There is much to be gained from sports if your child can have fun and not worry about winning. Of course, everyone wants to win, but truthfully, for your child, it should be all about fun. You will see amazing qualities emerge if playing sport is exciting and enjoyable. For example, improved social skills and teamwork, good emotional and mental health, and higher levels of leadership qualities, academic achievement, and responsibility will result.

However, sportsmanship must be developed for all of this to happen because it blends all these attributes together and more.

What is Sportsmanship?

Sportsmanship is being fair, respectful, and ethical to coaches, referees, competitors, and teammates. The practice of good sportsmanship applied and learned on the field are qualities that transfer and are used in life. The quintessential example of good sportsmanship comes from your Mom or Dad. Your support from the sidelines can send positive or negative signals encouraging good or bad behavior on the field.

Here are seven important ways to be a perfect role model of sportsmanship for your child. Sometimes it is not about what you say but how you look and what you do.

1. It is crucial to be a good sport because your child sees and absorbs everything.

Your child’s feelings of sportsmanship will deepen based on how they perceive your participation. For example, if your child observes you yelling at the referee, quarreling with the coach, or making fun of the opposing team, they will think it is acceptable to do the same. And possibly, turn your youngster into a bully and lose respect for authority.

Youth sports are meant to develop character and leadership skills. So, be sure to support both teams enthusiastically, so your child’s sportsmanship will enhance their abilities.

2. Be mindful of your body language.

You may not be aware, but your child unconsciously picks up your body language and the common gestures you make. For example, how you stand, your body posture, how you move your eyes, shake your head, etc., can show frustration or dissatisfaction. You don’t realize it, but they unconsciously detect it. As a result, your child may feel stress, anxiety, and nervousness.

So, be mindful of your body postures and stances. If you think, say, and do positive things, it will change your body language.

What’s happening in your mind is expressed through your body’s physical appearance. For example, saying positive words, cheering, and smiling, will send different body signals to your child visually. If you think your child made a bad play and you don’t, smile and cross your arms; it shows frustration without saying a word. Just relax and enjoy your child’s game. You will be surprised how much it works!

3. Don’t be hard on your child if they make a mistake.

Mistakes will happen. They are a part of life, and your child will make many of them. Tell your child it is ok. And when off the field or at practice, work on the mistake without them knowing to help them become better. This way, you will not make them self-conscious. It will change them emotionally and mentally for the best.

Mistakes are not signs of weakness; they are signs to help your child grow and become stronger. Accepting and understanding mistakes helps your child’s brain absorb information better, improve faster, and make fewer mistakes in the future. However, if your child fears making mistakes, they will make more of them.

So, there is no need to pinpoint and scream during the game.

4. Make sure you cheer your child’s efforts, not just the best moments, like scoring a goal.

They need to know that playing on a team has a structure, that all plays and players create the goal, not just the scorer. All the effort leading up to the score was essential to score the point. Cheering all their efforts on the field will help them understand teamwork and how a team functions.

5. Have fun.

If your child sees you are having fun, it takes the stress off them, and they can just play and enjoy the game. And will play more freely, not worrying about making a mistake. However, sometimes your child may feel they need to impress you. So let them know that fun is the main objective. Furthermore, when your child is having fun, they will be excited. And excitement stimulates your child’s brain to learn and absorb much more about the game, their skills, sportsmanship, etc.

6. Always end the game by shaking hands.

Even if your child played a challenging game and maybe had an issue with a player or the ref, teach them to let it go. Shaking hands is a perfect way to leave the field in peace. It is a sign of respect, and what happened is over. If you cast threats, anger, and frustration, it will negatively impact your child’s performance. Most importantly, make sure you thank the coach and referee after the game with your child.

7. Practice self-control.

Games can get heated. Sometimes the calls don’t go the correct way. Sometimes the referee misses a foul. You need to control your emotions during the game. If you can remain cool, calm, and collective, it will help your child do the same. And if they can remain calm, they will maintain good performance. Your self-control will help your child stay focused in the game and not worried about how the referee missed the foul.

Remember, your child is learning. If you make playing sports fun for them, it will bring incredible value to their lives. So, positively support them and avoid negativity.

For more articles on how parents can improve sportsmanship, CLICK HERE!

