I’m kind of caught between two different points of view when it comes to today’s young athlete.  As a coach, I want to help each and every athlete reach their true potential.  If a parent has hired me to help their kid, then I assume that athlete cares about his/her sport and wants to do the best they can.

As a parent, I walk the fine line of making my child understand the importance of playing sports.  I truly feel that life lessons can be learned in sports.  I have no delusions that my child will be a professional athlete, but I do want her to succeed enough to the point that she will have a positive experience no matter what she does.

How much is too much?

I truly feel that most parents that bring their kids to us for help are doing so because they want their kid to have the best experience possible.  When their kid looks back on his/her sports career they did all they could to be the best athlete possible and it gave them a lifetime of positive memories.  Very few actually think their kid is going to be the next best thing.  (Yes, a few of you are out there and you know who you are).

I get that.  Right now, I think parents battle how much should they push their kid.  You want your kid to have fun, but you also know that if what you are having them do isn’t making them a better athlete at their sport, your child might be facing the realization of never getting off the bench.

Or worse yet, not even making the team.

When do you start sacrificing a little free time and spending it on instructional lessons for your athlete?  Or when do you decide to try that upper level team and challenge your child to be better?

As long as it is fun, it is alright.

Yes, I am cool with that.  But, most people who want to play a sport have fun with that sport when they are actually PLAYING that sport.  If as an athlete I’m not doing anything to improve my skill set and I’m seeing more and more bench time, am I really having fun?

Some people are just happy being part of a team.  I understand that, but to be part of a team, you have to make a team.  Will your skill-set still be good enough to even make that squad?  Or are you just fine playing on a rec team, with little structure, little practice, and some fun games that are really like intramural games?

If that is fine with you great, but for some people challenging oneself to make a good team is important to him/her.  Some people want to take pride in representing their school and some of the accolades that go with that.  Maybe you want to participate in that school rivalry.

That is fine and dandy.  But, will your skill-set allow you to make that team?  If it does, will it allow you to be a starter for that team?  That is for you to decide or better, determine.

Wanting to win doesn’t make it wrong.

I don’t think that winning is everything, but you shouldn’t NOT want to win.  It is alright to win.  It is what fuels us to be better.  Just because you want to win doesn’t mean you are so serious and don’t want any fun.

Just win, win, win.

You can be serious about your sport and have fun with it at the same time.  That is possible.  Even when I was out of organized sports playing intramurals as an adult, if my team was getting thumped, I was not happy with it.  That was not fun.  Looking at the other team laugh and goof around, I assume they were having fun.  It was fun for my team, until they got to the bar and consumed a few “beverages.”

Yes, I do think you need to keep things in perspective, but I do think that you can want to be better for your sport and it doesn’t make you a bad person.  You can still have fun with your sport and want to win.  There should be nothing wrong with that and don’t let anybody tell you different.

I think you must have those two attitudes if you are an athlete who even wants to just make his/her high school team.  Schools have a lot of kids to pick from and more and more people are participating in sports.  Are you going to have the right attitude and work ethic to do what it takes to just make those high school teams?  I can’t answer that only you can.  Something to think about.

Would love to read your comments below.  Maybe your perspective is the same as someone else and might help shed some light for that person.

Photo Courtesy of battlecreekcvb on Flickr