The above link will take to an article written by Scott. Scott is a wise man indeed. I agree with him about much of what he says and I preach whenever I speak to my students about coaching or administering youth sport programs, or even managing their organizations.
This is timely considering a very recent mishap with a local soccer team. These three lessons are irrefutable.
His lessons are:
It's not about you coach. We must always remember that it is not about us it is about the kids. Scott speaks of "being all powerful and having little 8 year old girls willing to run sprints at his given command." Some grown men and women see their youth sport team as an extension of themselves and it becomes apart of their self esteem. It is not about the "Coach" the adult it is about the kids! It really is!
Look away from the scoreboard. I do agree that winning and losing are important but should not be the focus. The main reason I think not keeping score in some age groups is because the adults cannot handle when you keep score. The score becomes the focus, not how the game was played or if their child actually had a good time. Competition and learning how to win and lose are important lessons that we must keep in perspective.
Life lessons are important. The last lesson deal with modeling and being a role model. If you are a parent you know what I mean. Have you ever done something thinking your 3 year-old was not watching. Then a few days later the 3 year-old surprises everyone by repeating what you said or the actions they saw you perform. The kids are watching and you attitude will rub off on them. If you behave poorly and yell at the ref and the other team then guess what...you players will as well. Maybe not at that moment but you are stting the example. If you intmidate the referee (as I saw a grown man do to a teenage boy officiating this weekend...I actually took a picture it was intense) the athletes will will not only immulate this on the field at some point they may take into other aspects of their lives.
We as youth sport coaches, administrators, officials, and parents have a big responsibility and we should not be the focus, but we often are!
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