Enforce Responsibility

Make your child responsible for packing their gear, whether spikes, shin-guards, sticks, or pads. You can casually look over their shoulder to make sure it is being done correctly. However, packing their own gear will help them understand and learn responsibility. Equipment is mandatory, so if they don’t have it, they won’t play. If you make your child responsible for their equipment, it is a small detail that has a greater positive impact in life. Responsibility teaches preparation and being prepared exemplifies care.

Another way to teach them responsibility is during a game. If your child makes an error or lousy play on the field, have them own it. Have your child take responsibility for their actions so they know how to accept, adjust, and change rather than blame. Being responsible will make your child feel confident.

Increase Their Confidence

Make your child feel confident with their decisions on and off the field. Give them high fives, pats on the back and hugs, for good plays and good grades. Let them feel the difference when they play well, show respect and good sportsmanship, are honest, and work hard. Your affection will help your child develop these qualities more and understand the rules to grant them independence. Your child ultimately, and sometimes you don’t see it through bad behavior, want your affection and praise. So, show them what you like and don’t like to help them be confident in what to do.

Confidence develops responsibility, and both of these qualities will make them feel secure.

Make Them Feel Safe

To be independent, you need a sense of security. Feeling safe makes experiencing and learning easier and better, and your child will not be scared to say yes or no. When your child does not feel safe, being insecure leads to poor decision-making and maybe agreeing to something that puts them in harm’s way. You have to combat this by dealing with social pressure, the feeling to be perfect created by social media. Create a safe environment for them to make mistakes in a controlled situation, which is what sports teach your child; to deal with the agony of defeat and turn it into success.

Make your child feel safe by listening to them. Knowing that you will listen to them, unconsciously tells your child they can speak to you about anything.

Let Them Experience

During games, your child is learning to make decisions with sports experience. They have to know what to do and when to do it correctly. This is key to have independence. It is these decisions that not only pertain to the game but in life. These sports experiences structure their mindset and behavior. Your child experiences and learns best by playing in general; however, sports bring about a greater sense of responsibility and decision-making. Qualities like teamwork, sportsmanship, and respect arise to form your child’s emotional ability. And it is through experience, they can learn to be accountable.

Accountability

Accountability is important. Teach your child to be accountable for their actions rather than blame. This will help discourage bad behavior. Your child needs to be held responsible for their actions, especially their mistakes. They need to know mistakes will be made and it is ok. However, make your child learn accountability by giving them chores to do in a timely manner, like taking out the garbage, cleaning the dishes, or cleaning their room. Make sure you have consequences if they don’t do their chores, for example, no phone or television.

As a parent, you need to create the rules, so your child knows what to do. Your child is more intelligent than you think. They are smarter than lawyers (LOL). Your child can talk their way out of a box, so eliminate as many loopholes as you can to keep them accountable. For example, remind your child of consequences before their actions so they can’t talk their way out of it.

Parents need to let their children experience situations to practice and learn to be independent. It is a trial and error environment that needs to be safe and controlled; to turn failures and mistakes into understanding how to act correctly. That is why you can use sports to your advantage. From responsibility to affection, you can create the best situations and outcomes for your child to develop your trust to be independent. Of course, as a parent, you will always worry. It is the name of the game. But when you can trust your child, it can make you more relaxed. Well, maybe just a little bit.

READ MORE:

• Youth Sports Psychology: How to Ensure Your Athletes Stay Motivated and Have Fun
• Why a Strong Parent-Coach Relationship is Essential
• How to Run an Effective Youth Baseball Practice

Confidence is Key

When you let your child have fun, it produces confidence. Confidence is essential in sports and life because it helps your kid play better. And when they are confident, they are more willing to learn and develop their skills. As Joe Namath, ex-San Francisco 49ners quarterback, said, “When you have confidence, you can have fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.”

Losing is OK

Boris Beck said, “I love the winning. I can take the losing. But most of all, I love to play”. Wanting to win is ok; there is nothing wrong with that. It is the obsession to win, and the emotional disruption of losing that eliminates the fun for your child. Losing is ok as well. Your child needs to know how to lose and learn from their losses, not lose the love of the sport. Loving to play and having fun are the most important things because they lead to be better, optimism and improvement. What you love is never work, and you are willing to put all your energy in to develop yourself more. You need to help your child understand this so they can have fun even when they lose.

