Pushy Parents and Stressed Athletes

Pushy Parents and Stressed Athletes

How many sports have you ever been enthusiastic to play rather than forced into by your parents? More often than not, children are dragged into doing sports than getting the option of picking for themselves. Nowadays, children as young as three years older are trained for various sports. Whether parents think it’s beneficial to strap on skates before their child can speak full sentences or they’re living through their child it is unhealthy for people's self esteem. Rides to practices and celebratory dinners after games which should be fun are stressful and make children resent their parents and avoid them. In the future when children have to pick what sports they want to play in high school, they’ll have a negative connotation with the sport and will shy away from it. While encouraging your kids to participate in sports, it's not ok to force them and they should figure their interests themselves.

A child's self esteem is more important than whether they will be the best on their soccer team. Parents force their children into sports young and push them to be better than everyone. Nowadays children are participating in soccer and hockey as young as three years old. This causes bad self esteem and children end up not liking the sport they are supposed to love. There’s already enough pressure from coaches and other players but to feel pressure from a parent on the sidelines or at home makes children stress levels increase. Children already have enough on their plate and stressing about sports is the last thing they should be doing.

When parents are constantly criticising their child over every mistakes they make and what they should’ve done, they drift apart from their parents. The child's parent expects too much out of them and suddenly car rides to games are filled with stress and anxiety. Children will resent their parents and a relationship without open communication will form. Researchers have found that “pushy parents” push their kids because they see themselves in their kid. Living through their children causes broken relationships and bad self esteem issues.

Once children have grown into teenagers and enter high school the big question is which sports they will play. After being pushed to play since they were in preschool more anxiety and stress is built up. By age 13 already 70% of student athletes have dropped out of sports. On top of the stress of being the best they have to worry about which team they make. They will shy away from the sport and their parents even which was what the parents were trying to prevent in the first place. Children should be able to pick whether they want to play a sport, or do theater, or be an artist and have their parent's guide them along the way. Giving children the freedom to do what they want creates a healthy parent and child bond.

Whether children have an artistic side or athletic side they need to explore their options with feeling pressure from their parents. It’s healthy to have them discover their interests and what they excel at. If children want to be the next Tom Brady or strive to be like Adele, they need to figure it out for themselves to create a healthy development in their childhood.

"Angry mom yelling at an official during a soccer game"

"Getting stressed about competition"

Works Cited

Metz, Elle. "Stress and the Athlete's Body." Outside Online. N.p., 29 Oct. 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <http://www.outsideonline.com/1923966/stress-and-athletes-body>.

"Negative Effects of Parents That Push Their Children Into Playing Sports." LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 16 May 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/523031-negative-effects-of-parents-that-push-their-children-into-playing-sports/>.

(TNS), Danielle Braff Chicago Tribune. "Experts: When Parents Push Sports, Kids Often Lose." Detroit Free Press. N.p., 17 Nov. 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <http://www.freep.com/story/life/family/2014/11/17/kids-sports-parents-pressure-stress/19188675/>.

@usafootball. "How Hard Should You Push Your Child in Sports." Youth Football. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <http://usafootball.com/blogs/football-parents/post/11603/how-hard-should-you-push-your-child-in-sports>.

Wek, Nate. "Sportsmanship and High School Parents: Ten Tips To Remember When Attending Games." Sportsmanship and High School Parents: Ten Tips To Remember When Attending Games. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <http://www.sdpb.org/blogs/sports-and-leisure/2015/12/10/sportsmanship-and-high-school-parents-ten-tips-to-remember-when-attending-games/>.