
are growing both physically and emotionally. The parent
needs to be supportive by encouraging and not be critical or
point out faults.
WHAT WE SAY ?
Children are quick to pick up on verbal and non-verbal cues
made by the adults in their lives. When a child comes home
from a game, parents send a distinct message with...
Did you win ?
They send a much different message by asking...
Did you have fun ?
Did you do your best ? and Did you learn
something today ?
The last three questions teach children to measure success
by internal factors within their control (such as whether
they hustled or improved a skill), rather than by external
factors beyond their control (such as whether the other team
was more talented).
The players are children still learning the game.
They're not seasoned professionals with 10 years
professional coaching behind them.
Have you considered that they may not even
understand some of the basic instructions...
Man On - Down
the Line - Time -
Get Stuck In
Imagine what's going through a child's mind if they've never
been taught
the meaning of such expressions.
DO REFEREE'S CHEAT ?
Answer the following questions and compare the answers
1... When you're playing away from home, do you
think the opponents referee cheats ?
2... When you're playing at home do you think
your teams referee cheats ?
If your answer is not the same for both, you need to think
about the questions more carefully
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