My Athlete isn’t Aggressive enough
My athlete isn’t aggressive enough? That is exactly what a parent said to a friend of mine the other day! So my friend sent the parent to me to “see what I could do” about her athlete.
This sounded really ‘fishy” to me so I asked the question, “how old is your athlete”?
The parent replied, “she’s 9”.
It’s about the Love of the Sport.
One of the foundational principles of the Advanced Mental Toughness Training is Love of the Sport. II usually have this conversation with an athlete that has been playing their sport for years and has gotten lost in the the fame, or trophies or statistics.
A 9 year-old kid already loves what they are doing without any “help” from the parents. As a matter of fact, if this parent continued “helping” her athlete… one thing is for certain. By the time that athlete reaches middle or high school, they probably won’t be playing that sport. I’ve seen this time and time again
What did I do?
I have seen this over and over, particularly in the Dallas area. We are the sports mecca for elite baseball, soccer, football, tennis, cheer and gymnastics. This comes with a price. These athletes have the opportunity to get selected for many D1 and D2 colleges and universities, but at what cost?
I told the parent that I’d be happy to send her my 10 steps to be a Great Sports Parent ebook (available soon) and that if her athlete needed my help in a year or so: I’d be happy to see her. But for now, the parent should do her level best to make sure that her athlete is HAVING FUN PLAYING HER SPORT.
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If you know a parent like this please have them contact me BEFORE their athlete gets so fed up with “helpful parents” that they abandon their sport before they even know how to play.
