One of the Most Common Issues in Youth Athletics

“Jimmy get ready, we have four games to play this afternoon!”

“But dad, I just….”

“What did I say, Jimmy?! The team needs you. I need you. How bad do you think it would look if your own dad is coaching the team and you are home racing bikes with friends? Come on, don’t let me down!”

Again, another forceful parent pushing their kid to do something to fulfill their ego.

More than ever, there is a growing number of athletes opting out of sports because of intense pressure from their parents and weekend schedules packed full as if they are competing for the Olympics.

When do we draw the line and let kids be kids? The motto of keeping them busy or keeping them tired is a thing of the past. Moreover, parents running teams as if they are preparing to compete against the 95-96 Chicago Bulls is rubbish.

Sports have become a full-time job for kids.

We all know the parents that have taken matters into their own hands to ensure that their little athlete gets his/her scholarships. Often, putting them on multiple travel teams that require expensive fees and nightly practices after their school practices.

Is this necessary?

What happened to one practice an evening, finishing up homework at a decent time, and a little playtime? These days, eight-year-olds have two full-time jobs: sports, and school.

Don’t get me wrong I think there are benefits to being part of travel teams:

1) If athletes are being coached instead of scrimmaging all practice.

2) If coaches are instilling in them lifelong lessons instead of making it about JUST winning.

3) If the local team has an incompetent coach who does not possess leadership or role model qualities.

4) If a local team is not available for that athlete to participate on. I don’t believe there is a need to travel long distances to develop at young ages.

It has become about parents instead of the athlete.

Games have turned into parents trying to coach their son/daughter from the sidelines. It’s great to encourage and cheer on your young athlete, but, when it turns into coaching them from the sideline, it makes it very difficult for most athletes to be fully engaged in the game because they have two different voices they are trying to listen to – coach and parents.

Also, games have become a bragging session about where a young athlete has traveled to compete or what travel team the parents want the son/daughter to compete on next year. “Oh did I just miss my son/daughter make their shot?” “Yes Mildred, you were busy bragging and showing me your eight-year old’s highlight tape for college recruiters…” “Oh, did you ask your son/daughter about what they want to do?”

The power of letting children make their own healthy and reasonable choices is real.

Who’s got biggest muscles?

The number of coaches and dads who have stepped up to the plate to manage a team of energized kids has increased. This is great; however, many coaches are trying to live vicariously through these young, developing athletes by “stacking” teams with all the talent and crushing every other team in the league.

“Hey Richard, you got a nice team there!”

“Yeah, its just like I do it in Madden.”

We get it, Richard, your ego has gotten so big that you have forgotten the whole point of a youth development league. We also understand that you like to win. In that case, why don’t you join an adult league instead of using kids to pad your ego?

Coaches, kids need to understand the fundamentals of the game and the importance as they continue athletics.

Winning may be fun now, but if a group of kids go through a season of their given sport without learning anything, becoming better people, or having a stronger understanding of the game, then you have failed them and their parents big time.

Congratulations on your all madden team, Richard…

Where’s the fun?

Some have put such an emphasis on winning that many children think they need to walk away with a win, every game and at all costs. By no means am I saying winning is terrible, but, at developmental ages, if we teach children that the only way he or she is improving is by winning, then we have once again failed.

Remember the “it’s all about having fun” speech before the games that reminded young athletes to, well, have fun? It has slowly changed into a pregame speech by an overly aggressive coach that tells the kids to kick the other teams’ butt. Hmmm, I question if this is the right thing to teach easily influenced individuals. This approach places a tremendous amount of pressure on the team to win the game for the coach.

Regardless if you are a coach or a parent, I think we can all agree that in many cases, sports have not given young athletes the ability to have fun. It has become how many points can be scored and how badly a team can be crushed because you know, the coach told the team to do so. Maybe it’s time for many of us to take a new approach and empower young athletes and give them an outlet where they feel they can communicate and be a part of a larger support group. Screaming and yelling doesn’t do it and the video below shows a handful of situations where the coach is out of line.

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Kendrique Coats is the owner of Coats Performance, which provides speed and agility training in Frisco, Plano, Southlake, and Dallas Texas. Over the years, Coats has spent most of his coaching time on the high school level coaching boys and girls track and field as well as overseeing strength and conditioning programs, which included stops at Pontiac Township High School in Illinois and Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. Now the head track and field coach at Dallas International School in Dallas, Texas, Coats looks to bring many of his training and coaching philosophies to the new program. Coats has written several articles including “Why I Stopped Yelling and Started Coaching along with Early Sports Specialization. For more on Coach Coats and his work, be sure to follow on Twitter @kendriquecoats, Instagram @CoatsPerformance, and his website www.coatsperformance.com.

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