The good and bad of parents at sporting events
Whitley Bras, Staff Writer
Photo Courtesy of Ryan Stone Unsplash.com
Participating in sports is a fun way to stay active especially for children and young adults. There’s a variety of different sports that kids can get involved in which may include, soccer, football, basketball, baseball and more. Bruce Kelley from ESPNstates that “Competitive youth sports may be as American as apple pie.”
More parents now more than ever are getting their children involved with youth sports and having them continue participating into high school and even college. Parents are also highly involved in the playing careers of their children, which can sometimes go overboard. We’ll take a look at some personal stories from students at NGU that are currently student athletes who have had both positive and negative experiences with sport supporting parents and even some referees. Parents are most times the bulk of the supporting sidelines and can either make a game hostile or pleasant.
Victoria Valentine a freshman for the NGU women’s soccer team gives some insight into some of her experiences with how parents can negatively react to a game environment. Valentine states, “I’ve been at my little sister’s soccer game one time when she was about 10. And they were playing well, and the referee wasn’t making good calls and a parent on our team kept yelling at the referee and honestly overreacting and he got kicked out.” Parents are able to cheer for their team and even make comments about the playing style or disagree with calls that the referees or officials make but sometimes the parents can get overly passionate and cause a disruption of the game. There is a thin line between many parents being overly excited and causing a scene at a game.
The Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) conducted a study and found that 21.4 million kids between six and 17 were actively involved on a sports team in 2011. The same study also found that a large percentage of the children who were actively involved in sports ended up quitting either in high school or before they entered college. Some of the top reasons for quitting involved not having fun, worried about injury, and not getting along with the coach. A reason why some children don’t have fun could possibly involve the atmosphere of sports event in which a large percentage of spectators include parents, friends and officials.
Although there are a lot of crazy stories about parent having a negative impact on the environment of a sports event there is also the supportive aspect of having family members at events. Victoria Valentine states, “my uncle loves to come to my soccer games and support. Everyone loves when he comes because he’s loud when he cheers and gives nick names to people.”
Parents and family members have an influential role in the atmosphere of athletic events and when they are supportive and use positive words when attending, the game is more enjoyable for everyone. Valentine gives advice for parents who might get overly passionate about a game. She says, “for parents who get really upset, I think they need to take a step back from the game, take some deep breaths and realize this is a sport. You win, and you lose. You have good referees and bad referees. Just give your support to the team. Yelling at the referee and the other team is not supportive.”
Parents and family members can be extremely enthusiastic when it comes to attending their loved one’s athletic events, and there are crazy stories across the spectrum of sports but the important thing to remember is that the overall purpose of sports is get out and have a good time doing something that you enjoy that allows you to be physically active. Make sure to go out at support your North Greenville Crusader athletics and have a positive impact on the atmosphere.
