Things that parents do that annoy coaches

Parenting is not easy. Parenting an athletic child, even more so. Their schedules, their demands are too many. You have to work around your schedule to accommodate most of the time. Dropping and picking up form practice sessions can be exhausting; add to that, their special nutritional needs that need fulfilled. At such times, a parent feels that since they are sacrificing so much, they should see their child being the best. In that drive, sometimes, they end up doing things that can truly annoy the coaches. And while we try and intervene with the coaches we must remember that the coach too like the parent is here to get the best result out from the players/team they coach. However as a parent if you find yourself doing these things then you know you must correct yourself!

1) Hanging out in the sidelines during practice sessions and giving instructions:

It irritates the coach. You feel like you are encouraging your child, but in reality, you are just being a hindrance in the overall teamwork and coaching session. The coaches are trained to handle 20 young athletes at a go; they know when to encourage which child and when to rest a child. Let them do their job effectively; just remove yourself from the equation, go chill, have a cup of coffee while the experts do their work!

2) Not sending the kids in their full kit:

Many a times, kids come to the practice without proper gear. Not right! The gear is there to instill team spirit into the child. Not dressing them up in it teaches them to not care much about the team; in turn affecting their team spirit.

3) Not being regular with the practice sessions:

Some times, kids, especially the younger ones who depend on their parents to ferry them to and forth, come for practices when the parents have time. Sports doesn’t work like that! If your child shows signs of being sporty, it takes a lot of sacrifices and adjustments on your part to fix that schedule into your already busy one. Barring a few important incidents or family emergencies, see to it that you instill the discipline of going for practices sessions even when they are not up to it one hundred percent. After all, sports is all about practice and giving your best and motivating yourself all the time.

4) Talking to the coach about the team and the game:

The coach is trained. The coach knows the sport. If you think you can run the team, sure enough take up coaching. But till then, please let the coach do their job. Asking them how to improve on your child’s skill sets is one thing; and giving them suggestions on picking your child for the matches or picking your child over another is just in bad taste.

5) Trying to weasel their way into the coaches’ good books through gifts:

Many parents think that getting your child selected to play matches is all how strong their PR with the coach is. You may not realise it but it actually harms your child’s chances completely when you try to buy their way into the team.

So parents, please try to avoid these tactics to help coaches coach a good team.