Parents and Coaches

Let me start off by stating that I am not a parent, and as such perhaps I shouldn't judge. However, I am going to get on my soapbox for a moment here:

It seems like more and more seemingly reasonable, intelligent, well-intentioned adults are becoming overly involved in their children's athletic lives and handicapping them in the process. It is frustrating when I see overzealous parents teaching something that directly contradicts what the player's coach is teaching. Coaches are rarely perfect and will certainly make mistakes, and it is a parent's perogative to not agree with gameplans, strategy, etc -- but when a parent communicates that to the player it undermines the coach's authority and ultimately just hurts their child in the long run. If your son thinks the coach doesn't know what he is doing because that is what you told him, he will become unteachable and uncoachable. Moreover, if a player does not always like his coach or always agree with him, that doesn't mean he cannot learn something from the coach. (Maybe you can learn what not to do in some cases!) Everyone who has played sports has had a coach that maybe we didn't like personally or didn't totally agree with at all times. Conversely, every player (and person in general) needs challenges in order to grow and learn. If a parent constantly protects and makes excuses for his or her child, he or she is not allowing the child to be challenged and is ultimately limiting their potential for growth and improvement. The bottom line is if you don't always agree with your son or daughter's coach, fine. Just don't make the mistake of communicating that attitude to your son or daughter. If you do so, I believe you are only hurting your child in the long run.