Fast forward...I came to love being an educator so much that i gave up my coaching aspirations to pursue educational administrative positions. For the past six years, my coaching responsibilities have been limited to crowd control while I’ve volunteered to help “coach” baseball, basketball, flag football, and soccer with my son’s various teams.
This past spring/summer, my son graduated from “rec” ball and played a more competitive brand of baseball. He was on the 7U Tigers; it was still coach pitch, but it was certainly an accelerated version of what he’d previously experienced. Again, I volunteered to help coach.
What follows are a few reflections from that experience:
Coaching your child is HARD. Maybe the hardest. I’ve been on both ends of this. My Dad coached me and now I have spent time coaching my children.
It’s hard because you know your child more than any of the other kids. You feel more comfortable with them. You know their capabilities. And you want the world for your child. As a result, it's easier and more natural for you to be in their ear more than the other kids. But they don't see it as Dad (or Mom) wants the best for me; they just hear you always talking (nagging - let's call a spade a spade) at them.
On the flip side, coaching your child, and being able to share the triumphs that he/she experiences, individually or as a team are incomparable. Triumphing as a team is one of the best, maybe the best, things about sports. It is only enhanced when you are able to feel those sensations with family.
My advice:
- Encourage more than anything
- Explain why when making suggestions
- Make sure to include plenty of praise whenever you critique
- When you’re at practices and/or games, play the role of coach; when you’re at home, or the park, or whenever/wherever else...play the role of parent
- Have FUN. Sports are games. Your son/daughter is just a kid; these opportunities won’t last forever. Enjoy them!
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