Hey, folks! Everything starts with the KIDS!
HEY FOLKS EVERYTHING STARTS WITH THE KIDS
I believe that we need to make sure that a good social culture is set up, so it's conducive to football development and also to educate families that kids involved in physical activity do better academically.
Look at modern soccer as a whole. You can always hire and fire the best coaches in the world. You can't hire and fire parents. So if parents understand how important their role in development through play is, it all makes for a resounding successful future when trying to produce good athletes.
"There's no shortcut for producing a strong footballing country or culture. It all starts with the kids. Unless we get it right with the foundation level then it's going to be a very long tough development road for any country not just here in Australia."
I have heard a lot of rumblings and concerns from parent’s this year. Whether their children are playing indoor or outside on the weekends. Here’s a few points I believe parents should try to follow.
Step back emotionally. Don’t forget this is your child’s life and experience.
It’s a joy of being a parent to live through our kids but this can be taken too far. If you become obsessed with your child succeeding in the game and living up to expectations you set, you may need to re-evaluate and step back.
Make the car rides positive experiences. Don’t talk about the match or training in the car.
The only game talk should focus on effort and not result. Let the child know you are their biggest supporter and will be whether they play well or make mistakes, win or lose.
Praise achievement. Don’t be critical or instructive. {Dad knows best because he played or still does play}
Learn to praise achievement and not focus on your child’s limitations. Make sure your child knows you are proud of a great play/match etc.
Focus on process and effort. Don’t be too results-oriented.
Your priority for your child needs to be that they feel good about themselves and happy so that they are motivated to play again tomorrow.
Let your young footballer do what is right for them now. Don’t push the child based on your desires.
Encouraging your child is great, but don’t cross the line and push your child further than he or she wants to go right now.
Let coaches coach! Don’t be both the parent and coach.
Getting coaching and instruction both from parents and coaches confuses a child and has little positive impact.
Adjust your expectations. Don’t allow your frustration to build.
Letting your Frustration Gap build is not helpful for both you and the child. A parent who bottles up frustration becomes a ticking time bomb waiting for an opportunity for the frustration to become uncorked.
Every child makes mistakes! Don’t hyper-focus on your child.
Parents put their own children under a microscope and live and die by each movement the child makes. This hyper-focus on your own child, watching their every move, creates a lack of perspective relative to the other kids on the pitch and the game in general.