Playing a sport teaches children the value of hard work and sportsmanship. It also prepares your athlete for their future when they take up a job and must work with a boss over them. The discipline of regular practices and teamwork cannot be understated. However, within the four leading roles of sports: player, referee, coach, and spectator, a nefarious new position has crept onto the scene – the sideline coach. There are many skills that games teach our children, but the sideline coach can negate all of them.
To prepare your student-athletes for a successful adult life, it’s important to stop sideline coaching and give them the tools to be better players. Total Sport Solutions has the equipment and accessories you need to give your child ample opportunity to hone their skills. We offer a wide range of backyard rinks, outdoor courts, and multi-purpose flooring. Let’s team up to provide your children with a brighter future.
4 Bad Habits Kids Learn when You Coach from the Sidelines
We all want our kids to grow up to be responsible contributors to society. With all the distractions nowadays, it is much harder to teach your children the life skills necessary to make it in the world. As parents, it’s important to remember that our children are always watching, and more is ‘caught’ than ‘taught’. If you’re one of those parents with a regular tendency to be a sideline coach during their sporting activities,
Inappropriate life skills you may unwittingly be teaching from the sidelines:
- It’s okay to embarrass others, even if it is your family or friends. Stepping out on the court or field or into the ice rink can be intimidating. Yelling, screaming, or shaking a cowbell in excitement embarrasses your athlete. If you do it enough, your child may pretend they don’t know you. Worse yet is that failing to stop and exercise some restraint also teaches them that embarrassing others is acceptable behaviour. Taken too far, it can turn into bullying, and that is something we never want our kids to learn.
- It’s alright to disrespect those in authority. Each time you yell at the coach or referee, you reinforce the idea that authority figures should not be listened to or respected. Remember that eventually, your kids may turn their disrespect of authority toward you.
- I’m entitled to have my way all the time. One complaint across the generations is that young people feel entitled. One way you may be reinforcing this attitude is by crying out or complaining when things don’t go your way. It teaches your kids that it is acceptable to do the same to others.
- It’s fine not to be a team player and work together for a common goal. Sports teach us how to work together for a common goal, such as winning a game or the championship. As a sideline coach instructing your child, you reinforce the idea of serving one’s own needs instead of the needs of others. You are attempting to insert an “I” in the word “team”—there’s none!
Support Your Kids’ Sportsmanship with the Right Attitude and the Best Equipment
Teach your child how to survive in life with the soft skills of respect and teamwork. Let us help with the hard skills of practicing at home or school, by giving you access to the best equipment. At Total Sport Solutions, we are happy to guide you in installing the right equipment for your needs. We support families, schools, gyms, sports arenas, community centres, with all sorts of sporting needs, including sports mats, fitness tiles, and outdoor courts.
Total Sport Solutions is your source for backyard and facility sports equipment in Canada. Call us today at 1-866-718-9178 and request a free quote.