Listen, Respect

Listen to your child and respect their choices. Doing this makes them feel good and excited because they construct their fun, not be told what and how to play. As a result, they begin to comprehend what they like and dislike, which helps them understand themselves and sport better. When they know their sport better, they want to play and learn more.

Be a Cheerleader

No matter win or lose, praise your child’s efforts. When you applaud their efforts, it takes the stress off of them. They will learn that winning or losing does not matter, and they can understand and enjoy “the fun of playing.” If you criticize them for not winning or playing poorly, it takes the pleasure out of the game. They will feel stress and pressure, and that is what they will understand and not look forward to games every weekend.

Lead by Example

You are the role model, and what you say will keep them stimulated and engaged, or not. Instead, praise your child for their effort regardless of the outcome. Praising them helps your child understand their feelings. When kids can identify with their feelings of sadness, frustration, or disappointment, you can help them know it is just a game and ask, Did you have fun playing?

Be a good sport and model good sportsmanship. Children learn by watching you. They learn by observing your behavior at the game, during the game, and after the game. Your child understands behavior more than you think. Therefore, cheer for other children on the team, not just your child. Give encouraging positive words to all players on the team. Learn to applaud the other team’s good plays and efforts. And, let your child know it is essential to shake hands after the game no matter the result. These actions will show them that sport and playing are about fun.

Step Back

Don’t interfere. Try not to take the game so seriously. Don’t obsess over who is winning or losing or playing good or bad. Just let your kid play and have fun. That is what childhood is about, remember?

Be Helpful, Not Critical

Don’t compare or critique your child. When you do this, it makes them feel like they did something wrong. And if they feel like they did something wrong, it makes them nervous, and they will associate stress and nervousness with the sport, and the sport will lose its fun. All children have different styles and abilities of learning. There is no need to compare them to other children or yourself when you were a child. The positive, optimistic way is the best. There is no pressure, no stress, and your child will enjoy running around on the field.

No Pressuring

Don’t pressure your child to perform. Pressuring your child makes them nervous, takes away the fun, and leads to mistakes. And when they are anxious, it causes more errors. When your child is having fun, it will help them discover new skills and improve their performance without knowing if they made a mistake or not.

The last thing you need to do is ruin the game and their love and enjoyment of the sport. Use fun to your advantage because your child is receptive to learning when excited and having fun. If you add pressure, stress, worry, criticism, or obsession, your child will disengage. Think about the boss breathing down your neck. It stresses you. Now, imagine your child; they don’t have the emotional maturity yet to understand the stress and take it personally. Taking it to heart disrupts them mentally and physically.

So, could you sit back, relax and let it flow? Just let yourself go and teach the same to your child.

Ethics is a big part of the sport, but trash-talking often develops the ego and leads to poor sportsmanship. And, this can trickle into other aspects of life. For example, trash-talking on the field can lead to teasing and bullying in school. It can also lead to talking back to teachers and elders. Trash talking can empower the child’s ego, thinking it is ok to do to whomever at any time. In any event, trash-talking leads to worsening a player’s behavior and performance, giver and recipient.

Trash Talk Leads to Violence

Here is a perfect example of how insults and trash-talking go wrong. Take Zidane, for example, in the 2006 World Cup, where he delivered a head butt to the chest of the Italian soccer player, Materazzi. Materrazzi called Zidane a terrorist and Zidane retaliated using an act of violence. Materazzi called him a terrorist because Zidane was born in France, but his family is Algerian. Zidane’s Mom and Dad moved to France before the start of the Algerian War. However, despite this, how do we know what insults will go too far and too much? How do we know what words will make an impact to create an explosive emotional result?

Trash Talking and the Inconceivable

Kwane Doster was a 21-year-old running back who played for Vanderbilt University. Kwane was shot to death after stopping at a sandwich shop with two friends leaving from a nightclub on a Sunday after midnight in Tampa. Kane’s friends had a verbal exchange with three other men about whose car was better outside the nightclub. They all unexpectedly met at a stoplight and exchanged insulting words again. As they went on their way, Kwane and his friends went to a sandwich shop. In the parking lot, the other antagonist group met up with Kwane and his friends once again. One of the men from the other car got out and fired a shot at Kwane’s friend’s vehicle. Kwane just happened to be sitting in the back seat where the shot was fired, killing him. No one else was injured.

