Reader,
I’ve been reflecting more and more on the behaviour of adults on the sidelines of football fields.
Whether it’s standing among supporters at youth football games hearing them instruct kids on every decision they make, being on the sideline hearing some of the rubbish that’s hurled at officials or players by ‘fans’, or adults verbally abusing each other in front of nine-year-old children, we just have to do better, and frankly, this kind of behaviour is damaging.
We seem to forget that the game is about kids and it’s their experience that’s being impacted due to adult anxiety and control.
From a personal perspective, it doesn’t motivate me to enter my very young kids into organised sport in a hurry, as I feel like they could be lost before they’ve begun. This isn’t just a football issue, but a sport issue, and it’s global.
The more people I speak to, the more it seems to be getting worse. So whose responsibility is it?
I don’t see many national governing bodies addressing the issue with any real vigour in their formal education programmes and while we can put on club workshops, the people that really need to attend, are unlikely to turn up.
So what can we do as coaches? For me, it’s about raising awareness, being consistent in your messaging and at times, attempting to hold up a mirror to the adults involved, whatever their role.
Three things to consider.
- Consider utilising your player information evenings as ‘workshop’ opportunities where all parents who have children in your programme may have to attend. These are small windows of opportunity to get key messages out.
- If you’re working with other coaches, observe each other and give feedback, especially if your club or school doesn’t have a leader who is supporting coaches.
- Film yourself coaching on game day or in sessions. How much talking are you doing? What information is helping? And what is just noise?
One thing for you to try this week.
If the issue is more around parents, use tools like VEO to share audio from the sidelines. During games, it is very easy to pick up who is yelling at the kids.
You could share clips of this with parents via club channels and ask for feedback, or use it as a way to start a conversation. One thing is for sure, we have to work with parents, not against them.
One critical resource on the topic.
Check out this research review on the impact of parental involvement in youth sports.
