It was a beautiful summer evening when I sat down in my lawn chair next to the mini soccer field where my daughter would be playing her first ever game. As the game began and my little girl, with her bouncy pony tail, ran back and forth the opposite way of the ball, I sat on the edge of my seat yelling, “Camryn, you’re going the wrong way!”
Right away, I leaned back in my chair and said to my husband, “Oh my God…I am totally yelling at her from the sidelines.” That’s when it occurred to me, thankfully so early on in any sort of sporting career she might have, that I don’t want to be one of “those” parents.
“Those” parents meaning ones we’ve seen stories about in recent years when brawls break out in the stands of kid’s sports between adults – let me say that again – brawls between adults!
For real?
We have seen so many stories about competitiveness among parents in the stands about who is better and about who only knows what else, but now here we are, in our community, having police patrolling our kids’ games.
RELATED: Police return to city arenas
Well, it’s not about who is better! And what sort of example are we setting for our children and our children’s children and generations to come? If this sort of inappropriate adult behavior continues, soon we will have airport type security checks and police with guns patrolling all our community centres and facilities. Do we really want that? I don’t think so.
So as an elite athlete and obviously a mom of an almost four-year-old who is becoming increasingly involved in extra curricular activities, I have become very conscious about the type of “soccer mom” I am and want to be.
I think it is safe to say that I know some of the most important things it takes to achieve, particularly in sport. I can safely say that loving what you do, being a supportive teammate, believing in yourself and focusing on the process, not the outcomes are some of the major factors in success.
Sport should be about having fun, learning about yourself, learning how to improve as a player and a person and working together – traits that help you in life too.
- ‘Shock and disbelief’ after Manitoba school trustee’s Indigenous comments
- Canadian man dies during Texas Ironman event. His widow wants answers as to why
- Several baby products have been recalled by Health Canada. Here’s the list
- ‘Sciatica was gone’: hospital performs robot-assisted spinal surgery in Canadian first
Comments