The race season is now upon us and race day is a stressful time for racers and parents alike. Young racers are putting their efforts on the line and must accept that those efforts don’t always pay off in our sport. Parents want the best for their children and it pains us beyond pale to [...]
In this week’s vlog segment, I share with you my insights into what you as a sport parent can do for yourself to make your children’s athletic experiences as positive as possible for both them and you. As you well know, what you think, feel, and do as an active participant in your children’s athletic lives, [...]
In Part I of my two-part series on values in sports, I explored the essential importance of values as the foundation of your children’s sports experiences. I also described what I consider to be healthy and unhealthy values. In Part II of this series, I discuss how you can ensure that your young athletes embrace [...]
In Part I of my two-part series on values in ski racing, I explored the essential importance of values as the foundation of your children’s ski racing experiences. I also described what I consider to be healthy and unhealthy values. In Part II of this series, I discuss how you can ensure that your young [...]
In this week’s vlog segment, I explore the importance of the messages you send to your young athletes. I believe that “your children become the messages you get the most.” You want to make sure that the messages you send to them will encourage them to enjoy their sports participation, perform their best, achieve their athletic [...]
In this week's vlog segment, I explore the importance of helping your young athletes to define success in their sports participation. This discussion by parents with their children is so vital because the youth sports culture defines success in a very narrow and limiting way, namely, success is about winning. Of course, victory is a [...]
Some time ago, I shared with you my list of Dos for Sport Parents. In general, I much prefer to focus on the positives of behavior and, in that article, emphasized what parents can do to help their young athletes achieve their goals and have a great experience in their sport. At the same time, [...]
If you haven't seen it, Time magazine's cover story, for which I was interviewed, offers a scathing indictment of what I call the "youth sports industrial complex" and how what used to be about fun is now a $15 billion business. Every parent of a young athlete should read the article, reflect on their own [...]
As the author of a book on the impact of technology on children and families, Raising Generation Tech, I have a strong professional interest in the role that the myriad of devices and screen time now found in the hands of children and their parents alike plays in the development of young people and the [...]
I came across this great article that should challenge all parents to ask themselves whether they are preparing their children for life in the "real world." The article focuses on the reason why so many kids are so easily bored, impatient, frustrated, and struggling socially these days. She provides some spot-on, though somewhat painful, explanations [...]
