Dos and Donts of Parent Participation by Chellsie Memmel I first want to thank the parents who put their kids in our great sport! Without parents, we wouldnt be here or have any of the amazing opportunities that we do. With that said, I believe there should be boundaries in parental involvement in sports. Do watch practices....but only once and a while. If you just cant stay away, dont bring up things that happened or any trouble they may have had in practice that day. Let your child talk to you. If they want to vent, listen. If they would rather leave their bad day behind, let them. If they had a great day and are super pumped to tell you about it, be excited and happy about it. Dont set your own goals for them....it will make it harder on you and them. Your kids are in this sport because they want to be and because hopefully they love doing it. They will have their own goals and expectations of what they want to get out of it. It is great to help guide them with their goals but anything more than that can create problems. More often than not, especially as they start getting older and more advanced, kids know what is going to be realistic in terms of goals. They will know what is going to be physically possible for them to learn and accomplish, and what might not be. Dont set unrealistic goals for them and let them know what they are. The Olympics goal is my least favorite coming from parents. Step back and think about the numbers. Five girls make the team every four years. Five every four years. They’re the best five in the country, out of millions of gymnasts, and a big group of the top athletes. It obviously can be done, but realistically the odds are not in anyones favor. So please remember to always be realistic about what you want them to get out of the sport and support them no matter what happens. That’s not to say that they shouldn’t reach for the stars! But this should be their dream, not yours. This was years ago, but still a story I remember well...our team was at a compulsory meet and one of the girls did not have a good meet at all. She was so scared at what her moms reaction was going to be, she went into the bathroom right away and called her grandmother and asked her to come pick her up. That stuck with me and I’m really lucky to not have had that kind of experience. Think about it this way… You may have been a gymnast yourself....but are you also a (real) coach? You took a few math classes in school years ago, but does that qualify you to teach math now? You obviously will have more knowledge than parents who did not do gymnastics, but have you ever coached, and how long has it been since you were in the gym yourself? Please don’t lose sight of that. Let the coaches be the coaches. First and foremost, you chose to go to a club and let the professionals there coach your child. It is their job and what they have been trained to do. They have most likely started out as helpers and trained under more experienced coaches, been to clinics, are certified appropriately, and have done high level gymnastics themselves. Most of the coaches I know have a training plan, especially when you get into the competitive levels. They know what is in the routines and where the kids should be in their training at each point in the year. Let them do their job. Be careful about pushing your kids to train skills at home, especially their big skills. Practice at home should only be done with proper equipment and matting and safety should be a number one concern. Also, be sure to check with your child’s coach regarding an “at home” training schedule. I am very lucky to have awesome parents. They supported me through every up and down that I went through in my gymnastics career. The best thing they did was let it be MY career. MY gymnastics. They were always there when I needed help or advice but never overstepped their parental boundaries, even when they were both coaching me. They were my coaches at gym and my parents at home…and I truly thank them for that!
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 21:06:19 +0000
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