You see how something so trivial like trash talk can cause something so inconceivable like death, the death of someone not involved in the word exchange.

To-Do or Not to Do

The youth in sport are more sensitive. Kids lack life experience, judgment, and emotional skills that sports are trying to build for them. In youth sports, it should not be allowed because kids have not developed maturity yet. And in most incidences, it leads to a road of bad behavior and ego that will diminish their performance and behavior. Those who play great don’t think about being great. They control the ego. Those who think they are great to have ego controlling them. I won’t name names, but it is easy to see in professional sports today if you are a victim of trash talk, smile and nod and give a thumbs up. You kill ignorance with kindness and a smile.

Trash talking goes against what it means to be a professional. Silence is gold and develops reverence. When a trash talker knows they can’t get under your skin, it gets under theirs. Like I was taught when I was young, the bigger the mouth, the louder the words, the worse the player and more insecure. So, never run your mouth and put the scores on the board.

Integrity is Essential

Sportsmanship represents the qualities of respect, honesty, and fair play. In contrast, trash talk creates and leads to the opposite; disrespect and arrogance. The two do not integrate nor coincide to produce life qualities or personal development. Trash talk promotes disrespect and can elicit an angered response like with Zidane and the death of Kwane.

Rather than being a positive aspect of the sport, trash talk is negative. What seems to be playful is many times not and leads to escalation. The little things you say tend to step over more and more boundaries, leading to more harsh and offensive words. What we practice, we become, and the repetition of this practice widens. For example, saying “you suck” develops and lowers and devalues a player’s personality and behavior, leading to more significant insults of someone’s race or nationality. It will happen with trash talking. It will eventually go too far.

Today, society is more polarized than ever. Kids and adults are at an intensity of 8 out of 10 rather than a relaxed score of 2. The “depends” variable is essential. This means that depending on the time and situations we are in, you can allow it to happen. Trash talk has been swept under the rug for years. But is now time to stop provoking, protect an athletes’ integrity, and understand the value of sportsmanship and respect.

It is ok if you want to pound the path forward and succeed athletically. But athletes need to have respect. In the youth, there is a nurturing process occurring. In professionals, it is a waste of energy. Remember, the path you choose is what develops, positive or negative; evolution always occurs, for good and bad.

Degrading a player on the field can lead to doing it off the field in life. In the long run, insults produce invisible scars that are unnoticed, pushing an athlete to the point of no return. If your kids are unconsciously learning and discovering through sports, then trash-talking interferes with their discovery.

Read More:

• How Parents Are Ruining Sportsmanship
• How to Deal with Trash Talk

This prestigious event serves as the culmination of a rigorous selection process, bringing together the top high school quarterbacks in the nation for a thrilling display of talent, determination, and sportsmanship. This year’s finals is a spectacular meeting of two of the top prospects in the country, Dylan Raiola, the #1 QB recruit in the class committed to Georgia and Jadyn Davis the #2 QB recruit in the class committed to Michigan.

During the Elite 11 Finals, these exceptional young athletes will participate in a series of challenging drills, situational exercises, and competitive sessions designed to showcase their skills under the guidance of renowned coaches and mentors. The event offers a unique platform for these rising stars to demonstrate their abilities and compete among their peers, all with the goal of securing recognition and potential opportunities at the collegiate and professional levels.

Panini America, as the exclusive trading card and collectibles partner for Elite 11, will be actively involved in capturing the excitement and significance of the finals. Through their expertise in creating high-quality collectibles, Panini will create exclusive trading cards and other commemorative items featuring the participating quarterbacks. These collectibles will allow fans to connect with the journey of these athletes, relive their standout moments, and build a lasting connection with the next generation of football stars.

“Elite 11 is thrilled to continue our partnership with Panini America, especially as we host the highly anticipated 2023 Elite 11 Finals,” expressed Brian Stumpf, Senior Vice President of Elite 11. “This event represents the culmination of a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication by these young athletes. We are excited to collaborate with Panini to create memorable experiences for the participants and offer fans a unique way to engage with their favorite quarterbacks.”

Panini America’s involvement in the Elite 11 Finals reflects its commitment to showcasing the talents and accomplishments of these exceptional athletes. By producing exclusive collectibles, Panini ensures that the achievements and journeys of these quarterbacks are captured in a tangible and cherished form, serving as a testament to their hard work and future potential.

