I coach a lot of my sons, Nolan and Braydon, baseball and hockey teams and I am an athletic director at a summer camp and it just amazes me how many young athletes have no idea of how to be accountable for their actions both on and off the field. Parents today want the world for their child and feel that if they are paying for it then they deserve it without actually having to earn it and this is just plain wrong. Don't get me wrong as the first priority is to always have fun when playing sports at any level but what troubles me is that these athletes and their parents want to play at the highest level but yet they don't want to do any of the necessary work that is involved in playing at that level or they feel that they should automatically (the ENTITLEMENT GENERATION AS I CALL THEM) get a free ride just for showing up. God forbid a coach ever tells them that they are not being a good member of the team or what I like to say to them "Being accountable for their actions both positively and negatively in order to be a better teammate!"
Parents this can and has to start with you. It is a very difficult thing to do but yes you have to as it will help both in the short term as well as the long term for your child. Make them be responsible for getting all of their equipment ready for both practices and games, make them dry their equipment out after events, make them be sure that all of their equipment fits and is in good working condition at all times, advise and try to teach them to be responsible to their team if they play team sports versus being responsible to themself in individual sports. All of these little things will ultimately help get them mentally prepared for their game or practice in order to play to the best of their ability. I've seen more parents carrying their child's equipment bag, return home for equipment that was forgotten by their child and I've even seen one parent go out and buy brand new baseball shoes for his son that forgot them (not once but 3 times) over the last 6 months that it drives me crazy. These happen to be 12 and 13 year old boys I'm referring to and not 5/6 year olds. My wife, Karen, and I have always taught Nolan and Braydon that being accountable for their actions is one of the most important ways of showing your true desire for the sport as well as how valuable you perceive all the members of your team, including coaches. I'm not saying being accountable is easy, as it is never fun to have to tell your team that you might have let them down during a game or practice, but if they learn to do it at a young age then they will be a lot more valuable in a coaches eyes as well as their teammates and even into other areas of their lives like their teachers, friends and family. Karen and I always tell Nolan and Braydon that if they work hard and are accountable for their actions that coaches, employers, friends, family and acquantices will want them on their team because they no that they will make their team better at the end of the day. So parents no matter how tough it seems, please help your children grow by teaching them how to become accountable for their actions both on and off the field everyday. That is how it looks to me "From the Sidelines" and please give me your feedback and thoughts.
