Supporting Your Child in Team Sports

If your children are athletic then the most important thing that you can offer them aside from an orange after a game is support. Children of all ages need to feel that their parents support them and love them and athletics can get pretty rowdy even for Children’s Games. For anything, children need the most support from their parents but when it comes to sports they need to know that no matter whether they win, lose or draw you are going to still be there and still be proud of them for their efforts. 

We have all seen the detriment that can happen if a child has a pushy parent in the stands on game day, and nobody wants to be that kind of a parent who bases their child’s emotional happiness on whether or not they win or game. Don’t be that parent if you can avoid it. You can prepare yourself with dugout cards and oranges and towels and all of their equipment, but the best thing you can do to prepare yourself as a parent is to make sure that you are ready for any outcome and make sure your children see that you are happy for them no matter what. So here are some of the things that you can do to support your children during sports.

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• Provide emotional support. You have to remember that your child is going to be watching you very carefully. If you don’t look happy at the end of their sports game, they’re going to believe that you no longer have the same amount of love for them because they weren’t good enough. Children need to know that no matter what the outcome to anything that they do they will always be good enough for you. Kids just want their parents to be proud of them and to love them, and it’s up to you to make sure that you are displaying that to your child.
• Emphasize effort over outcome. While you are watching your children play sports you should make sure that you are paying attention to the effort that they put in. When you do this, your pride comes away from whether they win or lose the game and stays at their performance in general. If you’re watching your child try really hard to win, then it doesn’t matter what the outcome is at all. You have to do everything that you can to show them that you are proud of them regardless. Children base a lot of their emotional well being on whether or not their parents are proud of them, and even when you don’t intend to be common you can come off as disappointed. You are seeing your child go for the very best effort, So make sure they know you are proud of them. You can also use this as time to bond, such as by watching batting videos together or going to games to enjoy the entertainment of the sport, too. This shows that the warm memories you make in sports are worth more than all the trophies in the world.
• Foster independence. When it comes to putting together dugout cards then you should absolutely be involved in your child support, but where you can push for independence. If they want to go off and be with their friends, let them. When you drop them off to practice, go and sit in the car so you are not watching the practice. Unless they ask you to. Children should be encouraged, but not hovered over and independence is something you should definitely be ensuring your children feel when you leave them at their games.
• Check in on their happiness. Some kids only engage in sports because I think that’s what their parents want. Make sure that your children are happy to be involved in the sports that they are in because this way you can ensure that you Foster an open relationship with your children. They deserve to feel heard and seen, and if they’re unhappy they should be able to tell you.

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