Okay, so here's my rough draft. It's not the best so just keep in mind "rough" draft. Click on the final draft tab on the side to see a more fine tuned version of this paper. Also on the page their are the links to Brooke Longtin's peer reviews of my paper. This is only beneficial to me. It's only posted so Mrs. T could grade it.
Sports Parents: It’s Only a Game
Athletes at every level receive a great amount of pressure to succeed. Not only do professional and collegiate athletes endure this stress but young athletes in youth sports are starting to feel the pressure as well. These young athletes aren’t necessarily receiving the grief from their peers or their coaches, but instead they are receiving this pressure from parents. This pressure may seem harmless but can lead to children losing interest in sports. Because of parents rage, unsportsmanlike conduct, and emphasis on winning their kids are losing interest in sports.
A parents rage at a sporting event is one of the most terrifying events a child might go through while playing sports. This rage can be defined as a parent is screaming and spewing obscenities at players, other parents, and officials. Some parents even take it to the next level and get physical with others. Parent’s behavior can endanger themselves other spectators and even young athletes. This behavior can set a bad example for young and maturing minds and lead them to lose interest and even completely quit sports.
When a parent is yelling at a child it is more than likely the child did something wrong like mouth off, skip their chores, or get in a fight with a sibling. The parent is simply doing their job trying to teach the child right from wrong. However, when a parent singles out a child at a sporting event it’s not because they didn’t clean their room. It might be because the missed a shot or struck out. This may go in the books as a mess-up but the athlete gave it their all. Seeing as the main goal of youth sports is having fun and learning to play a sport the child didn’t do anything wrong, and when the parent yells at them is it because having fun playing a sport is wrong? None of the athletes are able to enjoy themselves with screaming parents (Vernon).
Along with yelling, parents can take things a step farther when they become violent at a sporting event. While this may seem very rare there are several cases of violence at sporting events caused by parents. A father was recently beaten to death at a Massachusetts youth hockey game (Langmaid). It seems very ridiculous to lose a parent over a little league game. The violence doesn’t always escalate to this level and may just end in a fist fight. Incidents like these would be embarrassing for the kids of the parents involved. This may leave the child to believe they are to blame and in turn make them lose interest in sports.
Another common foul committed by parents is unsportsmanlike conduct. Rather than getting the flag and 15 yard penalty parents often get away with it. The main aspects of unsportsmanlike conduct are parents setting a bad example for their kids. When a child sees their mom or dad act in a certain way they think that’s the way they are supposed to act because it’s “what mom and dad do”. It’s hard to erase the effects of a bad example because it involves parents teaching their children how to act. Unsportsmanlike players are also easy targets for referees. When you act in unsportsmanlike ways it sticks out to officials that you should be punished because you have and attitude. If young athletes feel they are not only being singled out by parents but also by officials they will enjoy the sport even less and want to drop out of it more.
One of the worst things a parent may do is pressure a child into believing that winning is the most important part of playing sports. An over emphasis on winning leads athletes to believe that they can only have fun while they are winning. This eliminates the ability to play a just for fun without the pressure of winning. This pressure to succeed may have been caused by large exposure of professional athletes in the last decade (“Spoil Sports Pushy”). This large focus on victory also creates sore losers and even sore winners. When athletes are under so much pressure to succeed they stop having fun playing sports (“Spoil Sports Pushy”).
Learning how to win and lose is one of the most important skills that need to be learned when playing a sport. When parents teach children that winning is the only important thing involved in sports they become sore losers and sore winners. When a sore winner is victorious they can’t just shake their adversaries hand and be done they have to rub there victory in. Sore losers simply storm off the field crying because of a loss. What the over emphasis creates is a bunch of poor sports. It also creates athletes that will give up after one loss.
Youth athletics are a great way for kids to meet new friends and learn many life lessons. Parents should encourage their children to become involved in them just as long as they behave correctly at the sporting events, become good role models and teach their child to win and lose. Because of the actions of many parents like rage, unsportsmanlike actions, and a strong emphasis on winning children are losing the will to play youth sports. Parents, next time you see a fellow soccer mom or football dad arguing with the referees and spewing out obscenities talk to that parent and explain how this might have an effect on their child.