“We are proud to be a part of the Elite 11 Finals, a momentous event that celebrates the very best high school quarterbacks in the nation,” said Mark Warsop, CEO of Panini America. “Through our exclusive collectibles, we aim to create lasting memories and provide fans with an opportunity to engage with the future stars of football. We look forward to witnessing the incredible talent on display during the Elite 11 Finals.”

The collaboration between Elite 11 and Panini America not only highlights the dedication to the development of young athletes but also underscores the importance of preserving their legacies through collectibles that will be cherished by fans and sports enthusiasts for years to come.

For more information on Elite 11 and Panini America, please visit their respective websites at https://www.elite11.com/ and https://www.paniniamerica.net/.

About Panini America:

The Panini Group, established 60 years ago in Modena, Italy, has subsidiaries throughout Europe, Latin America, and the United States.  Panini is the world leader in officially licensed collectibles and is the most significant publisher of collectibles in the U.S., with official licenses for NFL, NFLPA, NBA, NBPA, FIFA, UFC, NASCAR, College, Disney, and other key properties from many other licensors. Panini is also the exclusive trading card and sticker partner of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc.

About Elite 11:

Founded in 1999, the Elite 11 is the premier quarterback event in the nation, that identifies and develops the top high school quarterbacks in the country. Elite 11 has a rich history of producing some of the most successful quarterbacks in college and professional football. The program combines on-field drills and competitions with classroom instruction and mentorship to provide young athletes with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed on and off the field. Elite 11 is a part of the Stack Sports ecosystem, a leading sports technology company that provides a range of products and services to youth sports organizations. Elite 11 event alumni include 26 of the 32 current NFL starting quarterbacks, and 14 of the past 16 quarterbacks who have won the Heisman Trophy. For additional information on Elite 11, please visit: https://www.elite11.com/.

About Stack Sports:

With nearly 50 million users in 35 countries, Stack Sports is a global technology leader in SaaS platform offerings for the sports industry. The company provides world-class software and services to support national governing bodies, youth sports associations, leagues, clubs, parents, coaches, and athletes. Some of the largest and most prominent sports organizations, including the U.S. Soccer Federation, Little League Baseball and Softball, and Pop Warner Little Scholars, rely on Stack Sports technology to run and manage their organizations.

Stack Sports is headquartered in Dallas and is leading the industry one team at a time focusing on four key pillars — Grassroots Engagement, Participation Growth, Recruiting Pathways, and Elite Player Development. To learn more about how Stack Sports is transforming the sports experience, please visit https://www.stacksports.com/.

RELATED: 10 Signs You’re a Horrible Sports Parent

Worth repeating: The worst time to “discuss” your kid’s athletic performance is on the ride home. You want to talk so badly it’s like acid in your mouth. You think your child needs to know what you think. You have great points to make, and your son 0r daughter can learn how to improve. All true, but you simply should not share your thoughts on the ride home.

Even if you commend and don’t criticize, you may get in the habit of making the ride the time and place to discuss. Your kids are trapped in the back seat and forced to listen.

When athletes play poorly, the last thing they want to hear is someone trying to make them feel better. It doesn’t help build their mental toughness, because they need to feel the pain of not getting what they want.

RELATED: How Parents Are Ruining Sportsmanship

Sports Parent Strategy: The Talk

The best time to discuss the game or practice is at an agreed-upon time. This might be after dinner or after cleaning up—whenever you agree as a family. Your son or daughter will appreciate the time to decompress and won’t dread the car ride home like their friends, who get grilled every time.

Much can be accomplished after everyone is cool, calm, and collected, especially after your child has calmed down and has had time to process.

Resist the urge to talk more and just listen. Allow your son or daughter to tell you what he or she did well, vent about their mistakes and relate what they learned. Kids take more ownership when they do the talking.

Finally, as Auburn’s head swim coach Brett Hawke says, “catch them doing it right!”

Take the wrong approach during their formative years, however, and the opposite can occur – instead creating resentment towards sport(s) and driving them away from it, as they attach a host of negative emotions and lessons to their experiences. To avoid this happening, there are a few concepts that can help to minimize this negative interaction and create a lifelong love of the sport.

