Father’s Day is just around the corner. At the end of every successful athlete is great parents, and Dad’s have a huge role as the usual leader of sports and recreation in the family. Parent involvement has been shown to be essential for the growth and development of each child. It is key that the Dads (and Moms) support in three important ways:
- Support through Passion
- Support through Encouragement
- Support through Gaining Knowledge
- Support through Providing Opportunity
Parents supporting through passion make a huge difference in the passion that their children show for any sport or any activity. Passion is the key and defining first indicator of a future star in any sport. Passion is the inner motivation that drives an athlete to do the long, hard hours of practice that are necessary to really build that passion. Most superstar athletes have had Dad’s that are either very passionate about the game, really giving it some love in their eyes, or highly competitive athletes themselves.
Dad’s can help their children do better not by telling, but by showing passion. Any time you show love for the game, speak positively about an athlete in that sport, you are showing passion.
Parents can support through encouragement, and this can be the greatest form of feedback for children. Children need to be encouraged, and not chastised, especially after they make mistakes. Many parents can get too negative on the feedback, creating a detrimental self-image in their children. Try saying “I could see your effort level, let’s try to practice on that during the week so that you’ll get it in the next game.” or “Great shot! I could see what you were trying to do there, and we can definitely work on that during the week.”
Parents can support through gaining knowledge, which is an important pillar. The more knowledge the parents have on what the skills look like, how to build expertise in the sport, how to increase physical attributes, and eat to eat properly for athletic performance, the better their children will become. At TAC Sports, we really seek to have the parents gain as much knowledge as possible, providing our 5-Star Development Plan and Progress Reports, and also our Youtube Channel which helps demonstrate and explore each of the skills.
