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1) Soccer is a team sport.
2) Our children made the team, not us.
3) If you think your child is better than the other children on
the team, congratulations -- you probably fall into the majority
of soccer parents. However, this is largely irrelevant. (see #1
above)
4) If you want your child to improve his/her skills and performance,
then leave it to the coaches. The parents' jobs are to: pay, drive
and offer positive support.
5) If you think you can offer good advice to one of the coaches,
then see the team manager and arrange to take the coaching certification
exam. If you want to coach from the touchlines without coming to
team practices, team meetings, team camps, coaches clinics, coaches
meetings ....., keep the thought to yourself until you can watch
soccer on TV.
6) Although coaching advice from parents is generally not appreciated,
communication is very important. If anything at all is bothering
your child, let the coach know as soon as possible so that he/she
has an opportunity to adjust if possible to make your child's experience
more rewarding and enjoyable. If you really want to destroy a team,
tell everyone ... but the coach about your child's problem. Talk
about it and complain about it with the other parents all season
and never let the one person who can fix it know there is a concern.
7) If you think you can offer good advice to a game official...
see #5 above.
8) A soccer match is not won or lost by any child (see #1 above).
9) To play well during the season, our children must come together
as a team and support, communicate with and trust each other. The
coaches and children will accomplish this if we don't undermine
their efforts. However, if you disagree with the foregoing statements,
undermining can be accomplished by using any of the following tactics:
criticizing the efforts of your child, telling your child he/she
is the most/least important and best/worst player on the team, telling
your child that another child on the team is lousy or has deficiencies,
yelling negative comments during practices or games, criticizing
the decisions or strategies of the coaches, claiming that victory
or defeat was the responsibility of any child.
10) Follow the rules and use good judgment and everyone will have
a great season.
Editor's Note: This letter appeared as an anonymous
"letter to the editor" in a youth hockey magazine. I have
changed a few words here and there to make it appropriate for soccer.
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