In today’s world, it is very common for people to want to coddle their kids. As a result, when they see you pushing your kid to train and practice, people often assume that you are being abusive or hard on the child. People say things like “you’ll take the fun out of the sport if you keep pushing him (or her) so hard.” Moreover, there is actually some truth to these comments. However, before you take the foot off of the gas, you, as a parent, must realize that, if your child is going to be successful at sports, there are going to be times when the game isn’t fun.

There are going to be practices that he may not want to go to, because his friends invited him too Six Flags or a movie or whatever. That’s when it’s time for a parent to step in. Remember what it was like to be a kid and use your judgement with regard to what life lessons you want him to learn from his athletic experience. Do you want your athlete to be a person who prepares for competition sometimes or do you want to teach him how to be consistent with his training. The habits that he develops for preparing for sports and school will follow him for a lifetime. Set the right precedents.

Parents need to remind themselves that having goals and aspirations for their children is not only a good thing, its a responsible thing. Never let a parent who doesn’t have aspirations for their child make you feel inadequate or guilty about having hopes for your children.

You see, I have a son who is a young athlete. My goal isn’t to get him out of my house. my goal is to get him an academic scholarship as well as an athletic scholarship to a division 1 school. That is a lot of money and the stakes are high. A full ride to Notre Dame or U of Michigan can get really pricey, and a great college football career can open doors while allowing your little athlete to enter the adult world debt free. And before you start talking about the odds of getting a full ride to a major university, you need to remember that every year hundreds of kids graduate from Universities on football scholarships and enter the work force with no college debt. That’s a fact.

My advice to parents of youth athletes is to live vicariously through your kids. You’ve walked in their shoes, now make sure that they benefit from the mistakes you’ve made and the 20/20 vision that have obtained over the years. Until next time …

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