Parents and Coaches Define the Attitude

First off, it’s vital to remember that as coaches and parents, we set the tone for the attitude the child adopts towards sports and athletics. As a result, its important that one thing be front and center as we look to choose the league, sport, competition level, and teams:

Your kid isn’t turning pro.

Now, obviously, this isn’t an exclusive truth, or we wouldn’t have professional sports. But the reality is that as you watch little Sarah on the pitch with the other 8-year-olds, as good as she is, only 1% – of the top 1% – will ever be able to play at a professional level. And while we’d all like to believe our child is part of that exclusive club, the numbers suggest otherwise.

So instead of creating a U10 “elite” division, where they’re being coached, yelled at, and motivated in the same manner as a varsity athlete – consider making the focus, enjoying the game. This doesn’t mean taking an “everyone wins” approach, as there’s nothing learned from that, and losing all the time certainly isn’t fun. But what it does mean is there’s no need to scream at the kids, chirp at the other team, or berate the referees. In fact, doing so ironically drops the odds of going pro even lower, as you run a better chance of creating a deep-seated resentment and hatred for their sport, and they wind up hanging up the cleats/googles/racquets before they even get to high school.

Early Sport Specialization Has a Cost

We all know the stories about Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters, but the reality is they are outliers – they may not have become the greatest of all time in their sports because of early specialization, but rather, in spite of it. Furthermore, cherry-picking examples who have an exceptional natural gift minimizes the extraordinary value of playing multiple sports, as the more singular the focus, the narrower the range of their skill development. And while early specialization definitively improves the odds of your child’s success within their age group, a peak this early in their development doesn’t necessarily translate into long-term participation.

Being a multi-sport athlete, on the other hand, not only helps them become more resilient as a child[2] (by helping to avoid overuse injuries through varied rather than singular physical demands), but it also helps to develop a broader set of underlying physical skills and adaptability. So, while you may not have an all-star 12yo soccer player, you are increasing the odds of the child continuing to be active throughout their life.

Understand the Development Levels

Lastly, one of the keys to helping a child develop a lifelong love for physical activity is making it appropriate to their developmental age. It’s important to note that the term “developmental age” is used because it may be a little further along or slightly behind their chronological age, depending on the child, their physical maturation, and their environment.

The first four stages, prior to reaching high-level competition and a commensurate level of training (as defined by Canada’s “Sport for Life” Society) are[3]:

Active Start: 0-6yo

Some sort of daily physical activity focused around “active play” – unstructured, non-competitive, and allowing children to develop comfort and confidence in a variety of fun, challenging activities and non-competitive games.

FUNdamentals: Boys ~6-9yo, Girls ~6-8yo

Emphasis is on activities that help develop the physical ABCs: agility, balance, coordination, and speed. Build up physical capacity through medicine ball, stability ball, and bodyweight activities while introducing simple rules and etiquette of sport focused on fair play and respect.

Learn to Train: Boys from ~9yo and Girls from ~8yo to the onset of the adolescent growth spurt

Continue to build fundamental movement skills and abilities while introducing ancillary capacities like warm-ups/cool-downs, nutrition, hydration, and recovery. Avoid early over-specialization while introducing formal local competition with an emphasis on fair play and opportunities to try different events and positions.

Train to Train: the period of an adolescent growth spurt, Boys ~12-16yo, Girls ~11-15yo

This is a crucial stage in the youth’s athletic development, as it’s during this period that they are most likely to either commit to a higher level of competition – or quit. As a result, if the goal is to create an “athlete for life,” it’s important to help those that aren’t interested in moving onto the more competitive ranks to find sports and/or activities that allow them to continue their development without the added pressure of elite competition. Given that this is a significant fitness development stage as well (from an aerobic and strength perspective), it becomes that much more important to create an environment that the adolescent enjoys so that they can take full advantage of this stage as an “investment” in later life.

Focus on the Long Term

As coaches and parents, we have a direct hand in helping cultivate the attitude of young athletes and our measure of success shouldn’t be exclusively focused on if the child reaches an elite level of competition. If through the above-listed pathway, the young athlete shows both an innate talent paired with a passion for their sport, there are directions that they can (and should) be led to help them express this skill at the highest level they are capable.

