Parent Expectations
Your family has determined club volleyball is the appropriate next step for your child athlete. You found a club that fits your needs and a coach whose philosophy matches your own. Your child saw success during tryouts, and now the team has begun to practice, marching towards the start of club season.
This is a great time for you to start pondering what this new experience will look like, and what your expectations are for yourself, as well as the whole family . Many new parents, in their excitement and desire for their child’s success, try inserting themselves into the role of coach, team manager, or even official. However, none of these are part of the parent responsibility! The club is a professional organization that supplies top coaches, playing facilities, uniforms, tournament scheduling and is part of a larger organization handling officials and their training. Your most important responsibility now is being a positive role model for your child athlete.
As the parent of a club level athlete, all your expectations, conversations and actions should be based on one word: Positivity.
When the season gets rolling, you will find opportunities to be upset with team play, how the coach is managing the game or who the coach is playing. Additionally, you may find yourself aggravated by a call one of the officials makes. Officials are fallible, they will make mistakes.
Being upset or frustrated with a team loss is a part of sports and having those feelings is understandable. Sharing those negative emotions with your child, their coach or an official is not.
When confronted with any negative situation, focus on the things your child athlete and the team are doing well. Take the positive position. Remember, this is not about you and what you expect to happen, it’s about the children on the court growing as athletes and most importantly, having fun in the process.
To help, here is some advice from children playing club level sports . . .
Advice from Kids to Parents:
- “Don’t say anything if I play bad.”
- “I love it when I look up and you smile and give me a thumbs up. When you say, you did great! You’ll get them next time.”
- “Please don’t give coaching tips. I have a coach for that.”
- “I don’t like it when my parents put more pressure on me because I’m already putting pressure on myself.”
- “Please just let me play.”
- Don’t yell so loud. I’m trying to focus.”
- “I love it when you say, ‘I love to watch you play.’”
If you maintain a positive outlook and don’t allow the challenges to bring you down, you’ll make your little player as proud of you as you are of them!