The Role Of Parents In Children’s Sports
Parents play a very important role in the sports life of their children. In fact, without your support, many children would not be able to participate in sports activities. That is why parents should get involved, but to what extent? What should be the role of parents in children’s sports?
It is not always easy for parents to know what to do to help their children have a positive and enjoyable sporting experience. This challenge is compounded by the vast amount of information available from different sources and approaches on parenting and children’s sports.
The thing to keep in mind is that optimal parental involvement in children’s sports will differ from family to family. On the one hand, because children have different needs; on the other, because parents come with different experiences. Additionally, parents and children will encounter different situations as their involvement deepens.
Parents in children’s sports
The family is the basic element of the success of a child’s professional or sporting life. Parents can contribute extensively to meeting the significant learning needs of their children. They are the natural authority for their children and, in fact, have a great impact on their attitude towards movement and sports. Therefore, there is no doubt that parents are an important factor contributing to children’s sports.
However, when it comes to children’s sports, many parents are unclear about what is best for their children. In fact, many do not allow their children to participate in team sports due to the inappropriate attitude of some parents who act as coaches or who direct children from the stands at games and training sessions. For this reason, on many occasions parents are forbidden to get involved in training.
But getting dads out of youth sports is not the best solution to the problem. Parents have an important role to play in children’s sports. In fact, the role they play can affect a child’s interest and enthusiasm for sport in the future.
In this sense, as we will see later, studies have shown a positive relationship between parents who participate in their children’s sports activities and the child’s enjoyment of the activity; as long as it is a suitable and correct paper.
Advantages of parents getting involved in children’s sports
Parental involvement in children’s sports increases the likelihood that the child will participate in organized sports. In fact, according to a study published in Sport, Education and Society , the integration of organized sport in the school context could be considered as a method to level and compensate for inequalities on the playing field.
In other research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health , the researchers highlighted that some of the most protective and favorable factors for the development and health of children and adolescents are family and sports. Therefore, they emphasize that family participation in children’s sports activities is vital in their sports process.
It should be noted that many parents active in sports think that setting an example is enough to encourage their children to play sports. This is not necessarily true. In this sense, a study published in the Journal of sports science & medicine found that parental support for the physical activity of their children is more important than having parents as role models.
However, this work also found that more active parents are more likely to facilitate participation in organized sports. This is a very interesting aspect, since a higher prevalence of overweight or obese children with inactive parents was found.
Finally, it is important to note that parental participation in organized sports is associated with positive youth development. Results from a 2018 study conducted by researchers at the University of Delaware indicated that higher levels of parental involvement in their children’s organized sports were significantly associated with higher levels of children’s connection to their family, classmates, school and community.
The results of this study also indicated that moderate parental participation in organized sports was significantly associated with higher levels of confidence in children. However, higher and lower levels of parental involvement were associated with lower levels of trust.
In addition to all of this, in terms of child development, positive parental involvement can help develop important skills such as self-esteem, motivation, and social skills. These skills learned from sport carry over to other areas of life, such as school and extracurricular activities.
In short, the importance of the role that parents play in youth sports is unquestionable, but care must be taken not to hinder the enjoyment and sports development of the little ones.
However, despite the fact that parents play an important role in the sports development of our children, it is essential that we exercise caution in the approach we give it, since our behaviors can have both positive and negative effects on their sports experience.