However, landing on the podium in their early teens only to quit before they graduate high school and adopt a sedentary lifestyle from there on not only does not reflect well on those of us who were involved in the athlete’s development, it offers a poor return on the innumerable sacrifices the child makes leading up to it. So, when evaluating our own level of achievement, instead of looking at how high a child is scouted or how many trophies and medals they win, we must consider whether we’ve created a love of sport and physical activity that they will take with them for the rest of their life.

[1] Carmichael, D. (2008). Youth Sport vs. Youth Crime – Evidence that youth engaged in organized sport are not likely to participate in criminal activities. Brockville, Ontario: Active Healthy Links, Inc.

[2] (2021). Multisport of Specialization: Which is Best? www.sportsengine.com. https://www.sportsengine.com/article/recruiting/multisport-or-specialization-which-best

[3] (2019). Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity 3.0. www.sportforlife.ca. https://sportforlife.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Long-Term-Development-in-Sport-and-Physical-Activity-3.0.pdf

Meanwhile, two high-school soccer teams battling for a division championship are preparing for their Saturday matchup, only to be notified on Friday afternoon that their game has been postponed because no officials are available. Three days later, an athletic director must decide which of two middle-school soccer games needs to be called off; there are officials available for only one of them. Scenarios like this are happening with increasing frequency as administrators deal with a shrinking pool of officials.

The Covid 19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem. Some officials chose not to work during the pandemic because of health/safety concerns, and some of them chose not to return at all.

But there are other factors in play as well, many of them long-standing. Some officials are finding that the increasing amounts of ridicule, abuse, and perhaps threats they have to deal with aren’t worth the $75 they earn for working a football game on Friday night. Consequently, an increasing number of officials are stepping away earlier than they might otherwise, while others simply age out. And the number of new officials entering the vocation does not equal the number of those stepping away. Consequently, administrators at all levels, from youth leagues up to and including the collegiate ranks, are finding it increasingly difficult to find enough officials to cover their games.

There is nothing new, of course, about officials being subject to criticism. But over the past couple of decades, the situation has gotten worse for a number of reasons.

Too many young athletes and their parents have an enhanced sense of entitlement

This is hardly a new problem, but it has gotten exponentially worse over the course of the author’s career as a sports journalist and official.

Increasingly, athletes are adopting an all-or-nothing attitude toward their sports. They want to make an elite travel team, start for the varsity as soon as they reach high school, and receive a college scholarship (the more scholarship offers, the better).

If a call goes against them or their team loses, it’s the official’s fault for preventing them from obtaining their objectives

We live in an era of specialization

Increasingly, athletes are specializing in one sport at younger ages. If he or she is a basketball player, they may be playing for an AAU team in the spring and summer instead of pursuing another sport. If their sport is baseball or softball, they may be playing for one travel team or another from the spring into the fall.

Devoting that much time to a single sport requires a commitment of time and energy, but also dollars if a substantial amount of travel is involved. Athletes and their parents see a scholarship as a return on investment, a return they often feel entitled to.

There is a declining emphasis on sportsmanship

Theoretically, high school sports are supposed to be an extension of the educational process. Some institutions remain true to that premise. Some do not. One common problem is that new officials can become discouraged, and some leave the vocation before their careers really get started.

Patrick Gebhart is an assistant executive director with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. His responsibilities include dealing with officiating issues. One of his challenges involves retaining officials already on the rolls. “All the national studies have shown that if we can get an official to their third year, we have a chance of keeping them for an extended period of time,” he said. “Officials who were interviewed after leaving the avocation during their first two years expressed that abuse by coaches, players, and fans was the primary reason they left officiating.”

In the past three years, the PIAA has lost eight percent of its registered officials for one reason or another; replenishing the pool of officiating talent won’t happen overnight. One place to look for new officials is among the ranks of high school and college student-athletes, individuals who are passionate about sports but have hit their ceiling as players. The high-school linebacker who is too small or slow to play in college might consider officiating as a way to stay actively involved in sports.

Some high schools and colleges offer officiating classes to their students.

There was a time not so long ago when there was an ample supply of officials to go around. That’s not the case today, and the task of recruiting and retaining officials is an ongoing effort. And that effort includes insisting that officials be treated with the respect they deserve.