Okay, so here's my rough draft. It's not the best so just keep in mind "rough" draft. Click on the final draft tab on the side to see a more fine tuned version of this paper. Also on the page their are the links to Brooke Longtin's peer reviews of my paper. This is only beneficial to me. It's only posted so Mrs. T could grade it.
Sports Parents: It’s Only a Game
Athletes at every level receive a great amount of pressure to succeed. Not only do professional and collegiate athletes endure this stress but young athletes in youth sports are starting to feel the pressure as well. These young athletes aren’t necessarily receiving the grief from their peers or their coaches, but instead they are receiving this pressure from parents. This pressure may seem harmless but can lead to children losing interest in sports. Because of parents rage, unsportsmanlike conduct, and emphasis on winning their kids are losing interest in sports.
A parents rage at a sporting event is one of the most terrifying events a child might go through while playing sports. This rage can be defined as a parent is screaming and spewing obscenities at players, other parents, and officials. Some parents even take it to the next level and get physical with others. Parent’s behavior can endanger themselves other spectators and even young athletes. This behavior can set a bad example for young and maturing minds and lead them to lose interest and even completely quit sports.
When a parent is yelling at a child it is more than likely the child did something wrong like mouth off, skip their chores, or get in a fight with a sibling. The parent is simply doing their job trying to teach the child right from wrong. However, when a parent singles out a child at a sporting event it’s not because they didn’t clean their room. It might be because the missed a shot or struck out. This may go in the books as a mess-up but the athlete gave it their all. Seeing as the main goal of youth sports is having fun and learning to play a sport the child didn’t do anything wrong, and when the parent yells at them is it because having fun playing a sport is wrong? None of the athletes are able to enjoy themselves with screaming parents (Vernon).
Along with yelling, parents can take things a step farther when they become violent at a sporting event. While this may seem very rare there are several cases of violence at sporting events caused by parents. A father was recently beaten to death at a Massachusetts youth hockey game (Langmaid). It seems very ridiculous to lose a parent over a little league game. The violence doesn’t always escalate to this level and may just end in a fist fight. Incidents like these would be embarrassing for the kids of the parents involved. This may leave the child to believe they are to blame and in turn make them lose interest in sports.
Another common foul committed by parents is unsportsmanlike conduct. Rather than getting the flag and 15 yard penalty parents often get away with it. The main aspects of unsportsmanlike conduct are parents setting a bad example for their kids. When a child sees their mom or dad act in a certain way they think that’s the way they are supposed to act because it’s “what mom and dad do”. It’s hard to erase the effects of a bad example because it involves parents teaching their children how to act. Unsportsmanlike players are also easy targets for referees. When you act in unsportsmanlike ways it sticks out to officials that you should be punished because you have and attitude. If young athletes feel they are not only being singled out by parents but also by officials they will enjoy the sport even less and want to drop out of it more.
One of the worst things a parent may do is pressure a child into believing that winning is the most important part of playing sports. An over emphasis on winning leads athletes to believe that they can only have fun while they are winning. This eliminates the ability to play a just for fun without the pressure of winning. This pressure to succeed may have been caused by large exposure of professional athletes in the last decade (“Spoil Sports Pushy”). This large focus on victory also creates sore losers and even sore winners. When athletes are under so much pressure to succeed they stop having fun playing sports (“Spoil Sports Pushy”).
Learning how to win and lose is one of the most important skills that need to be learned when playing a sport. When parents teach children that winning is the only important thing involved in sports they become sore losers and sore winners. When a sore winner is victorious they can’t just shake their adversaries hand and be done they have to rub there victory in. Sore losers simply storm off the field crying because of a loss. What the over emphasis creates is a bunch of poor sports. It also creates athletes that will give up after one loss.
Youth athletics are a great way for kids to meet new friends and learn many life lessons. Parents should encourage their children to become involved in them just as long as they behave correctly at the sporting events, become good role models and teach their child to win and lose. Because of the actions of many parents like rage, unsportsmanlike actions, and a strong emphasis on winning children are losing the will to play youth sports. Parents, next time you see a fellow soccer mom or football dad arguing with the referees and spewing out obscenities talk to that parent and explain how this might have an effect on their child.