Rick Woelfel resides near Philadelphia and started officiating as a teenager. He recently retired after working basketball, baseball, softball, and football 50 years.

Youth Soccer Coaching Tips

Exemplary Communication

Exemplary communication should be a top priority, pertaining to your athletes and their respective parents.

Whether during practices or games, getting across to your athletes is a core staple to maintain when you are a coach. Using clear and concise language and being able to relay your thoughts with direct intention is important for youth coaches to maintain a strong leadership presence on the pitch. However, it is just as paramount, if not more, for coaches to maintain a high-level method of active listening.

For a coach to be a good listener, they must be diligent of different messages, signals, and even mannerisms that their athletes may be sending off on. It can be very easy for coaches to anticipate different responses and therefore be quick to ready responses for a set occasion. However, being able to slow down, hear their athletes relay their emotions, and then be empathetic to their set circumstances is important for coaches to garner trust from their athletes. Upon being an active listener and garnering the views of their athletes, coaches can then provide the open communication that athletes crave from their seen superiors.

While the overall context may then be different when coaches communicate with the parents of the athletes, many of the same attributes for clear communication and active listening remain the same. Coaches can relay their goals and expectations for the athletes when communicating with the parents, and then take a part in being an active listener when the parents relay what they wish for from their children participating in the team environment. Crucially, coaches can then involve the parents in discipline protocols and setting standards for the team, which can further link the communication chain of coaches, athletes, and parents.

Keep It Simple

When coaching, keep the language of the game simple, and work to let the athletes focus on playing autonomously.

There’s no denying a very simple truth; the game of soccer is full of rules and guidelines that can be difficult to relay in their entirety. When first starting, it’s important for coaches to make a solid, well-thought-out list of what rules and guidelines they find paramount to relay to their youth athletes. What’s labeled as an offside pass, an illegal tackle, throwing in passes from out-of-bounds; are just a few of the rules that youth coaches must be aware of to teach their young athletes. During practices and scrimmages, coaches should use clear communication to allow athletes to understand what not to do in fouls and rules, teach the foundations of active and proper sportsmanship, and even encourage their athletes to be leaders amongst themselves.

Ultimately, what can trip up a first-time coach when trying to coach their youth athletes is when the language becomes too technical and too advanced, too quickly. Coaches will want nothing more than to see their athletes succeed and play hard through every minute of practice and games. However, being too focused on crafting ‘expert’ formations and strategizing complicated plays may not be the most suitable to the young mind still learning the game’s ins and outs. Relaying the basic foundations and principles for each position will be an easier task for coaches to exhibit, giving them more time to coach the team collectively and each player individually.

About in-game decisions, a youth soccer coach can also benefit from giving their team the ability to act autonomously, giving them some freedom to make in-game decisions. Once a coach tries to do too much, they start to draw away from an important lesson a good coach tries to teach their young athletes; don’t just strive to be a better player, strive to be a better leader and act together. Stepping back at critical moments and allowing their athletes to showcase the hard work they’ve put in can further develop the athletes’ individual skillsets and ability to work as a collective unit. This can ease the load on the coach, giving them the opportunity to be the motivator for their athletes and coach when required.

Make It Fun

Exhibit you’re having fun putting in the work, and your athletes will follow suit. While it may continue to come off as a cliche and a cardinal rule for first-time coaches to remember, it is especially true for coaches of youth athletes to show that not only do they care about the work they’re putting in; they need to show that they are enjoying the time with their athletes. It is important to establish everlasting memories for youth athletes from the get-go, whether it’s a player’s first year playing the game of soccer, or they’ve played for several years. When a coach simply smiles and exhibits mannerisms that showcase their love for their profession, youth athletes have a higher probability to care more for the game and try and play harder for the team and their coach.

Introducing team-building activities, being attentive to player needs, or even as simple as high-fiving their athletes for doing a drill correctly for the first time; a first-time coach should be proactive in building those positive bonds from the get-go. Getting the athletes on board with a positive attitude and strong work ethic will be easier than being nonchalant and distant with one’s coaching. This is not to say that displaying a positive attitude and enjoyment of your work will be enough to be a great youth coach; hard work and dedication must be exhibited every day to not just be successful, but to improve. Coaching youth athletes can be a fulfilling opportunity and achievement, and maintaining these three tactics listed can be crucial for making the start-up an easy transition.